Galatians 4:8

Order of Service

• Catechism — Shorter Catechism Questions 79, 80, and 81 (Tenth Commandment)
• Hymn — Thou Art the Way (#154)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:19-29
• Sermon
• Hymn — Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners (#498)
• Benediction

---

Sermon Title: The Law and Faith Working Together

Scripture: Galatians 3:19-29

I. The Law in Connection to Transgression

A. The law functions as a revealer of sin

1. The law does not merely show that something is wrong — it declares us guilty transgressors before God
2. Romans 7:7 — without the law Paul would not have known what it is to covet; the law exposes lawlessness
3. King Josiah's example: reforms were underway, but it was the discovery of the law that brought true repentance and mourning

B. The law imprisons under sin

1. Galatians 3:22 — scripture imprisoned everything under sin
2. Galatians 3:23 — held captive under the law until faith would be revealed
3. "Scripture" here means the whole Old Testament, not just specific legal codes — the entire Old Testament condemns and reveals guilt

C. The law serves faith by promoting it

1. The law and promise (Abrahamic Covenant and Mosaic Covenant) are not in contradiction — they work hand in hand within the one Covenant of Grace centered on Christ
2. By condemning Israel, the law was meant to elicit faith in the promised Messiah
3. This is the Second Use of the law: it exposes guilt before God so the sinner will flee to Christ for justification

II. The Law as Teacher (Guardian)

A. The law as paidagogos — the guardian-slave of the Greco-Roman world

1. A slave entrusted with authority over the master's children — charged to teach, instruct, and discipline, often harshly
2. The law tutors sinners in humility, driving them to an end of themselves

B. The law trains us into self-abasing humility

1. The parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee: the tax collector, properly trained by the law, walks away justified; the Pharisee, an expert in the law, does not
2. God's pattern throughout the Old Testament is to humble his people so that he might raise them up — Hosea 6:1
3. The goal: that self evaporates completely and only Christ remains — Galatians 2:20

C. The law is the great equalizer among all humanity

1. Romans 3:9 — Jews and Greeks alike are under the power of sin
2. Romans 3:19 — every mouth is stopped and the whole world is held accountable to God
3. Unity in Christ (Galatians 3:28) can become a cliché unless we first recognize our unity as wretches under the law — forgetting this leads to pride, competition, and a hobby-horse Christianity

III. The Law as Temporary

A. The law served as guardian until Christ came

1. Galatians 3:24-25 — now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian
2. Movement from law to Christ is movement from immaturity to maturity, from slavehood to sonship, from promise of the kingdom to possession of the kingdom

B. The sacraments also indicate the law's temporary nature

1. Circumcision (the sign of the law placed on the flesh) gives way to baptism (Galatians 3:27)
2. Passover gives way to the Lord's Supper
3. To remain wedded to the Old Covenant is to remain in elementary school — Galatians 4:3; cf. Hebrews (the old covenant has become obsolete)

C. Maturity in Christ is manifested in oneness among believers

1. Galatians 3:28 — neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female: ethnic, social, and gender oneness in Christ
2. Contrasted with Galatians 3:19-20: the law came through an intermediary, implying separation; but God is one, and he created his image-bearers for union and communion with him
3. Christ brings the maturity that the law could only point toward: immediate access to the Father through the Son — "if you have seen me you have seen the Father"; cf. Hebrews 3 (Moses faithful as a servant over the house; Christ faithful as a Son)
4. The church displays this maturity to the watching world by sharing oneness as disparate members of one body, united by one faith, one baptism, one Spirit — 1 Corinthians 15:56