This message explains the proper relationship between Christians and the Law, asserting that the Law is not a master or an enemy, but a servant that guides believers toward Christ and helps them live righteously under grace.
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[Music]
you are listening to the teaching and
preaching of Dr Warren weby this message
was recorded while he served as pastor
of Calvary Baptist Church in Covington
Kentucky or the Moody Church in Chicago
Illinois for additional resources please
visit tofit you.com that's the number
two p r o p h tu.com and now Dr Warren [Music]
[Music]
weby we open the word to aans
3 and we're going to be considering
verses 19- [Music]
[Music]
29 Paul has proved that
salvation is by grace and not by the
keeping of the law he's proved it in two
ways first of all personally from his
own life chapters 1 and two and then
doctrinally from the Old Testament
scriptures 3: 1-18
and having proved that salvation is by
grace and not by the keeping of the law
he has raised an important
question and he anticipates that
question in verse
19 wherefore then serveth the law if the
law cannot save us then why was the law
given if the law cannot sanctify
us why should we bother to honor the law
Jesus said I have not come to destroy
the law but to fulfill it and Paul
himself writes in Romans CH
7 that the law is Holy and
just and
good now Paul if the law is good what is
it good for this is a logical
question because when it comes to this
matter of the law people go to extremes
if there's one thing you want to avoid
in this matter of the law it's an
extreme in fact let me put it this way
your attitude toward the
law helps to determine the quality of
your spiritual
life if you and I have the wrong
attitude toward the law we're going to
have the wrong kind of a spiritual life
if we have the right attitude toward the
law we're going to have the right kind
of spiritual life in fact let me go just
one step further
our attitude toward the law
determines our attitude toward Authority in
general young people who have the wrong
attitude toward God's law will have the
wrong attitude toward the authority of their
their parents
parents
policemen teachers
Deans employees who have the wrong
attitude toward the law will have the
wrong attitude toward employers foremen
superintendent and this my friends is
one of our big problems
today now in Galatians 3:19 through 29
Paul explains that there are three
possible attitudes you can have toward
the law two of them are
wrong only one of them is right now what
are these three attitudes the legalist
says the law is my
Master Paul says that's
wrong the anarchist says the law is my
enemy verse 21 is the law then against
the promises of God and the anarchist
the antinomian anti against Nomas the
law the one who's against the law says
yes the law is against the promises of God
God
and so while the legalist is saying the
law is my master the anarchist is saying
the law is my
enemy and that's
wrong but Along Comes the mature
Christian notice I said the mature
mature
Christian he
says the law is not my
master the law is not my
enemy the law is my servant
wherefore then
serveth the law let's consider now these
three attitudes toward the law you
examine your own heart and find out
which one expresses your feeling first
the legalist who says the law is my
master now for Israel this was
true under the dispensation of the
law the law was their Master look at it
when wherefore then serveth the law it
was added because of
transgressions until the seed should
come to whom the promise was made and
the law was ordained by angels in the
hand of a
mediator now a mediator is not a
mediator of one obviously a mediator
stands between two but God is
one is the law then against the promises
of God God forb did for if there had
been a law given which could have given
life verily righteousness should have
been by the law but the scriptures hath
concluded and that Greek word concluded
means confined in
jail but the scripture hath concluded
all under sin that the Promise by faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to them
that believe but before this Faith came
this faith in Jesus Christ we Jews were
kept under the
law shut up unto the faith which should
afterward be
revealed wherefore the law was our school
school
Master our tutor our Guardian to bring
us unto Christ that we might be
justified by faith but after faith is
come we are no longer under a school
Master for ye are all the sons of God
by faith in Christ Jesus for as many as
you as have been baptized into Christ
and there he's talking not about water
baptism water never put anybody into
Christ he's talking about the work of
the Holy Spirit as many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ 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
and if ye be Christ then are ye
Abraham's seed and HS according to the
promise you see when Israel was under
the law the law performed three
functions number one it was a mirror to
reveal sin verse
19 it was added because of
transgressions now sin existed before
the law obviously but sin is not transgression
transgression
until a law is
given a little child for example sins
doesn't realize it sins then it reaches
an age of accountability and
understanding where it knows that when
mother draws the line that's as far as
you can go and going over that line is
transgression and so the law was given
as a mirror to reveal
sin secondly the law was given as a jail
were to restrain
restrain
sin Paul is saying that the law was like
a Jailer who kept confining everybody
Faith thirdly he tells us the law was a
tutor a guardian this word Schoolmaster
does not refer to one of our school
teachers it's the picture in the Greek
world of a slave who guarded a minor
child from home to school and back now
the slave didn't make the child grow up
the child grew up in spite of the slave
the slave's job was to protect the child
so it might grow
up to keep the child from getting into
danger and mischief to discipline the
child to make sure the child came from
home to school and back home again a
guardian and the law did this the law
took the nation of of Israel and
protected the nation and watched over
the nation and disciplined the nation
until it came to the maturity of times
and Jesus came and fulfilled the law so
to the Old Testament Jew the law was a
master a mirror to reveal sin a Jailer to
to
confine and a guardian to conduct and
protect but you see that's all the law
could do if you make the law your master
the law can reveal sin but the law can never
never remove
remove
sin I'm sure that today many of you at
some point looked into the
mirror some of us looked into the mirror
to see if our faces were
dirty those of you who are so blessed
mirror you look into the mirror and the
mirror says your face is dirty but you
don't wash your face in the
mirror the law says to you your face is
dirty you've done this you've done that
you've done something else the law can
reveal but the law cannot remove and the
law can restrain but the law can't
redeem the law can be a Jailer to
confine us but it cannot change
us why we have more laws in America
today than we've ever had and we have
more lawlessness than we've ever
had did anybody ever have the idea that
the passing of a law changed anything
doesn't change anything we have laws
against reckless driving
oh we have laws against illegal parking
what difference does it make
the law doesn't change anything the law can
can
confine the law can restrain but the law cannot
cannot
change that's the frustration of
legalism here is this high standard and
the person says I'm going to reach that
standard and he can't do
it the law can
protect but the law cannot
perfect the law can protect the child as
it goes from home home to school and
back but the law doesn't make that child
grow up the law simply protects the
child until the child can grow up he
matures from
within Paul's going to talk more about
that in chapter 4 on how the Law relates
to spiritual
maturity and so the legalist says the
law is my master and I say it's too bad
the law can reveal sin but not remove it
the law can restrain but not redeem the
law can protect but not perfect the law
can change you but not change
you and furthermore Mr legalist I will
say to you that the law is not our Master
Master
today when you read Romans and Galatians and
and
Hebrews you discover that the Christian
is dead to the law the the Christian is
not under law he is under grace I read
here in verse 19 of Galatians 3 that the
law was not part of the original
equipment law was
added Israel began with Grace on Eagle
wings God picked them up and delivered
them from Egypt they started off with
Grace not with law the law was added why
to let Israel know what was wrong to war
warn them to protect them to restrain
come the law was given at the hands of a
mediator but uh Grace is not given
through a mediator apparently God gave
the law to the angels and the angel gave
the law to Moses and Moses gave the law
to Israel and so Israel was twice
removed from God this is not true in the
gospel the gospel came to us in the
person of of God's son Jesus Christ and
therefore the person who goes by law and
says law is my master is removing
himself from God the person who goes by
promise is drawing himself closer to
God the law was
temporary wherefore then serveth the law
it was added because of transgressions
until until all the way through this
passage he says now God did this
temporarily until until the law was
permanent and verse 21 he comes out very
boldly and says the law cannot give
life of course all the law can do is give
give
death the law says this do and thou
shalt live and we say I can't do it and
then the law says the wages of sin is
death now if the law cannot give life
then the law cannot sustain
life if I could not receive Life by the
law then I cannot develop Life by the
law and so Mr
legalist you say to me the law is my
master and I say I feel sorry for you
because that's not why the law was
given then Along Comes the anarchist we
have a number of these
today they come along in verse 21 and
they say is the law then against the
promises of God this makes me think of
Book of Romans back in the Book of
Romans Paul raises the same question
well we're not under law we're under
grace therefore let just sin ever heard
that you watch out for that there is a
brand of
antinomianism anti
law in our Evangelical churches today
that says especially to young people hey
don't let any everybody talk to you
about rules and regulations you're free
you live under grace and grace means you
can do what you want to
do and if you should do wrong God will
forgive you ever heard that that's not
scriptural you see the legalist does
away with
grace and the anarchist the antinomian
does away with
law and God never wants us to do that
the the antinomian the one who says live
any way you please there you're under
grace you're free the antinomian has
plagued the church from the very
beginning this was one of Paul's
problems in Corinth in Corinth a group
of people got saved they say hey we're
under grace we'll live any way we
please he had to write to them and say
oh no Liberty does not mean you live the
way you please Liberty means we live to
please God the worst bondage in the
world is living to please yourself
I can't think of a more terrible bondage
in the world a more
egotistical experience in all the world
then getting up in the morning and say
I'm going to live today to please myself
and I'm going to do it my
way that's not Freedom that's the worst
kind of bondage that's where the
prodigal son got his start father give
me it was not until later on when he
said Father Make Me
that things begin to
change Freedom doesn't mean Give Me
Freedom means
Make Me Over in the little book of Jude
right before the Book of
Revelation Jude has a bit of a warning
for us on this whole
thing Jude was going to sit down and
write a letter a book about salvation
verse three beloved when I gave all all
diligence to write unto you of the common
common
salvation it was needful for me to write
unto you and exort you that ye should
earnestly contend for the faith which
was once delivered unto the Saints for
there are certain men crept in now Peter
says the same thing these men who crept
creeps certain men crept in
unawares who were before of old ordained
to this condemnation ungodly men turning
the grace of our Lord into
lasciviousness taking the grace of God
and saying oh you live under grace
therefore you can satisfy all the
appetites of your
life they never seem to have heard of
what Paul wrote to
Titus one of the great p messages Titus
2:1 for the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men
teaching us Grace doesn't just save us
Grace teaches us Grace disciplines
us disciplining us teaching us that denying
denying
ungodliness and worldly lust we should
live soberly righteously and God ly in
this present
age now the um the antinomian the
anarchist comes to me and says just a
minute is there not in the Bible a
yes several times in the word of God you
find these
contrasts Hebrews CH 12 we have not come
to a mountain burning with fire we
haven't come to a fearful place where
the voice of God made everyone Shake no
we have come to Mount Zion to the
Heavenly Jerusalem there's a contrast
there between
fear and
love between God shaking and God
graciously reaching out yes there's a
contrast 2 Corinthians chapter 3 there's
a contrast the whole chapter the Old
Testament law was written on
Stones the New Covenant is written in
our hearts the old Covenant written by
the Finger of God the New Covenant
written by the spirit of God in our
hearts the old Covenant Glory was fading
away the New Covenant Glory gets
brighter and brighter the old Covenant
Glory meant
condemnation the New Covenant Glory
means salvation the old Covenant the
ministry of death the New Covenant the
ministry of Life the old Covenant
bondage but says Chapter 3 of 2
Corinthians under the New Covenant where
the spirit of the Lord is there is
Liberty there's
contrast but let me underscore this
tonight even though there is contrast in
the Bible between law and Grace
contrast means
cooperation there's contrast between
husband and
wife this does not mean
competition it means cooperation law
prepared the way for Grace Grace is seen
in law and law is fulfilled in
Grace and there are some of these Ultra
dispensational teachers
who give us the impression that now that
we're under grace you can forget about
law and it almost leads to
antinomianism may I remind you that both
law and Grace came from God they can't
compete with each other that both law
and Grace glorify
God God was glorified in the giving of the
the
law God is glorified in the grace of calvary
calvary
both law and Grace Center in Jesus
Christ he was made under the law he said
I've not come to destroy the law I've
come to fulfill it he lived under the
law he didn't keep the Traditions he
law and the Lord Jesus Christ makes it
very clear that we as his
followers have a standard to
follow I've been interested to know note
that nine of the Ten Commandments are
repeated in the New Testament letters for
for
Christians the one that is not repeated
is remember the Sabbath day to keep it
holy you don't find that but he says be
ye holy for I am
Holy God's standard of righteousness
still stands it's still wrong to
lie anyone who holds on to Grace as an
excuse for lying doesn't understand
either law or
Grace it's still wrong to steal it's
still wrong to commit adultery still
wrong to bear false witness it's still
wrong to dishonor your
it the antinomian says the law is my
enemy and my Bible says the moral law of
now actually Among Us Christians the
moral law goes deeper you know
this Jesus said it has been said Thou
shalt not kill but I say don't get angry
with each other because anger is
murder it's been said You shall not
commit adultery I'm not going to change
that I'm going to go deeper don't lust
in your heart it's been said you should
not bear false witness I'm going to go a
little deeper than that be careful with
everything you say let your words be
marked by Simplicity and
sincerity just say yes or
no anything more than that is of the evil
evil
one and so we Christians are not
released from obeying the moral law of
God ceremonial law fulfilled in Christ
the Jewish law of calendars and feasts
and fasts all fulfilled in Christ the
moral law fulfilled in Christ and now
fulfilled in
us who walk by the grace of God this is
what Paul talked about over in Romans
chapter 6 shall we continue in sin that
Grace May abound and he answers and says
God forbid and so we're not going to
listen to the to the antinomian to the
anarchist who says law is our enemy
we're not going to listen to the
legalist who says that law is our master
we're going to listen to Paul who says
law is our servant
now friend if you're unsaved law is your
master if you are an unsaved person the
law of God is over your head and God is
law but those of us who have trusted
Christ as our savior are no longer under
law we can't be condemned by law we have
already been saved by grace and having
been saved by grace and received a new
nature law is not our enemy and law is
not our Master law is our
servant I do not work to please the law
the law works for
me let's look at this
now Galatians chapter
3 Paul tells us that we Christians have
a mature standing before
God in verse 26 for ye are all the sons
now our authorized version is children
but it's not that word for born ones
it's the word for mature ones for ye all
are the sons of God by faith in Christ
when you were born into God's family
instantly you were adopted to be a
mature adult
son God does not deal with us as with little
little
babies as far as time is concerned
someone here may be only 3 days old in the
the
Lord and he may be prone to say well I'm
just a little baby you can't expect a
whole lot from a baby but the Lord comes
back and says wait a minute when you got
saved I adopted you and gave you the
position and the
Privileges of an adult
son that means you know how to talk that
means you can start walking babies can't
do this this means you can start signing
checks and drawing upon your spiritual
inheritance God deals with us as adult
sons and none of us can say well I'm too
immature oh [Music]
[Music]
no all of the resources and all of the
responsibilities and all of the
riches are available to every saint no
matter how young or old he may
be he says in um verse
verse
27 that we were baptized by the spirit
into Christ and we put on Christ may I
share an interesting truth with
you in the Roman
Empire when a child reached the age of
maturity he changed
clothes you could always tell how old
somebody was because if they were
wearing a certain kind of a garment they
were immature they were underage
but when that boy reached that age of
maturity that age when he was
accepted he took off a child's garment
and he put on an adult garment that
happened to you when you were
saved the holy spirit of God baptized
you into the body of Christ and he took
off the old childish garment and he gave
you the Garment of righteousness with an
adult standing before
God you see laws are necessary for
immature who are babies when my children
were all small we had to run our home on
law don't you go near those stairs do
socket Don't Go Near the
highway and our I'm sure that our
children when they were just getting
growing up thought boy this is a
terrible place to live it's a jail don't
do this and don't do that
remember the mother who took her little
son out visiting and the boy looked
around and this lady had a lot of
antiques and things and he said oh my
no but you know what if you don't start
children off with law they'll never live
long enough to experience
Grace they'll either burn themselves or
kill themselves or run out in front of a
car or do some dumb
thing you know our Christian schools and
I have preached in many many Christian
Schools our Christian Schools should not
have to have
rules every student on that campus
should be so
mature that out of love and the grace of
God he does what's
right but in every student body you have
a few
babies same thing's true of a church you
have to have certain regulations or you have
have
chaos and Paul is saying to us here God
deals with us as adult Sons we're
baptized into the body of Christ we're
all one in Christ now the law separated
Jew from Gentile Grace doesn't do that
the law separated men from women the law
separated slaves from Free People the
law even separated Rich from poor
there's special laws for the poor Grace
doesn't do that Grace says don't drag
that stuff into here we're all one in
Jesus Christ through the holy spirit of
God and he says in verse 29 we're living
by promise we're not living by threat
now little children live by
threats you can't explain to a little
2-year-old what a 10-ton truck
is I mean that Highway seems such a
beautiful place to play jump over the
yellow line back and forth yeah try to
explain this to all a child understands
is punishment and reward punishment and
reward it's all a child understand then
it gets older and starts to learn a few
things you can reason with it and you
can make
promises and you no longer say now if
you go near the highway I'll spank you
you I make a promise to you if you don't
go near that highway I promise you the
you now what do you live by do you have
joy at night because you you got to wait with
something you go to bed at night and say
boy I really con them
today that's not very
mature children do this children go to
bed at night and they' laugh and chuckle
under the covers and say boy really
we some of God's children act like that
you can't fool
him the mature Christian says the law is
how does how does the law serve me today
oh the same way it served me before I got
got
saved you know how the law helped me get
saved how did the law help me get saved
number one it revealed my sin the holy
spirit of God took the word of God and
held it before my face I said hey I'm
dirty well then I'll start to do better
I'll be confirmed I'll do this I'll do
that and the more I tried to save myself
the more the Jailer came along and said
no no that won't save you that won't
save you the law revealed my sin to me
and the law restrained me and convicted
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