Ralph Porter

© 2003

    We live in a computer age. Computers are everywhere. Even in churches! Prognostication some years ago: a church that doesn't have a computer and a FAX machine won't be able to stay in touch with the current generation. That revolution has taken place more rapidly than anyone ever imagined! In recent years I've been learning that people expect me to communicate everything by computer communication. I already can't stay in touch without my computer. If it goes down, I'm through that's a new condition! The computer is able to do much more work in less time.

    However, you don't have to know very much about computers to realize that a computer is really a very stupid little machine. It doesn't really know anything! A computer believes anything you tell it. It has no capacity to distinguish between truth and error. If you teach it that 1 + 1 = 3, 2 + 2 = 5, and 3 + 3 = 7, it will believe whatever you teach it! The machine has no way to know that what you have taught it is false. It records it in its memory bank and it stays there until someone erases it and teaches it something different (unless your hard drive crashes!). Therefore, there is a well-known saying in the computer world: "Garbage in, garbage out!"

    Our mind is much like a computer. Teach people something long enough and enthusiastically enough, even if it's not true, and they will believe it until you come up with some way to erase the memory and record the truth in their mind.

    We often get ideas in our head and they are really hard to get rid of. Like the song that kept hounding you the other night when you wanted to go to sleep! The thought is there and you can't get rid of it! I wish I could erase some of the old ideas stored in our minds, and replace them with a new data base, built on the truth of God's Word!

    Some years ago I heard about a pastor who was nicknamed "John 3:16." He was given that name because he always preached from John 3:16, throughout his years of ministry. Once someone got up their nerve to ask him, "Pastor, why do you always preach from John 3:16?"

The preacher responded: "Because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

. . ."

    I sometimes think I would like to be identified with Galatians 3:21-22:

        Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if 

    a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly 

    have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a 

    prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus 

    Christ, might be given to those who believe.

A proper understanding of this passage is critical to be able to answer the cults of our own day, just as it was for the Judaizers of Paul's day.

    I was conversing with a professor colleague in Guatemala about the tremendous success of cults in Latin America, as well as other parts of the world, even among evangelicals. He responded that the basic problem is that many believers--even pastors--don't know what we believe or why we believe it.

    I served for a number of years on the EFCA Board of Ministerial Standing, the group responsible for pastoral credentials for every Evangelical Free Church pastor in the United States. I had the privilege of reading each new man's summary statement of what he believes and why. It's frightening to read the lack of clarity among pastors on basic, fundamental issues of the faith!

    One area of ignorance by many people is the doctrinal foundation Paul deals with in Galatians 3-4. So, let's erase the old ideas we have stored away in our memory banks and look at what God wants to teach us.

    We're going to consider the implications of a transformed life when we get to chapters 5-6, but we're not ready for that until we understand the importance of authentic Christian freedom--of getting rid of the rule book--of eliminating the performance-based mentality that I have to be "good enough" to make it with God! Paul spends twice as long emphasizing our freedom as he does talking about the transformed life, because more people are enslaved by trying to live by the rules!

    Galatians 3:19-22 points out that the Judaizers, like modern cults and even many evangelicals today, don't understand the purpose of the law.

    He begins with a logical question:

        If what Paul has been teaching is true:

            If the law wasn't given until after the promise, . . .

            If it can't be added later as an amendment that changes the promise, . . .

            If our spiritual inheritance doesn't come through law, . . .

    Paul answers his own question in 3:19a:

        "It was added [alongside the promise] because of transgressions"

    Paul's answer permits two possible interpretations, both of which are possible, and both of which are true. First, the law was given to teach God's people how to live in a pagan world, until the true seed who had been promised should come. It was a temporary guide, given to help God's people live in a way which would be worthy of the God they were worshiping. It was given to show us how to be different, in a godly way.

    The second interpretation of Paul's explanation that the law was added because of transgression is that the law was given to reveal our sinfulness. Faced with God's standard, no one can stand up and present himself or herself as just or holy-none of us make the grade. Thus, when we look into the law, we become aware of our sin, so that we realize our need for a Savior.

    In answering his question concerning the legitimate purpose of the law, Paul points out three ways that the law is inferior to God's promise. By showing us these weakness, Paul demonstrates that God's blessing is received by faith in His promise, not by works based on the law.

1. The law was temporary   3:19a

        What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of 

    transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.

    The law was only given until something better happened--"until the true seed should come." Jesus was the true seed to whom the inheritance was promised (3:16) When that seed would come, the true heir, then the law would no longer be needed. He would take the place of the temporary guide.

2. The law was given through a mediator   3:19b-20

        The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, 

    however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.

    Diverse interpretations have been offered for verse 20. However, whatever interpretation you accept, the passage clearly presents two principles. First, it's clear that the promise was given directly by God Himself, while the law was given by mediators. Therefore the promise is superior to the law.

    The second point Paul clearly wants us to understand it that the implication from the existence of a mediator is that whenever a mediator is present, it indicates that the agreement depends on two parties. Both have to fulfill their part. In the case of the law, since only one party is able to fulfill their end of the deal, the contract is broken.

    However, in contrast to the law, the promise has no mediator. It's a unilateral promise. It doesn't depend on us! We don't have to "keep our end of the bargain!" God guarantees the result! God promised to do it. Period. Nothing else is needed. So then, which is better? Which would you prefer to base your future on?

3. The law could never give life   21

        Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a 

    law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly 

    have come by the law.

    The law doesn't contradict the promise. The law was never intended to give life; nor to justify. Such an intention would have been destined to failure. The only thing law can do, by its very nature, is condemn. It shows us when we fail to do what we are supposed to do.

    If the law could somehow produce obedience, and give life or justify, it wouldn't have been necessary for Christ to die, or for God to give us salvation through grace. The law came along to show us that we need salvation by faith. Since we're all sinners, we cannot save ourselves. We need the grace of God.

    In addition to the three weaknesses Paul points out in the law, the same passage also points to three truths we ought to learn concerning the law. Every believer ought to memorize and hang onto these three essential truths.

1. No law has ever been able to give life   3:21

         Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For 
    if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would 

    certainly have come by the law.

    Law never justifies. Never has. Never will. The grammatical construction Paul uses indicates that the condition suggested isn't true. It's impossible, yesterday, today or tomorrow, before or after our decision to trust Christ. No law has ever existed, nor ever will exist, that will enable lost people to be saved.

2. Scripture places all of us under sin   3:22a

         But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, . . .

    Scripture shuts up all people under sin. It's the "universal set" among humans (with the exception of Christ!). We're all locked up together in that large pen (set) of those labeled "condemned sinners."

    The problems we have with security of our salvation, or of works for salvation, have come because we don't really accept the gravity of our sin problem. The Bible indicates that any sin is grave from God's perspective! If the security of our salvation depends on being good enough-only committing "minor" sins-we're already in big trouble. We're secure, not because our sins are small enough for God to accept us, but because we are "in Christ. Period!!

3. God's promise is for grave sinners who trust in Christ   3:22b

        But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that 

    what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given 

    to those who believe.

    Paul explains how the law is related to God's promise by defining the true purpose of the law. The law was added alongside the promise. It was never given to take the place of the promise--nor to amend the contract! It was given temporarily to condemn all people and to demonstrate the reason for our condemnation. It could never give life because nobody could keep it completely everyone becomes a law breaker!

    So we are left with a choice. Would we rather stand on our own two feet before God and have Him decide how to treat us on the basis of what we have done? Or, would we rather be evaluated on the basis of what Christ has done? For me that's no contest. I know I can never measure up to God's standards. If we go by anybody's rule book--even my own-I'm in serious trouble.

    But that's the good news! Because of the work Christ has already done on the cross we are saved by faith in Christ alone. But we also walk on the basis of faith! We enjoy fellowship with God, not because of what we have done, but on the basis of what Christ has done. What are you trusting in this morning? Are you trying to earn your way to fellowship with God? Why not stop trying and start trusting? Trust Him for eternal life, if you've never received that gift. Trust Him too as it relates to the basis for fellowship with God. Jesus paid it all. Therefore we can now enjoy fellowship with Him. Will you trust Him?