and your copy of the Holy Scripture to the New Testament epistle to the Galatians. Galatians chapter number 3, verses 15 through 29 will be our target text this morning, as was read a few moments ago. One of the great stories of church history, a favorite of mine, is this. It was on April 17th of 1521 that Martin Luther was ordered to the great hall of the palace of the bishop in Wittenberg, Germany. Several thousand spectators had gathered to witness Luther's testimony and with When with great intimidation he was asked to recant his writings, Martin Luther requested a respite of one day for further consideration. So it was the next day, on April 18th, 1521, Martin Luther appeared a second time before the Diet. And after waiting for two hours outside of the Great Hall, he was admitted and asked once again, will you defend all the books which you acknowledge to be yours or recant some part? And so it was with humility and firmness, Martin Luther answered, and I quote, unless I am refuted and convicted by testimonies of the scripture or by clear arguments, I am conquered by the holy scriptures quoted by me and my conscience is bound in the word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything since it is unsafe and dangerous to do anything against the conscience. Amid all of the excitement and the confusion of that threatening audience, Martin Luther finished with the now famous words, here I stand. And we credit Martin Luther with that immortal phrase. Here I stand. However, I wonder if Martin Luther wasn't mindful of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian churches in Galatians chapter five, Verse number one, some 1,500 years before Martin Luther took his stand. In Galatians 5 verse one, Paul said, stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. Do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. You see, standing for justification by faith alone wasn't just the cry of the Reformation in the 16th or the 17th centuries, but it was the charge of the Apostle Paul in the first century. Allow me a quick review for us. Last week we learned that the Galatians were bewitched. Chapter three, verse number one. They were bewitched regarding the gospel message. That is they had become disoriented and disillusioned. They had gotten turned around and they were running in the wrong way from grace back to law. So Paul questioned the Galatian Christians regarding their own experience in chapter three, verses one through five. And then Paul pointed them to their own scripture in chapter 3, verses 6 to 14. Using Abraham as an example, Paul defended justification by faith alone. If you were not here last Sunday or you've missed some part of this series through the book of Galatians, I would encourage you to go to our website and listen to the teaching you missed, for it's helpful for us to understand the larger context and the continuity of this epistle. But for this morning, I've written there at the top of your notes in Galatians 3, verses 15 to 29, Paul anticipates and answers the Judaizers' next objection. What is that objection? Here it is. Here's what they say. Even if Abraham was justified by faith alone, when God gave the law to Moses, the basis of salvation changed. You remember that it was 500 years after Abraham was justified by faith that God gave the law to Moses. But the Judaizers claim that the law through Moses replaced the promise through Abraham. That's what I've written there, and you might underscore that last line. They claim that the law through Moses replaced the promise through Abraham. And so Paul answers that objection in our text this morning, Galatians 3, verses 15 to 29. But before we look at the text specifically, I want to illustrate Paul's answer with the chart on the back of your outline. And I wanna present the summary of Paul's answer to you now at the beginning of our study, and then we'll review it again after we examine the scripture. But this chart compares and contrasts God's promise through Abraham, that's the left column, and God's promise through Moses, the right column, and there are some parts for you to complete. First, God's promise through Abraham is about God's faithfulness to his promise. God's law through Moses was dependent upon man's faithfulness. I hope you understand the distinct difference there. Secondly, God's promise through Abraham, God said, I will. But God's law through Moses, God said, you will. God's promise through Abraham on the left, religion dependent upon God. God's law through Moses was religion dependent upon man. Next, God's plan, grace, initiative, sovereignty, and blessing was part of his promise through Abraham. While it was man's work, man's responsibility, man's behavior, man's obedience was what characterized God's law through Moses. And then finally, God's promise through Abraham was grounded in grace. requiring faith. God's law through Moses was grounded in works, demanding perfect obedience. And with this contrast and this comparison, we will ask the question, which is better, God's promise through Abraham, the left column, or God's promise or God's law through Moses, the right column? And I think we intuitively know, those of us that are here this morning, I think we know where we're going. But in light of our answer, we then ask, what was the point of the other? So, from Galatians 3, verses 15 to 29, I've prepared a message titled, Abraham, Moses, and Christ. Let's pause for prayer, and then we'll unpack the Scripture text here together. God in heaven, we do. Humble ourselves, submit ourselves, surrender ourselves, saying, here I am, Lord. Send me, use me. Lord, we want to be vessels that are useful for you in rightly dividing the word of truth, rightly declaring the gospel. I pray, Lord, that you would teach us by your spirit through the text of your holy word this morning. Lord, may we not be bewitched or confused, running the wrong way regarding the promise to Abraham and the law to Moses. So God, we commit our study to you now, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Galatians 3, verse number 15, you have it open before you. Brethren, I speak in the manner of men. Though it is only a man's covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. This is a human illustration, this is a human example, when man makes a covenant, a true covenant, it is irrevocable and unchangeable. Let me illustrate, I have had the privilege to officiate the wedding ceremonies for dozens of couples over the years and to do premarital counseling for many more than that. But when meeting with a couple who desires to be wed, I explain to them that marriage is not a contract, marriage is a covenant. And the covenant vow says this, in sickness or in health, in prosperity or in wealth, It's only the physical death of one that is to dissolve the covenant relationship of marriage as God intended it. And I explained to a young couple to be wed that a covenant is very different from a contract. For example, in a contract, we establish conditions. With a contract, we have limitations. In a contract, there are terms. If I were to hire you to re-roof my house, because my insurance company won't honor my claim from the multiple hail damages that we've had over the years, but I need a new roof, I hire you to roof my, to shingle my roof. And we draft a contract. I agree to pay you 50% up front. You agree to receive the other 50%, the balance, when the roof is complete. I have expectations about the shingles and the materials. And we sign that contract. That contract does not ask you to also side my house. It doesn't ask you to mow my lawn. And there are specific limitations, specific terms. And if I don't pay you, you don't do the work. If you don't do the work, I don't pay you. If the terms are not met, the contract is annulled. That is a contract. However, a covenant is different. And what Paul's argument is this, even if a man's covenant, when confirmed, cannot be changed, then how much less a covenant that God makes. It's not a contract, it's a covenant. God's covenant promises to Abraham were permanent and unchangeable. Number one, the promise through Abraham. It was letter A, it was a covenant, you might put in parentheses, not a contract. Okay, what was the nature of the covenant promise that God made with Abraham, verse number 16? Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. Now be careful here, he does not say and to seeds as of many, plural, but as of one, and to your seed, singular, in my new King James here, it's a capital S, understanding, the end of verse 16, who is Christ. What we have here in Galatians 3 verse 16 is a reference to Genesis 22 verse 18, that is, this is a New Testament interpretation and application of an Old Testament text, and we accept this interpretation and application, because the same Holy Spirit of God is the divine author of both Genesis and Galatians. And God's covenant promise to Abraham in Genesis 22 verse 18 was this, in your seed, Abraham, in your seed singular, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Now, are all of the nations of the earth blessed in some way, shape, or form by the birth of millions of Hebrews over the centuries? the seed of Abraham, the Jewish people, the Hebrew people, and we would say, yes, Jews have done many great things. In fact, did you know that while the Jews are only .2% of the world population, .2% of the world population, more than 20% of Nobel Prizes awarded from 1901 to 2023 have been awarded to Jews? We can fairly say that the world has been blessed by Abraham's seed. However, Paul says the seed in God's covenant promise to Abraham is singular. All the nations of the world will be blessed in the singular, capital S seed, that is Jesus Christ. The promises through Abraham is Christ-centered. It's about Jesus Christ. All the nations of the earth are blessed in the one seed from Abraham, the person of Jesus Christ. And we as Americans are one of the nations on earth. We can then participate in the promised blessings of Abraham as a fellow heir with Christ through faith in him. Look at verse 17. And this I say, that the law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ that it should make the promise of no effect. All right, so now follow this. 430 years is the time that lapsed between God's last restatement of the the Abrahamic covenants in the book of Genesis and his giving of the law to Moses. God repeated his covenant promise to Abraham, to Abraham's son Isaac, Genesis 26, then again to Abraham's grandson Jacob in Genesis 28. But folks, the point is not the number of years, whether it was 10 years or whether it was 10,000 years, whether it was 400 years. The space of time doesn't matter. What matters is that there was a space of time between God's promises through Abraham and the giving of the law. The promise of God through Abraham came chronologically first. It was chronologically first. Let me illustrate this, on occasion I've had the unfortunate dilemma of double booking myself. Have you ever done that? Where you make a commitment on top of a commitment promising one person something at a certain time and then promising another person something else at that very same time. And I think probably we've all done that unwittingly, but what do you do in that circumstance? It's awkward, it's uncomfortable, I'll tell you what I do. I go back to the second promise and I say, I am sorry, but I first made a commitment to this other party for some matter, appointment at this time. I am sorry I double booked myself, but I need to honor my commitment to the first. Okay, that's what's going on here. God's promise to Abraham predated the law given to Moses. God's promise to Abraham came first. And God is committed to honoring that promise. They're not in contradiction to each other. We'll find that out in a moment. But God's promise through Abraham was chronologically first. Look at verse 18. For if the inheritance is of the law, It is no longer of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. And so here this covenant, this promise through Abraham was not conditional. It was a covenant, it was Christ-centered, it was chronologically first, it was not conditional. An inheritance based upon God's law depends on man's performance. But an inheritance based on God's promise depends on God's power. This echoes back to the difference between a covenant and a contract, you see. By definition, an inheritance isn't something that is earned, but simply received because of a promise. But some years ago, my wife and I drafted a will. And in that will, that legally binding document, we promised some of our earthly goods some of our earthly goods, not all of our earthly goods, to our children. Our children are going to get some. The Lord is going to get some. Children, you're not getting it all, all right? We promised some of our earthly goods to the Lord, to our children, without conditions. And Paul is explaining that God's promise through Abraham is better than God's law through Moses because it was a covenant promise, letter A. It was Christ-centered, letter B. It was chronologically first, letter C. It was not conditional, letter D, based upon some performance or merit of our own. It's simply a promise. And that promise has been made to Abraham. and those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. Okay, so here's the $64,000 question now then. If that's the case, if God's promise through Abraham is better and still stands, then what's the point of God's law through Moses? If God's promise to Abraham is still in effect, why then the law? Verse number 19, look there. Verse 19 answers, what purpose then does the law serve? Why the law, which is number two now, the law through Moses. This is really the tension that the Galatian churches were working through, the law through Moses. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because, it was added because of transgressions. I would say this, letter A, the law had a purpose. The purpose of the law was to show man his sinfulness and his need for a Savior. It's in the opening chapter of his classic allegory, Pilgrim's Progress, and I would encourage every believer to read Pilgrim's Progress at some point in your Christian life. John Bunyan writes this in Pilgrim's Progress, so allow me to read just the introduction there. As I walk through the wilderness of this world, you can think, it's a great description of life. Do you ever feel like life is just a wandering through the wilderness of this world? I lighted on a certain place where was a den and laid me down in that place to sleep. And as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I dreamed and behold, I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a certain place with his face turned from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden on his back. I looked and saw him opening the book and read therein and as he read he wept and trembled and not being able longer to contain he broke out with a lamentable cry saying, what shall I do? A short while later the man named Pilgrim encountered another man named Evangelist who asked, why do you cry? Pilgrim answered, sir, I perceive by the book in my hand that I am condemned to die. And after that, to come to judgment. Evangelist then pointed the pilgrim toward a gate in the distance to a light beyond it and on a hill. And with the great burden on his back and the book in his hand, pilgrim started off toward that hill crying out, life, life, eternal life. You see, the burden on Pilgrim's back was his sin, the burden of sin and guilt. The book in Pilgrim's hand was the Bible. The hill toward which Pilgrim journeyed was Calvary. And it was in reading God's Word that Pilgrim learned that God's law condemned him to death and hell. because of his sin. And it was the knowledge of his sin that drove him to the cross of Jesus Christ there on that hill. In our evangelism, there is a right emphasis to be placed on the law. Not as a means of salvation. Please do not be confused or bewitched. Don't be disillusioned. But in our evangelism, there is a right emphasis to be placed on the law, not as a means of salvation, but as a measure of sin. For before we can know our need for salvation, we must know that we are sinners. And the Bible clearly teaches us that we are all sinners, every one of us. How do we know that? Because of the law. That is the value of the law. You might jot in your margin there, in your letter A, a cross-reference, is Galatians 3, verse 24. Verse 24, which is there before you on the page. Therefore, verse 24, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. To the Romans, Paul wrote, I would not have known sin except through the law. So if God's promise to Abraham is superior to God's law through Moses, then what is the purpose of the law? Answer, to show us our sin so that we might be saved by faith alone. You may be familiar with Ray Comfort and his approach to evangelism called The Way of the Master. He deliberately uses the law to inform people of their need for salvation. If we have broken God's law, if we've offended even in one point, we're guilty of all, for by definition, breaking God's law is sin, and we are sinners. We need to be saved. Thank you, Lord, for your promise through Abraham, thank you, Lord, for your law through Moses, for it shows us our sin. But there's more about the law. Look at verse number 19, what purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, because of sin, till the seed, capital S, the promised singular seed, Jesus Christ should come, to whom the promise was made, and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for only one, but God is one, How about this letter B? The law had mediators. And in some way that's not fully explained here, the law was given by God to Moses through angels. Moses, of course, then gave the law to the people. And certainly Moses and angels are great. But as one author put it this way, the promise of salvation by faith was so precious to the heart of God that he gave it to Abraham in person. covenant promise to Abraham was done in person to Abraham. The law had a few mediators there from angels and Moses to the people. Verse 21, is the law then against the promises of God? Are these contrary or competing? Certainly not. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. This is a hypothetical, but we know what Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount. Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means see the kingdom of heaven. Verse 22, but the scripture has confined all under sin. that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. So, the law had limitations. The law is limited. It cannot give life. It cannot save. The law is also limiting. It confines us under sin. It brings bondage. Had limitations. Now, then I think we can wrap it up as Paul does these final verses, verse 23, but before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith, which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor, under that law, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. How do you become a child of God? By faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 27, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ, this is spirit baptism, have put on Christ. Spirit baptism is our salvation. Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 12. Verse 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Number three, heirs through Christ. And of course we'll talk of that more next week, but before you put your things away, verse 26, let me point you there. We are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Verse 29, if we are a son of God, we are joint heirs with Christ according to the promise. Turn your outline back over again and look at that chart once again. Comparing and contrasting God's promise through Abraham, God's law through Moses, God's promise through Abraham is a matter of God's faithfulness. What God purposed to do, I will. It's religion dependent upon God. It's his plan, grace, initiative, sovereignty, blessing. It's grounded in grace. It requires faith. God's law through Moses is something entirely different. It's our tutor to point us to Christ, but the law was dependent upon man's faithfulness, upon what man would do, grounded in works, and proves to us all that we cannot save ourselves, for we cannot stand in our own righteousness. If you look just below there on your notes, a brilliant summary from John Stott. We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses and acknowledge our sin, guilt, and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses, that is the law, send us to Christ. Folks, I've titled my message Abraham, Moses, and Christ. God made a promise to Abraham. Abraham believed that promise and was credited to him for righteousness. God then gave the law to Moses and the law points us to that promise to be found in Jesus Christ. And so this morning I would ask you Are you looking to Jesus Christ as a sinner? Do you know under the law you are a sinner and you look to Jesus Christ putting your faith in him so that your sin is forgiven, you are a son of God according to the promise and a joint heir with Jesus Christ? I hope that's where you're at. We're all pilgrims in the wilderness of this life. like Pilgrim in John Bunyan's allegory. As we open up the pages of God's Word and we look into the mirror of God's Word and we understand God's law is holy and good and righteous, it shows us our sinfulness. And we go to Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, as God has promised. Let's pray. God in heaven, I pray for those here this morning under the sound of my voice who, Lord, might, like the Galatians, be confused between grace and law, faith and law. I pray that Your Spirit would teach us and clarify for us the difference. Lord, we know that we're sinners. Your law has taught us that. And so we run to Christ and we stand and stay beneath the cross of Jesus. I pray, Lord, if there are some who have not called on the name of the Lord by faith, believing that you and your grace would draw them to yourself and save them even this morning, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.