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Last week, we looked at the law and Paul was teaching us that the law is independent from the promise in that though the law was given later, it did not change anything about the promise. It could not affect it, it could not nullify it, God is still going to bless His people through faith.

The reason then why the law was given was not to remove sin, but to reveal sin. So that, man may be humbled before God, acknowledging our sin and helplessness, so that we may realize our absolute need for God to be the One to save us.

The law was therefore inferior to the promise, and it's a technical point, because whilst the promise was given directly by God to Abraham, the law was given to Israel via first the angels and then Moses. So, this two-step removal process is the way by which God communicates the superiority or the primacy of the promise over the law.

Moreover, the covenant promise is unilaterally fulfilled by God, whereas the law requires the participation of men. And as you know, we are weak in our flesh and there's no way we can fulfill the law. So, the law was seen to be inferior, not that it's lousy, but it does not have the superiority or primacy of the promise.

And then, we learned the reason is because the law is impotent. It does not have the power to give life, it does not have the power to credit to you righteousness. So, the law was like an X-ray machine, isn't it? An X-ray machine shows you your spiritual cancer, but it cannot save you from your spiritual cancer. That's what the law can't do.

Now, that's my modern day illustration — an X-ray machine. Paul did not live in our days, he does not know what's an X-ray machine. But Paul is also a communicator, he wants people to understand what the law is all about, so he gives two illustrations of the law. So, this completes our five I's.

Today in Galatians 3 verses 22-29, we're going to see "The Illustrations of the Law". Just to wrap it all up, allow us to really see what the law can and cannot do.

[1] The Prison Warden
The first illustration is that of a prison warden.

The idea here is that the law is like a prison warden that puts us behind bars. And the prison allows us to see our own misery, our own helplessness, and makes us long for that day where we will be set free from prison. The law is like a prison warden.

This is from verse 22, "The Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."

And he repeats again in verse 23, "Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed."

So, God's intention is for people, Israel and really for all the world to be imprisoned, to be in this state of misery, helplessness, and longing for salvation. So, what is the tool God uses to imprison us? The Bible says, "It is the Scripture and the law."

I take then these two words to be synonymous in the sense that God uses the law, the commandments, the Mosaic covenant in the Old Testament to be the tool to imprison us. So that, man at the hearing of the law, realizes he is condemned before God, realizes he can never meet the impossibly high requirements of the law. So that, he feels trapped, he says that, "I cannot break free from my sin." And now, when he is in such a state, he despairs of self-righteousness and turns to the only One who can save - Jesus Christ.

That has been the way God or Paul has revealed the function of the law, he says in Galatians 2:19 earlier, "For through the law, I died to the law."

What he means is — when I see the law and its impossibly high standards, I died to the law. I despair of it, because I realize I can never keep all the laws to meet God's standard. So now, I have no choice but to turn to Jesus Christ, and then I can truly live to God.

And that's why in Galatians 3:19, Paul says, "The law was added because of transgressions." It was added to show us, to reveal to us our sinfulness.

So, "The law, the Scripture holds us captive, imprisons us, so that, the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." [Gal 3:22]

When we are caught in such a desperate, hopeless situation, we are now primed and ready to turn to Jesus Christ, to turn to the promise of the Messiah, so that we may now believe. So for 1,400 years, Israel sat under the condemnation of the Mosaic Law. And then Jesus came, Jesus is the light of the nation of Israel and of all the Gentiles. And when He comes, Israel, who had been imprisoned under the law, might then turn to Him.

So, the law cannot rescue you from sin, but the law is given to ... to reveal to you your sin, and your helplessness, your hopelessness, your desperation in it. So like a prison warden, the law shuts you in your sin and helplessness, so that you may turn to Christ. That's the function!

Now, we must understand the context of Galatians, is that there are now false teachers coming to the Galatians saying to them, "Oh, Jesus alone is not enough, you need to go back to the law, you need to keep circumcision, you need to keep the religious festivals, you need to keep the law in order to be saved. Jesus alone is not enough!"

So Paul, I think using this illustration, helps us see that when you turn to Christ, or after you have turned to Christ, it is actually foolish to go back to the law. It's like a man who has been set free from prison, he walks back. He ... he is walking out of Changi prison, then he turns around and says, "I want to go back to the prison." No one does that! So, it is foolish when you know justification is through Christ alone, to now go back to the law.

So this is a helpful illustration, isn't it? Paul says, the law is like a prison warden.

[2] Paidagogos
Now, he makes sure we understand this by giving us a second illustration of a paidagogos.

I know this word sounds like Greek, because it is, huh, it is Greek. A paidagogos is a man who is responsible to raise a child.

So, let's look at what Paul is saying. "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith." [Gal 3:24]

The law was our guardian, the word, "guardian" is the word, "paidagogos". The ESV translated it to be guardian. I suppose when you think guardian, you think of a kind of pharmacy, uh, or in the King James, it is translated as schoolmaster.

When I think of schoolmaster, I think of Mr. Fu Yong Guang in my secondary school. He's the discipline master, he's very fierce, and when I turn up late in school, I ... I really don't want to meet him, I'll find another way into school. Mr. Fu, I had to be punished by him before, he made me catch cockroaches to feed his 金龙鱼 [jīn lóng yú, arowana in Chinese] Ur, that's the punishment！

Well, schoolmaster, so that is the concept conjured up in many of our minds. But actually, the word, guardian, or the schoolmaster, or some others call it custodian, or child tutor, trainer, uh it's hard to capture the idea, because we don't have an equivalent today.

But in those days, a paidagogos is a slave, in a rich, well-to-do Greek Roman household, the parents are usually too busy or too high class to take care of their own kids. So they employ or they get one of the slaves, the best slave, a trustworthy, smart slave and will entrust the care, the discipline, the raising of this son from age 6-16 to this slave. And the paidagogos' whole job is to raise this son, and the parents can do whatever they want to do, do their business, socialize, whatever. But this is the job of the paidagogos, he has a custodian role, he has a preparatory role.

So, in some of the ancient drawings, a paidagogos would be a man with maybe even a rod. That's his job, to discipline the son. So the paidagogos is meant to prepare the son for the day he will enter adulthood. After 16, he kind of ... kind of becomes like a mature adult, and starts to take on other responsibilities. But from 6-16, these years of preparation will be under the care of the paidagogos, he prepares this son for the day of inheritance and maturity.

The law is our paidagogos, the law has a preparatory function. In other words, the law is not the ultimate thing, Christ is the One who leads us to the ultimate life. But the law is just preparing, the law is just the beginning, the law is just to get us ready.

So, the law can never be used to rescue you from sin, which is the ultimate thing. The law can only reveal to you your sin, it's to prepare you for the day of salvation. And it reveals to you your sins, so that we might be justified by faith, in order that we might be justified by faith. So the law shows you your sin, kills self-righteousness, and points you, directs you to Jesus Christ that you may be made righteous when you believe in Christ.

And again, this is what Galatians 2:19 is about, the paidagogos kills self-righteousness, prepares you to be ready for Jesus.

And as Luther would say, "With its whippings, the law draws us to Christ," like that paidagogos with a cane. So paidagogos has a preparatory function, it is also having a temporary function. It is not meant to be forever, Christ is forever. The law is temporary, just to show you your sinfulness that you may turn to Jesus.

So if I may say, like the man who is having to go to prison, just as one should not go back to the prison after he is set free, and just like or the paidagogos, when you are now an adult, one should not turn back to the law for justification after one comes to Christ.

These two examples are clear to the Galatians. Eh, after I'm ... I'm set free from prison, I shouldn't go back to prison. After I've entered adulthood, I shouldn't go back to the paidagogos. So, after I have found justification in Jesus Christ, I should not go back to the law, I should not go back to circumcision, I should not go back to the religious festivals, because, "We are no longer under the guardian." [Gal 3:25]

Now that Christ has come, now that faith has come, hey, we are no longer under a guardian. You are not obliged to keep the law, to earn justification before God, because you have justification in Christ.

And he goes on to say, because, "Now in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith ..." [Gal 3:25] Now you are adult, now you are mature, now you enter into the blessings because, "... in Christ you are all sons."

Now I want to highlight this word, "sons". If you have your apps, you will realize if you click on it, the word, "sons" is the word, "huios" in the Greek. It's a word that is quite general, it means sons or child, or it can mean a child of mature age.

And I know that it's probably Paul's intention to use "huios" to refer to Christians as mature sons, because later on in Galatians 4, just a few verses later, he uses the word, "child".
The word, "child" refers to someone who is still very young, he is not able to inherit and exercise responsibility. And the word, "child" in the Greek is the word, "napios", which refers to a young infant or an infant child.

So, Paul goes back to verse 7 [Gal 4] with the word, "huios", you are no longer a slave but a "huios", you are someone who is going to inherit all things. So with this context, I say the word, "huios" here refers to someone who is now mature, he's no more under the paidagogos, he enters into the enjoyment of the inheritance from the father, he's going to be his own man. And that's what you get when you turn from the law to faith in Jesus Christ, you inherit all things. And so, you are no longer under a guardian when you are mature, and the maturity comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

So you, "Now are sons," [Gal 3:26] and if you are sons, you inherit all things." You're mature sons, you get all things.

He says in verse 27, "For as many of you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

Now, this "baptized" is a word that means immersed. So it can refer to that spiritual identification with Christ. It means I'm now joined with Christ, you who are now joined with Christ, immersed into Christ. Perhaps this might also refer to water baptism, that outward rite and ritual to declare an inward spiritual reality.

So Paul is saying, "You are now joined with Christ, perhaps demonstrated in the ordinance of water baptism, and when you join with Christ, you put on Christ." It's the image of putting on clothing. There are some commentators who believe that when Paul speaks about putting on Christ, he's using this Greek-Roman culture, where a son when he enters adulthood, receives a toga.

A toga is a kind of a, dress, a kind of a clothing. As you can see, the Romans wear a kind of sash-like piece. When a man or boy becomes a man, they are given toga virilis, the toga of maturity, of manhood. And so, Paul says, "When you believe in Jesus, when you are joined with Jesus, you have a new identity, you have put on Christ."

"There is now neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female for you're all one in Christ Jesus." [Gal 3:28]

Now, there are people who look at these words and say, "Oh, now there is no such thing as male and female! So, we have a LGBTQ and this is the biblical justification for LGBTQ." Uh no, I don't think that's what Paul is saying. He's not saying that there is now no more male and female distinctions or Jew and Gentile distinctions or slave or free distinctions.

But he is saying, with regard to having a right standing before God, it does not give you an advantage if you are a Jew or a Greek, it does not give you an advantage if you are slave or free, it does not give you an advantage if you are male or female. In other words, a Jew who has kept the law all his life, still has the same standing before God if he believes in Jesus. A Jew is not superior to a Greek or a Gentile.

So you do not need to, now that you are a Galatian believer, now that you trust Christ, you do not need to become a Jew. You do not need to be circumcised, because there is no distinction in Christ, we have put ... put on Christ.

So that's why, if you recall the incident Peter had when he was eating with the Gentiles, and then when some people from Jerusalem came, he withdrew from the Gentiles. It was a very bad message, it's almost saying that we are first class and the Gentiles are second class, when Paul says there is no first class or second class in Christ.

It doesn't matter your race, it doesn't matter your employment, it doesn't matter whether you have kept the laws in, in the past or not, in Christ we are all one in Him. No distinction of class! You do not need to be a Jew anymore, you do not need to be going back to the prison, you do not need to go to the paidagogos.

"And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring." [Gal 3:29]

We all, in Christ, become heirs of the promise that God has given to Abraham. What are the promises? What are the things that God has promised Abraham?

One, righteousness. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Two, life. That's what Paul spoke about in Galatians. Life, spiritual life.

Thirdly, the Holy Spirit. You receive the Spirit by faith and not by the works of the law.

Fourth, I think God promised a land to Abraham. I think that land is something yet to be enjoyed, it is a future promise that we, in our day and age, has not really seen yet. But I know that will come to pass, just as God has already given to His people righteousness, life and the Spirit. One day, we will enjoy everlasting possession of a glorious, promised land.

How do you get all these things? By the works of the law? No, because of faith in Jesus Christ.

So, I think Galatians 3:15-29 is a wonderful treatment or exposé of the law of Moses:

- The law does not affect the promise [The Independence of the Law]

- The law does not save you from sin, but it shows you your sin. [The Intention of the Law]

- The law is technically inferior to the promise. [The Inferiority of the Law]

- The law is unable to give you life and righteousness [The Impotence of the Law]

- and the law is like the prison warden and the paidagogos. [The Illustrations of the Law]

I was washing my hands sometime back, in my own house mind you, because I was about to touch some food in preparation of the food. And I realized that after I washed my hands with the soap, my hands became more oily. I said, "What lousy soap is this? How come wash already so oily one, hah?" And I kind of shared it with my friend and my wife, and they then started to burst out laughing.

Ah why? Well, this is my sink, I was washing. Now, when ... when you go to a sink, and you want to wash your hands with soap, what do you do? You just take the soap lah, and which one is the soap? The right-hand side lah, because what is this left one? Don't know what is this lah, looks like some baby ... you know, those bottles and brushes.

I thought that's ... that's, I don't know what, so I don't bother with it. The right, usually you go outside right-hand side, right? So I ... I went there, pumped it, got the soap, and I realized later from my wife, that this thing is not quite the soap. I blow up for you to see, but it's right there, leh! It's a moisturizer, not a soap. Actually, I was not the only one who kena [in Malay] this, the friends also kena this.

Well, am I saying that moisturizer is bad? No. I think it is out of thoughtfulness, my wife placed the moisturizer there. So that, after you wash your hands with harsh soap, moisturizer, keeps your hand supple and whatever, soft. I don't know what lah, I don't know why you do that, but anyway, you do that. It's a good thing, moisturizer is not a bad thing, but the moisturizer can never be used to wash your hands. But I don't know, mah, because it's put in the same position, it's put right there, mah. I didn't read, I didn't ask, so I assume. And well, it didn't work, I'm still dirty and actually more oily.

So, I thought about the law. The law is placed in the Bible, it's there, so when people read the Ten Commandments, or when you watch the Prince of Egypt, and you see the Ten Commandments, you assume that the law is the means by which you clean your body. You assume that the law is the means by which God gives you to wash away your sins, but actually, it's not meant to wash away your sins, it's a moisturizer. It cannot wash away your sins!

So, the moisturizer can be used in the right way, or it can be used in the wrong way. The law in the Bible can be used in the right way, or it can be used in the wrong way. So let me share with you how we can misuse the law today.

[Misuse Of The Law]
We misuse the law when we try to use it to clean away sin.

I think a lot of people in this world, when you tell them about the Bible, when you tell them about Christianity, they will tell you, "Aiyah, the Ten Commandments, very hard to do." Because most people think that the Bible is a set of rules that you try to keep to clean yourself, but that is a misuse. That's a wrong use of the law.

There's this quote by a Christian long time ago, a bit chim [complex in Hokkien] to understand, but I think it's still helpful. He says, "Satan would have us prove ourselves holy by the law, which God gave to prove us sinners." [Andrew Jukes]

Easier to start at the bottom line, God gave the law for what? To prove you sinners. What is the law for? To prove us sinners.
So that, we are trapped in the prison, so that we are under the discipline of the paidagogos. That's God's reason for giving sinners the law. But what does Satan want us to do? Satan twisted, deceives us to think that we can prove ourselves holy by the law. You are just using a moisturizer to clean yourself, it cannot be done, you get more oily, that's all!

This is the problem for the Jews. I know that, for example, in Luke 18, where there's a story of this Pharisee who came to the temple. He did not pray, he was just boasting. He said, "God, I thank You, I'm not like these dirty guys. They are publicans, they are tax collectors, they are extortioners, they are unjust. I'm not like them, I'm better, I keep the law. I fast twice a week and I tithe all that I have."

So this Pharisee is trying to keep the law, be the good guy, to earn his way to God. And so, he is pompous, he is arrogant, and I love the way the artist drew it. Is he clean, is he clean by keeping the law? No, he's only more oily, look at him. So ... so Jesus actually hinted that this man is not justified, you cannot keep the law in order to be clean.

There was this other man who simply says, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." He realizes that the law condemns him, and now he just turns to God in humility, believing in the promise of salvation through faith.

Closely related to this story is the story of the rich young ruler, rich, very rich. He came to Jesus and asked, "Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "You keep the laws lor, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, these are the things you do." You might find it strange that Jesus would answer, "Hah, keep the law, I thought, PJ, you're saying, Paul is saying, cannot keep the law what?"

Okay, wait a minute, because after Jesus says keep the law, you look at the posture of the rich young ruler, "Aiyah, all these things I've kept since young lah, got anything new or not?" I think that's the tone ah, that's a ... that's the inside working, maybe he's too polite to say all that. But he says, "Since young I've kept all these." "Okay, just one more thing. Go sell all that you have and give to the poor." And the rich young ruler, and the rich young ruler turned his head in despair, because he knew he can't do it.

He was too rich, he was too covetous, he loved the things that he has too much and would not. The rich young ruler is masterfully directed by Jesus to confront his own selfish, greedy heart. Jesus said, "Keep all the laws," not because they are the recommendations of Jesus to get saved, but they are the means by which the rich young ruler will realize he cannot get saved by keeping the law.

The Jews, this is Paul's own commentary on his countrymen, "They, the nation of Israel did not pursue it which is righteousness, a right standing before God. My people, Israel, did not pursue a right standing before God by faith, but as if it were based on works." [Romans 9:32] They thought that righteousness is based on their works.

He says in chapter 10:3, "For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God ..." They did not care, they did not remember, the righteousness that God Himself will provide through the Messiah. "... They sought to establish their own righteousness." So, they ... they did not submit to God's righteousness, they were using the moisturizer the wrong way. They were trying to clean themselves, when there is actually the soap, the ultimate sin soap, just right there in Jesus Christ.

We must remember that a right standing before God is not achieved by the works of the law, [moisturizer], but received by faith in Jesus Christ, [the real soap for our sins].

So, "Satan would have us prove ourselves holy by the law which God gave to prove us sinners." [Andrew Jukes] I hope, as a church, we will be mindful not to misuse the law.

How do we misuse the law? Very simple, have you been to Sunday school classes or adult Bible classes and heard teaching something along these lines, "These are the commandments of God, children, obey God and God loves you." Whoa, sounds almost correct, sounds almost logical, sounds what most churches will say! But when you square it up with what Galatians is saying, you know that is horribly wrong, because you're following Satan's desire to prove yourself holy by the law.

You're teaching the kids to be a Christian means - I keep the laws and God loves me, I do my best and I will get into heaven. You are following the Jews, the nation of Israel, you are ignorant of the righteousness God provides through His Son. You try to establish your own, you will not be saved.

Actually, God says, "Cursed is everyone, cursed is everyone who tries to gain a right standing by obeying the law." Why? Because you can never keep the whole law and if you break one law, you break all the law. This is mission impossible! So, Sunday school teachers, parents, Bible teachers, hey, be very careful! The law is not a bad thing, but don't use it this way, moisturizer is not a bad thing, but don't use it to clean sin. You just get more oily!

[Proper Use Of The Law]
So, how then should we use the law? The proper use of the law is to trap people in the prison and to bring them under the rod of the law.

So it was Spurgeon who says, "They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy law." So Spurgeon's implication here is, people will not want, people will not appreciate what Jesus has done until they realize - I'm condemned as a sinner and there's nothing I can do.

Don't you think if you today are sick and you know how to cure your own sickness, you won't need to go to the doctor. But when you know that you're so sick, there's nothing you can do, whatever the doctor can offer you, you will be very grateful, because he can heal you. So, we won't appreciate the grace of God in Jesus Christ, until God gives us the tool of the law to show us our hopelessness.

It was J.C. Ryle who says, "People who ... who will never set their faces decidedly toward heaven and live like pilgrims until they really feel they are in danger of hell. Let us expound and beat out the Ten Commandments." The Ten Commandments are needed to show man they're sick.

But maybe the clearest is a popular quote by Stott, who says, "We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses to be condemned ..." It makes a lot of sense! Why God gave the law? To condemn you. Why? So that you can come to Christ to be justified. You go to the X-ray machine to see your cancer, then you go to the doctor to remove the cancer. "... But once we have gone to Moses and acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there ..." We see our sin in the law, we don't stay in the law to get saved, "... we must let Moses direct us to Christ to be saved."

So, the law is like a prison warden, traps us right here, longing for the day our Savior comes and sets us free. The law is like a paidagogos, for years of our lives, showing us our sinfulness, so that when Christ comes, we can enter into the inheritance, we can be mature, we enter into the blessings that God has provided. And it is in Christ that we truly can be free at last.

So today, we teach the law, not as a means of salvation, but as a means of showing people why they need salvation. When I share the Gospel with people, with friends, with people in our church, one of the favorite passages I like to go to eventually is Matthew chapter 5. You say, "What is Matthew chapter 5?"

Matthew chapter 5 is a passage where Jesus explains the law, there's no one who explains the law better than Jesus did. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, "You shall not kill." And most Jews in those days would say, "Yah, I never kill, huh. I never stoned anyone, I never chopped up anyone." Jesus then says, "You have heard that it was said of them of old, you shall not kill, but I say unto you, if you call anyone fool, raca, you are guilty of hellfire." What is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying, "You shall not kill, it's not just about the act, but it's also about the attitude, it's about the heart."

In fact, Jesus went on to say, "Not only are you guilty of breaking the commandment when you are angry in your heart, and not just when you kill someone, you are guilty of breaking the commandment when someone else is angry because of you." Whoa, whoa, now this is serious, can any one of us fulfill the law to its intent, just one commandment, we are all doomed. We are all condemned if we really understand the law!

Jesus says in the seventh commandment, "If you have heard that it was said of old time, you shall not commit adultery." And Jesus says, "But I say unto you, whosoever looks at a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery already in his heart. Adultery is not just in the bed, it is in the head, and which one of you is not guilty?"

So, let Jesus direct people to Moses, and then let Moses direct people back to Jesus. He alone is the only way we can be saved.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

Father, we thank You this morning that we can hear Your plan for human salvation. You promised salvation right in the Garden of Eden actually, and that promise has never changed. In Your infinite wisdom, You have chosen to give also the law, not that we keep them to be saved, but that we may see our need to be saved.

I pray this morning by the help of Your Spirit, grant humility and understanding, so that people gathered here today would see their need for Jesus Christ. O Lord, don't let them be duped into thinking that the law is meant for them to obey to be saved, but Lord help them see that You are providing a righteousness through Your Son. May they repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

We pray for our church, we pray for every parent, every household, give us clarity so that we will teach accurately. So that we will not produce little Pharisees, we will not be legalistic, but we will use the law wisely, that men and women and children may be shepherded towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You, Jesus did it all, He said, "It is finished!" Bless each one to look to Your Son to be free at last, we pray all this in Jesus' Name, Amen.
 

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