Welcome back, right before
our break we were talking about
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the purpose of the law.
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Jim you are going to jump
right in here to Galatians 3.
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Let's take a look at
Galatians 3:19, right there the
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apostle Paul pretty much fore-
shadows, he is thinking ahead
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and knows what type
of questions are coming.
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In verse 19 he says,
"what purpose then does the law
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"serve?" If the law, like
that bowl of fruit wasn't to
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catch the oil, does
that mean we throw it away?
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If the law wasn't for
justification does that
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mean there is no
need for the law?
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The apostle Paul is
trying to address that question.
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He says, "it was added because
of transgressions," let me
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stop there for a moment.
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There are many people when
they look at that think well
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the Ten Commandments
then must have been added just
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because of sin and
then it goes on to say,
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"till the Seed should come
to whom the promise was made;"
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so they must have just been
added because of sin and then
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they end and there is no
longer a need to keep them after
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the Seed has come.
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We are going to address
that a little more as we advance
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along but I want
to make this point.
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When it says law, first of
all this is talking about not
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just the Ten Commandments,
again it's that word nomos,
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it just means law in general.
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- our viewers if they
weren't here before, the Greek
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or original text of Galatians
does not use a definite
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article anywhere
Paul is talking about law.
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In other words it's not
the law, but in the original it
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is simply law. - that's right.
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So the idea is what is the
purpose of law in general if
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the promise is how we are
to receive the inheritance?
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So he says it was added
because of transgressions.
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If you think about,
whether it's the moral law, the
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Ten Commandments, whether
it's the sacrificial laws,
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whether it's circumcision,
the issue that was heeded in the
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book of Galatians, what ever
your talking about in terms of
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law, the reason that
they were given in part
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was because of transgression.
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In other words prior to
any sin coming into the world
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there was no need because
the principles of the law
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were in the heart and
people were living the law
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in their lives, God's
creation was living out the law.
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Once there was a fall,
especially once God's people
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went into Egypt
and they came out.
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In order to instruct
them, in order to give humanity
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a clear picture once more
of His will, the law was given.
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He speaks of it as being
given with a specific role in
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this time, but this
giving of the law isn't talking
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about the existence
of the law in the whole.
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It's talking about a
picture of God's will,
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a picture of God's will.
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So what we are going to
look at here in this next verse
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it's going to begin to
flush out for us what the real
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purpose of the law was
as proclaimed from Sinai.
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So it says in the next
part, "it was added because
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"of transgressions, till
the Seed should come to whom the
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"promise was made; and it
was appointed through angels by
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"the hand of a mediator.
Now the mediator does not
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"mediate for one
only, but God is one. "
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He is simply making the
point the law and the promises
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both came from
God and God is one.
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They are not
contrary to one another.
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It is also interesting
that he makes the point that it
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came through the hand of a
mediator, that it was appointed
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by angels, the same things
Stephen said when they stoned
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him, they receive the law
through the direction of angels
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and have not kept it.
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So both the apostle Paul,
Paul is just repeating the words
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of Stephen who had an active
part in his own conversion.
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When you say that something
is received from the hand of
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angels you are displaying
its exalted character.
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If something came
to the hand of angels,
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you are talking
about something sacred.
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- that is exactly right.
Then he says in verse 21,
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"is the law then
against" - I want to backup Jim.
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I want to backup, it is
interesting in my study and I
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know you have done a lot
of studying" in the book of
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Galatians, most
commentators have
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a real problem with verse 20.
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They say in verse 20 wall
was Paul making a point of?
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Then they wrestle and wrestle
and I think the reason so
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many people wrestle with
verse 20 is because they want
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to pit the law
against the promises.
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When you understand the
reality, Paul is saying there
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is look the same God who
mediated the law, mediated the
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promises, the same God who
gave the law gave the promises,
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therefore they
cannot be contradictory.
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They go together and go
hand-in-hand so don't try to pit
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them against each other
and then you may understand
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the truth of God.
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That's right, excellent point.
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In verse 21 than he begins
to talk about why they are not
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pitted against each other.
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He asks, "is the law then
against the promises of God?"
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The answer is pretty
strong. "Certainly not! For if
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"there had been a law given
which could have given life,
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"truly righteousness
would have been by the law. "
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So here the apostle Paul
is saying there is no law that
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gives righteousness,
that is somewhat obvious.
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Righteousness is right
living, it denotes life.
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The law is not able
to give life, only the
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Life-giver can give life.
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I mentioned before the break
the text in Isaiah says that
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God talks about those who
know righteousness, speaks of
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the people that know
righteousness, he says, you who
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know righteousness in whose
people whose heart is My law.
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I'd like to say that righteous-
ness is right being that is
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manifested in right doing.
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It's not just outward it
starts inwardly, but can't help
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but to become outward.
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1 John 3:7 says, "do not
deceived, He who practices
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"righteousness is righteous,
just as He is righteous. "
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There are some people who
want to say righteousness is
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all inward, it's always inward
eye has nothing to do with
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outward, but that is not
true anymore than righteousness
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being outward and
not inward, it's both.
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That's right, and you
know there is something else
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we discussed before
is that righteousness,
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when you look at the righteous-
ness you can see in the law,
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the law of God as
it's shown is sort of like
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a picture of a person.
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So God's righteousness is
expressed in the law sort of
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the same way a picture
of me expresses who I am.
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Yeah you can see who I am,
but the embodiment of who I am,
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the fullness of
who I am isn't there.
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You can't get life out of that.
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In the same way you
can't get life out of the law.
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You can only get
life from a Life-giver.
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So he makes the point, if
there had been a law given which
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could have given life, truly
righteousness would have been
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by the law, but there is
no righteousness that can come
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out of the law.
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One good example of how God
dealt with that is in the book
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of Romans, I thought maybe
we could look there together.
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If you go to Romans 7, in
chapter 7 you will remember from
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a previous episode, we looked
at verse 14 where it says,
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"for we know that the law
is spiritual, but I am carnal,
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"sold under sin. " So law
is spiritual but I'm carnal and
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we had this disconnect,
we've talked about that before.
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So in verse three of
chapter 8, Romans 8:3 it says,
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"for what the law could
not do in that it was weak
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"through the flesh. " We
just read in Galatians the law
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couldn't give
life. - that's right!
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Because it was
weak in the flesh.
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The law is spiritual, but
we are carnal. - that's right!
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So because the law could
not give life something else had
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to be done and it says
what God does right after this.
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"For what the law could
not do in that it was weak
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"through the flesh, God did
by sending His own Son in the
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"likeness of sinful flesh,
on account of sin: He condemned
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"sin in the flesh, that the
righteous requirement of the law
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"might be fulfilled in us
who do not walk according to the
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"flesh but
according to the Spirit. "
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So from God we receive the
Spirit, the law can't give us
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the Spirit, but God gives
us His Spirit which creates
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that submission to God,
that crucifixion of selfishness.
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I think of it in my own
life, what does that look like?
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For me, suddenly I
had a hunger for God.
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I had an interest
for the things of God.
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I desired to follow God, my
heart was melted by the love
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of Christ and suddenly my
attitude towards spiritual
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things changed, that
is what the Spirit can do
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that the law simply cannot do.
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That's right, that's right
and so you have this, one of
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the things about the law is
that it points out a condition
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and it makes known to us
the reality that we have no
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righteousness, yet
we need righteousness
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if we are going to have life.
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So as Paul goes on in
Galatians 3:22 he says, "but the
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"Scripture has confined all
under sin, that the promise by
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"faith in Jesus Christ
might be given to those who
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"believe. But before faith
came, we were kept under guard
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"by the law, kept for the
faith which would afterward be
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"revealed. " Now before when
he said until the Seed should
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come but now here
he links faith to that.
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I'm not going to comment on
that but I want us to look at
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the language he uses
and depending on your
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Bible translation, mine uses
the word confined under sin.
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Kept under guard by the law,
I think the King James says,
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shut up under sin and other
translations use these similar
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words, shut up, confined,
kept under guard, like you are
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being jailed and what
the Bible is doing here.
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What Paul is doing is
showing the role of the law
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as a disciplinarian.
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In other words for the
unconverted person, the law's
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role our relation to the
law because we are sinners,
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all the law you like and
do is condemn our actions.
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It can't give us righteousness,
it can just bear witness
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to righteousness, it can
show us right and wrong, but it
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can't transform us because
we are untransformed because
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we are carnal and all the
law can do is say you are carnal
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you are condemned,
you're on death row.
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That is right. - the Bible
says kept under guard by the
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law for the faith
which will be revealed.
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So the idea is you are
shut up in this prison cell and
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it's an unpleasant
experience until you come to the
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realization that
there is one door out.
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- that's right, that's
right and so this idea of sin,
00:10:37.86\00:10:41.32
the law revealing our
sin, of course the wages of sin
00:10:41.36\00:10:44.75
is death so when the law
reveals our sin it automatically
00:10:44.79\00:10:49.86
shows us we are
doomed to die eternally.
00:10:49.89\00:10:53.24
So we are in this fearful
mode until, like you said,
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you see that the door,
that door is faith coming.
00:10:57.48\00:11:01.20
Faith in what? Faith in
Christ is exactly right.
00:11:01.23\00:11:04.89
Verse 23 says, "but before
faith came, we were kept under
00:11:04.92\00:11:07.69
"guard by the law, For the
faith which would afterward be
00:11:07.73\00:11:11.66
"revealed. Therefore the
law was our tutor to bring us to
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"Christ, that we might
be justified by faith. "
00:11:15.63\00:11:18.23
The law couldn't give us
life, but it's certainly wants
00:11:18.27\00:11:21.56
us to have life. - that's right.
00:11:21.59\00:11:23.43
It says look, you are outside
of My will so you are doomed
00:11:23.47\00:11:26.78
to die, the law is simply
an expression of God's will.
00:11:26.81\00:11:30.78
God uses the law to show us
our guilt, to give us a deep
00:11:30.82\00:11:34.75
conviction that we need Him.
00:11:34.79\00:11:36.92
That leads us to Christ.
And then it says, "but after
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"faith has come, we are
no longer under a tutor. "
00:11:40.17\00:11:44.47
So once the law fulfills
its role, as a jail master,
00:11:44.50\00:11:48.73
as it were, showing us that
we are outside of God's will.
00:11:48.77\00:11:52.99
We are destined to die
eternally, we say oh, I need to
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escape from this and we
reach out by faith in Christ
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and receive His
sacrifice in our behalf.
00:12:00.27\00:12:03.26
We received the Spirit of
God which gives us a humble
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heart that now
the law can recognize.
00:12:06.70\00:12:10.10
Now we do not need that
law from a jail master role
00:12:10.13\00:12:13.77
anymore. - no not in the
role of a disciplinarian.
00:12:13.80\00:12:17.37
Like when you're growing
up as a child and your parents
00:12:17.41\00:12:20.18
tell you to do this and
do that, the hope is one of
00:12:20.22\00:12:22.95
these days it will
be in your heart and
00:12:22.99\00:12:25.41
you will choose to do it.
00:12:25.44\00:12:26.41
So in the will of God,
before we come to Christ the law
00:12:26.42\00:12:31.67
tells us what's wrong and
it's abrasive, we don't like it.
00:12:31.71\00:12:36.51
But when our heart is converted
it becomes in our heart to
00:12:36.54\00:12:41.31
choose to do the
things that please God.
00:12:41.34\00:12:44.21
Just like David said,
now all of a sudden it is
00:12:44.24\00:12:46.05
oh how I love thy
law. - that's right.
00:12:46.08\00:12:47.80
Something changes and I
think of Psalms 19 were it says,
00:12:47.84\00:12:51.03
"the law of the Lord is
perfect converting the soul. "
00:12:51.06\00:12:54.22
We know that only
God can convert the soul.
00:12:54.26\00:12:57.02
But the Lord Jesus uses
the law to lead us to Himself
00:12:57.06\00:13:02.16
that we might find a
humility that brings us into
00:13:02.20\00:13:06.70
Harmony, spirituality
which the law is trying
00:13:06.74\00:13:11.20
to get us to have.
00:13:11.24\00:13:12.42
So now we are
desirous of keeping the law.
00:13:12.45\00:13:15.82
That is just a powerful thought.
00:13:15.85\00:13:17.56
I hope you will
join us next time.
00:13:17.59\00:13:19.26