God's Holy Word, Galatians chapter three. This is in many ways part two following last week. And so we'll begin reading at verse 19. We'll read from 3.19 through 4.7. Some of these things though we already touched on last week. And a couple of the phrases, will be further explained again in what comes, so we're not gonna go quite verse by verse in the way we sometimes do. Apparently we'll see a connection that might not be immediately obvious between 3.19 and 20 and 4.4, and then it really leads us into 4.5, 6, and 7. And then we might say, we'll pull in the verses before that for support. 3, verse 19 through 4, verse 7. Let us hear people of God, the word of God. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions. until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made. And it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not. For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we speak about the various covenants of the Old Testament from Genesis 3 onward, we sometimes speak about the covenants in the singular and we sometimes speak about the covenants in the plural. What's going on here? How do we speak about it in both of those ways? Well, as we can think of, it's a little bit similar to how when we think about the individual attributes of God, we think about the divine simplicity of God overarching all of those, we considered last Sunday evening. When we think about the covenants of God, we can think about the individual covenant promises given at particular times to to specifically Abraham, and then through Moses, and then to David. And we can think of those as distinct covenants, as having their own elements to them. But overarching all of them, overarching all of the promises from Genesis 3 onward, is God's grace. And so we can think of them as all being under the one umbrella of the covenant of grace. Because they finally, in the end, to God's people. I'll speak about how God graciously deals with His people. And how finally each one of the covenants, whether it's that which is given through Moses, whether it's that which is given directly by God to Abraham, finally in the end, God starts and finishes each one of them. They are each by His grace. They are each started and finished. They are each accomplished by Him. And so we might say last week we focused on that one party covenant, the covenant that God made to Abraham. And now we're looking at a two-party covenant, that which is given through an intermediary, which of course implies that there are two, which is yet, in a sense, one. And we'll see that as we go on. But essentially this is because of this, the necessary obedience to God's law is accomplished by the eternal son. The necessary obedience to God's law is accomplished by the eternal son. So we're gonna look at one God, one law keeper, and many heirs who are then one in Christ. So first one, God. Now again, the covenant to Abraham is a one-party guarantee. God is speaking, Abraham is receiving. Now let's work through some of the similarities and then some of the differences between what God speaks to Abraham and what God speaks to Moses. First of all, a difference. The covenant with Moses is not one party. There is, in 3 verse 19, an intermediary. As soon as we know there's an intermediary, we know there's more than one party involved in the essence of what's going on, right? You know, you yourself, you're one party by yourself. Do you use an intermediary to speak to yourself? To communicate to yourself? Well, I don't think so. You don't use a, what's an intermediary? A middleman, right? You don't use a middleman. You speak to yourself. You think to yourself. You communicate to yourself. You don't communicate to yourself through someone else. That would be rather strange, wouldn't it? But the covenant given through Moses, it has an intermediary. Moses is the intermediary. So God is giving it, who is receiving it? There's something different here than what's going on when God declares the promise to Abraham. Who is receiving it? And then the text tells us something that we don't expect to hear. that while, verse 20, an intermediary implies that there is more than one, as we just said, right? You don't speak to yourself through a middle man. A middle man means there's someone else, right? But, verse 20, God is one. Now how do we make sense of this? What's going on here? You just told me that there's a middle man. The apostle just told us there's a middle man, an intermediary, so there must be more than one, right? But, There's only one. What's going on? How does this make sense? People of God, this is so because God is both, in the end, both sides. of what is given through Moses. Think of it this way, there are real demands given through Moses. There's no demand in the promise to Abraham, it's just here is the promise, believe it. There are real demands in the giving of the law, aren't there? You must obey this, you must do this, you must do that. Finally, in the end, who can step in and be the second party and do all of those things? God is one. And there is a Trinity in unity, right? This is speaking about the Trinity. There is one essence in God. So really, this covenant given through Moses is also one because God is all one. But wait, there are three distinct persons, there are. And so God the Father is the one giving the demand. Who's the one who can fulfill the demand? Now we see the connection between 319 and 20 and 4-4. How was Jesus born? He was born under the law. Let us now rephrase these three verses together. God gave the law. He gave it through a middleman. It had real demands upon the other side. Who could come under the law and fulfill that? In the end, the son who was born under that law. Do you see it? Do you see it? It's two parties and yet it's one party. In the end, it's fulfilled by God. It is the covenant given through Moses, which is different than the covenant given through Abraham. But in the end, it's all accomplished by God. It's all under His grace. And so we can speak about the covenant to Abraham and the covenant to Moses, or we can speak about the one covenant of grace, which includes both of them. Because whether it's the one-party guarantee, the promise of inheritance given to Abraham, or the demands which God himself steps in and fulfills steps in and obeys by the sending of his son under the law born of a woman hit right a man had to fulfill those demands right the law was given it was given with the presence of angels. It was given through a man, but it was given to men. A man had to fulfill it. It all is Jesus Christ. He's the one who's the one party, because he's one with God. He's the one who can fulfill the demands upon man, because he's also man. He's born under woman. He's born of a woman. He's born under the law. You see, at 3.19 and 20 is not the simplest verse, verses we can read. But 4.4 helps us to see what's going on and understanding of who Jesus Christ is can help us to sit back and say, God, you make real demands upon me. But you yourself also step in. and fulfill those demands for me. Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Christ alone. It's the only way this is possible. It's the only way this makes sense. An intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. And God's one eternal son was born under the law to be that second party for all who believe. One in essence, three persons, the Trinity, the Trinity in unity. So Jesus Christ came under the law and he kept that law. He is the one law keeper, even as there are many law breakers. So you could, if you're taking notes for point two, write one law keeper slash many law breakers. One law keeper. He was born under the law and he, no one else, kept that law perfectly. 1 John 3 says it this way, you know that he appeared to take away sins and in him there is no sin. Then the very next verse says, no one who abides in him keeps on sinning. So, in 1 John 3, it's stated in the course of two verses, for us, here's another reminder that Galatians 5 is still coming, but we're not there yet. Because Galatians 5 is going to speak about that, right? This doesn't mean that we go on sinning. No, no, no. But Galatians is spelling out in full that truth in a nutshell, that God is one and he appeared to take away sins. Galatians is telling us how that works, how that happens. He does it by stepping in and being the law keeper under the law, fulfilling all the demands that were given through Moses. Now here's another difference between the promises given to Abraham and the promises and demands given through Moses. Another difference is that the promises given to Abraham are, even from the first, only for the people of God. They're only for the people of God. You don't go around circumcising everybody in the Old Testament. You don't go around baptizing everybody in the New Testament. The promises given to Abraham, they're for the people of God. In the Old Testament, that's the nation of Israel. If you're converted, you come to be an Israelite, essentially. You're circumcised into the nation. In the New Testament times, that's now the church. And you come to have union. You're baptized into the church. And it is then, as Peter says, it's for believers and their children, and then for all who believe. The promise to Abraham is narrow. The covenant with Abraham is narrow. Now, in the end, in the end, the covenant with Moses is narrow, because it's only fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But in the beginning, in the beginning, who do those demands go out to? Well, before Jesus Christ steps in, we're all that second party, aren't we? Everyone, everyone, not just the people of God, everyone. Notice even the way that the apostle uses we in 3, verse 23 and 24. Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law. Now, who's reading this? New Testament Gentiles. Wait a second. New Testament Gentiles are under the law? Yes, New Testament Gentiles, Old Testament Gentiles, New Testament Jews, Old Testament Jews. Before Christ steps in and by looking to faith, you can be united to him and have the laws fulfilled by him, before that happens, to go back to the language of 3.10 to 13, do you remember that? We're all under the curse of the law, everyone. This is different than what's given to Abraham, isn't it? That's distinct, it's narrow, it's only for the people of God. But the demands of the law, given through Moses, that's upon everyone. That's upon every single last person. Romans makes this explicitly clear, Romans 2, verses 14 to 16. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, in that they did not physically receive it, here in the context of Romans 2, in that they were not standing on Mount Sinai when Moses gave it, By nature, do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the written law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. In that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of man by Christ Jesus. Everyone's under the curse. Everyone has an awareness of the law, whether you're standing on Mount Sinai or not, whether you're an Old Testament Jew, a New Testament Jew, an Old Testament Gentile, a New Testament Gentile. The law is upon us all. The law is upon us all. So, people of God, these are things that we must pay close attention to. This is a little bit more technical than some of our sermons. And We don't always have Galatians 3, 19, and 20 before us, so we're not always digging this deep. But why is it good to dig this deep? Well, we can turn to Hebrews 2. If you would turn to Hebrews 2 with me, we can read a handful of verses from there. These are literally things that we must pay close and closer attention to. So that's the word of Hebrews 2 verse 1. Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. What things? What is he talking about? Well, he's talking about the law and salvation from the law by Jesus Christ. And so we read in verse 2, Hebrews 2 2, for since The message declared by angels. Here's one of the handful of verses that mentions that. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution. Everyone's under the curse of the law. Everyone receives a just retribution for this. How shall we escape from this if we neglect such a great salvation? And then what does Hebrews go on to talk about? It goes on to talk about salvation in Jesus Christ, in him alone. And so we read in verses nine and 10, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, him who became a man born of woman, him who took on human flesh. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus. crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. It was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist and bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. He lived for us, he suffered and died for us. All of this under the law, all as one who was man, born under woman. Now again, this is a little more technical than some of our sermons, but we can go straight to that word of Hebrews 2.1. This is literally something we must pay close attention to. And further, people of God, let me add this. Understanding this sermon well helps us to understand every sermon, every faithful sermon we ever hear better. Why is that? What does every faithful sermon include? Every faithful sermon, if your pastor ever does not do this, come to your pastor and tell him. Every faithful sermon includes a call to look to Jesus Christ for life, doesn't it? Otherwise, it's just something that could be said in a Jewish synagogue. Otherwise, it's just some moral lesson, and we're all under the curse of the law. We can't obey all of those demands. Understanding this sermon, even the technicalities of it, is that which we must pay close and closer attention to, as the author of Hebrews says, and is that which helps us understand every faithful sermon we ever hear better. We're not always going to dig into technicalities to the level we do this morning. But people of God, it's good not only to know that we must look to the one law keeper, because we are all law breakers. It's good to even dig into how Jesus Christ is that one law keeper, the one who fulfills the demands, the law given through Moses. To understand this sermon well is to understand every faithful sermon better. And finally, it is only union with the One Jesus Christ that we become, yes, heirs of the promise. So that's our third point. There are many heirs. In other words, we're moving out of verses 4 and 5 into verses 6 and 7 of chapter 4. He redeemed us. He redeemed us who were under the law. He's the one law keeper who saved us, who brought us out of all of those images, right? There's the image of slavery. There's the image of imprisonment. There's the image of being under a strict guardian, disciplinarian. Christ brings us out of all of these things. He brings us into glory. He brings us as sons. to God, saying even Abba, Father, no longer enslaved, no longer imprisoned, no longer under the strict disciplinarian. Now we are full heirs. This is all accomplished by being in Christ. Taking us back now to the language of 326, and that little phrase, in Christ, is repeated dozens and dozens and dozens of times in the New Testament. in Christ which is then more further explained in verse 27 in Christ those who are being baptized into Christ now this is we We continued on in our work through Galatians because the word baptism is here. So in God's providence, it's fitting to have baptism on a morning when the word baptism is in the very next verses of our series. But this is the only time we see baptism in Galatians. And reading it in context, we know this is talking about spiritual baptism. Isn't it? Do you see that little phrase? As many of you as were baptized into Christ? You see, all of the church receives water baptism. Are we all not only washed by the water, but washed by Jesus Christ himself. As the catechism would say it, we must move from the outward washing to the inward washing. This is Heidelberg Catechism question answer 72. Does this outward washing with water itself wash away sins? No. Only Jesus Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from our sins. Now, if water baptism is not what the Apostle is referencing here. Why use that phrase at all? Well, there are still a few reasons to use it. Here are three reasons why the word baptism is still used. First of all, it's true, even as we just saw from the summary of the Heidelberg Catechism, that we must move from the outward washing to what itself signifies. And so the Old Testament uses the language that we must be circumcised of heart. And the New Testament says that we must not only be baptized with water, we must be baptized into Christ. Have put on Christ. All of you here who have been baptized but not made profession of faith, you have a real mark upon your forehead. It really means something. But it is not salvation. None of the works of the law are salvation. None of the signs of the law are salvation in and of themselves. You must move to now embrace. You must move to embrace and grab hold and say, I have not only had the water put on to me, I have Christ himself put on me. You must embrace those promises. As many of you have. Reflect on those words, as many of you, and be sure that you receive not only the water, but also the inward Christ-indwelling. So that's the first reason why this term can be used. In both the Old and New Testament, there's a need to not only be circumcised, to be circumcised of heart. There's a need to not only be baptized, but to be baptized into Jesus. A second reason is because baptism is a powerful word to communicate union, just broadly speaking. In the New Testament, it's only ever used for things spiritually significant, but baptism was an everyday word in the Greek language. One of the things that the Greeks used the word baptism for was to speak about what happened when two rivers joined together. They say that was the point where those rivers were baptized. See, it's a word of union, it's a word of merging, it's a word of coming together. Let the sign be that sign of being brought into God's people and then work not only through the sign but into the inward true union with Jesus Christ who makes us heirs. And then the third reason why the apostle can use this this language is because verse 27 anticipates verse 28 and it's fitting to use the language of baptism to set up a verse where you're going to emphasize that it's every nation, every class, every gender. Why? Because baptism is the non-discriminatory sign, isn't it? Every nation receives baptism in the same way. There is not a special privilege for the believing Jew over the believing Gentile. Every class receives baptism in the same way. There's no privilege for the rich master over the poor bondservant. Every gender receives baptism in the same way. This sign is directly given to both male and female. And so it is, not only with the outward sign, but with the inward reality. And so it's appropriate to use the language of baptism, verse 27, anticipating verse 28. Salvation, people of God, is for everyone who believes. Trust not in the water. Trust not in the water together with your own obedience. We are all under the law. We are all under the curse of the law. No working, no sign can save us by themselves. Look past the sign. Look to the reality. Look past your disobedience. Let it drive you to repentance. Go to Moses. You know, we can't skip over Moses, right? We can't just skip over Moses. Go to Moses and there repent of your sins. But don't stop at Moses in any way. Don't stop at religiosity in the Old Testament or New Testament sense. Go then from Moses to Christ. Go from Moses, the intermediary, to the one who is finally the second party that can actually fulfill all the demands that were communicated through him. Go to Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our faithful God, our faithful God who also came to earth and lived as faithful God in the flesh, as faithful man on earth, born of woman, born under all the demands of the law and keeping all those demands perfectly. Lord Jesus, we need that obedience. We need you that we might be saved from our own disobedience, which puts us under the curse and not the blessing. Lord God, in looking to you, help us to see that yes, both what you communicated to Abraham and to Moses can become our gracious blessings by Christ. Lord, Lord, may each one here embrace Christ himself in his