Abounding Grace

Pastor Ed Taylor: The enemy would come and try to convince you that you need to go back to that bondage. I’m free. I’m free. I don’t live by a list of rules and regulations. I live by the freedom that Jesus Christ has given me. If I go off to the left, the Holy Spirit will convict me. If I go off to the right, the Holy Spirit will convict me because God lives in me by promise, and I live by faith.

Guest (Male): We’ve got a great study lined up for you today on Abounding Grace. You might find your place in Galatians 3 as we get ready to hand things over to Pastor Ed Taylor. Here in this chapter, Paul is laying out a wonderful doctrinal defense for the grace of God. The Galatians had strayed away from a loving relationship with Jesus and the grace he alone provides.

Instead, they were trying to live up to the law, as so many still do today. But as we’re learning through Galatians, that only leads to frustration and failure. Let’s join Pastor Ed and notice the real purpose of the law, which is to drive us to grace and Jesus.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Open your Bibles to Galatians chapter three. We’re going to pick up where we left off last time, Galatians chapter three, verse 19. We are in a segment of Galatians where it is more theological, more Bible study oriented, as we are learning the foundations of covenants and promises.

Paul is reminding the Galatian believers of that significant promise and relationship God initiated with Abraham. Remember, 600 years later the law came, and they’re wrestling with where it all fits in their relationship with Jesus. The Galatian believers were saved by grace. They were pagans; they were Gentiles. They had no relationship with the law whatsoever.

Teaching the foundation of the law to them is important because they don’t know it. I know that as you’re studying the Bible, there’s a lot that you’re learning that you didn’t know. You wonder sometimes why we are studying this. On Wednesdays right now, we’re going through the history of Israel in Exodus. You might think, how can Exodus be relatable thousands of years later?

You’ll find as you come through Bible study, it’s very relatable. There’s an eternal message in the faithfulness of God. We are learning again the covenant that was given from Mount Sinai to the children of Israel and why it was given. Paul is doing the same thing with the believers in Galatia because they’ve been ripped off. They’ve been ripped off specifically with something they didn’t know a lot about.

They were pagans and Gentiles, not really living in the Jewish world. They were just plopped out of their sinful life and dropped into life in Christ, and they were enjoying Jesus until false teachers came and confused them. In the confusion, they thought that maybe they needed to become Jews first, get circumcised, and follow all the laws. After all, they didn't know a lot about that.

Paul takes his pen in hand to the churches that he planted to correct the errors. He is exhorting believers to remain in grace. That is the message to us today: learning or, for the Galatians, reteaching the importance of God’s promises. God keeps his promises. He not only makes them but keeps them and reveals his reliability through promise.

God made a promise to Abraham, another man that was a Gentile living life in a pagan, idolatrous home. Yet God singled him out, related to him, called to him, reached out to him, and said, "Leave your country and follow me." He gave him all those promises that we studied earlier. His response was to leave home. He believed God.

The Bible states that because of his belief, it was accounted to him for righteousness. That is another way of saying that he came into relationship with God. What we would say today in the new covenant is that he was born again. He was living life by following God, and he followed God simply by believing. Abraham believed God with nothing in his life. He had no Bible, no scroll, and no law. God met him with righteousness, which became a gift of grace. Abraham experienced grace very early on.

So far in Galatians chapter three, we’ve learned four things. Number one, we learned what the law doesn't do. The law doesn't give you the Holy Spirit. The law is incapable of giving you the Holy Spirit. We learned that in verses one through five. Number two, we learned that the law does not give you righteousness. We learned that in verses six through nine. The law cannot convey righteousness to you; it only reveals.

Thirdly, we learned that the law does not justify you. It can only condemn you. When you read through the law, it can only show you your failures. Finally, number four, the law does not replace the promises of God. Or more particularly, the law does not replace the righteousness by faith in God's promises. Today we’re going to turn a more positive turn, and we’re going to learn what the law does exactly.

Why was the law given then? In verse 19, that question is asked. Paul anticipates a question and asks, "What purpose then does the law serve?" I know it doesn't give the Holy Spirit, righteousness, or justification, and it doesn't replace God's promises. So what does it do? He says it was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.

The whole context is still Abraham. Remember, the promise was to Abraham and his seed. That seed doesn't refer to the nation of Israel or many Jewish people; it refers to Messiah. It was added because of transgression until Messiah, the Savior, should come. It was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. He gives a twofold purpose for the law.

Number one, the law was given to demonstrate to us our inability to please God through our own good works. It was added because of transgressions to give definition for the failures in our lives. Now we understand that we cannot earn God's favor by our good works because we fail. We can’t offer to God perfection. No one is able to earn God's favor by their own good works.

The law was added to show the depth of man's sins. In Romans chapter seven, verse seven, Paul writes, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, 'You shall not covet.'" The law reveals sin generally, but it also reveals our own sin individually.

Paul was reading the Bible and noticing "Thou shalt not covet," and he realized that was in his life. It was something he should avoid. With sin in the world, God is giving definition to sin. The law is a temporary means to reveal our own sinfulness. I have used a simple illustration many times. As you’re driving and you notice the speed limit sign, that sign is revealing the law to you.

As you compare the number on the sign to your speedometer, you are able to see whether you’re a transgressor or not. There is a requirement on the street that you’re driving. This is the law, and the law reveals to you whether you’ve transgressed. That’s all the sign does. It’s there to reveal the transgression, and there are others there to enforce it.

There is a second part of the law that's important. It is like a coin; it has two sides to it. On one side, the law is used to reveal our own sinfulness. On the other side, the law reveals the holy, righteous standard of God. God defines holiness. I don’t define holiness; you don’t define holiness. God defines his righteous standard. We learn about his nature and the will of God.

The law reveals who God is and also who we are. It reveals the perfect nature of God and our imperfect nature. The law was given to Moses at the end of verse 19. It was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. It was an impersonal delivery. God himself did not deliver the law in person; he gave it to Moses, and Moses delivered on his behalf.

Paul brings this out to show you the impersonal part of the law. With the law, there is someone between us and the law. In John chapter one, verse 17, it says, "The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." This is a point he wants you to see. Angels were involved in the giving of law up on Mount Sinai, but it was delivered to Moses, and Moses delivered it to the people in an impersonal way.

The law doesn’t bring intimacy; it brings despair and difficulty. In the natural realm, the law is very discouraging if you’re a speeder. If we’re using that sign and you’re a speeder, every time you see a sign, you’re worried. You see it going, and then out of the corner of your eye, you see a police officer. By the time you see the police officer, it’s over.

The law bothers you because you’ve broken it. You’re currently breaking it, and you’ll probably break it tomorrow. That sign only reveals the possibility of getting a ticket. It doesn’t really give you any peace. Even if you keep the law, it’s a reminder that you have to keep it. It’s just a constant reminder that there are guardrails in your life.

If you take that and apply it to your relationship with God, legalism troubles you. Living life in a legalistic way and not by the grace of God separates you from God. I’m not saying you lose your salvation, but you’re not enjoying life. You wake up in the morning, and instead of anticipating all that God wants to do in your life, you’re just worried about what kind of mistakes you’re going to make.

Maybe you’re really working on an area you've been praying about. You want to improve, but now you’ve gone overboard. You feel like you're not going to be a good Christian if you don't get this one area. That’s all you’re worried and concerned about. You’re focused on that area and not God. It’s replaced your relationship. Now you’ve got something between you and God.

Even on a good day, you might develop a list of things you want to be more characteristic in your life. But the list has become so important that you see the list before you see God. There’s now a mediator, something between you and God, when the Bible clearly says that there’s one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Through him, all of us get to come to God immediately.

We get to wake up in the morning and ask, "God, what do you have for me?" instead of, "I better not sin today." That’s a miserable way to live. I hope I don’t yell today. I hope I don’t think bad thoughts. Instead, ask, "Lord, what do you have for me? I know I’m going to face this, and how do you want me to respond?" Step back and ask yourself if your religious life gives you life.

Are you really living the fullness of life and the enjoyment of life? Are you happy? Is there joy in your life? Are you experiencing the freedom that’s yours from the bondage of sin? If you’re really born again and the spirit is free in your life, then you don’t need to live in bondage. You don’t need to live in a perpetual state of self-condemnation, beating yourself up for the failures in your life.

You don’t have to live with an emptiness or a hopelessness. When you’re emphasizing your failure so much, you just kind of give up. You might feel that if you're a failure already, you might as well just fail more. Paul discusses this in Romans. He asks if we should just sin all the more because grace abounds. He says, "No way!"

We should live in such a way that we’re enjoying the release and the freedom that God has given to us. I met a brother last night who just got out of jail after two years. He’s talking about the wrestlings and the bondages he’s living with in the real world. I paused and said, "Let’s talk about what you just experienced. If I told you today that you should be in jail and I’m calling the cops, what would you say?"

He looked at me because I shocked him with that question. He said, "Well, I’m not going back. I’m done. I signed the paperwork, and they let me out. I’m finished." I asked what he would say if I kept pressing him and the officers were here. He said, "I’m free. You guys can do whatever you want to me, but I’m telling you, I’m free. I have paid my debt to society and I’m free."

I asked him how he knew, and he just said, "I know." That was wonderful. He’s going to walk in freedom because I think he got it last night. I told him that with that same confidence he has with his past physical incarceration, he has that right now in Christ. Exactly what he's struggling with, he has that right now.

He needed to leave here with the sense of knowing. That sense of knowing gets translated into believing, and then you live in your freedom because that is yours right now. The enemy would come and try to convince you that you need to go back to that bondage. You say, "I’m free. I’m free. I don’t live by a list of rules and regulations. I live by the freedom that Jesus Christ has given me."

If I go off to the left, the Holy Spirit will convict me. If I go off to the right, the Holy Spirit will convict me because God lives in me by promise, and I live by faith. That’s what he’s saying in verse 19. Verse 20 says, "Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God?" He answers, "Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, then truly righteousness would have been by the law.

But scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." With the law, a mediator was given, but with the promise to Abraham, it was direct. He’s contrasting the promise by faith with Abraham to the law that came 600 years later. With Abraham, God came personally and promised grace. With the law, God came through Moses, a middleman.

With Abraham, there is such sweet closeness that God has. He came to Abraham personally, which was an amazing thing. God can reach people that we think aren’t reached. He can use dreams and visions. He can appear to people personally, speak to them, and lead them. He can speak to the cares and concerns in their lives. In the Book of Acts, he ministered to Cornelius.

God was ministering to Cornelius as Cornelius was thinking about him. He sent somebody to him. This closeness and intimacy is something that God has given to us by faith. It reminded me of us gathering together today. We kind of take it for granted because it’s regular, but this gathering that we call church is a very important reminder of the intimacy that we have with God and each other.

The church gatherings are times for the family of God to come together and worship God. It is a time to reorient their entire lives toward God on the first day of the week, the last day of the week, or the middle of the week. It doesn’t really matter when we gather together. As we come together, it’s a reminder of the closeness and intimacy that God has for us.

It’s like a Christmas gathering or a Thanksgiving family reunion. Even if a family reunion has people we have to deal with, it doesn't matter; we love them anyway. We’re family. We’re going to come together and enjoy the Lord. We’re going to remember we’re not alone in this upside-down, sideways world. There are many believers all around us.

I think of this little church here where people are coming in from Aurora, Denver, and Wheat Ridge. You’re coming together to worship and learning about how much God loves you. You’re not getting that in the world or on social media. Think about your job. The thing that we share today that’s probably the closest to unity that we could possibly have is when we’re singing.

We’re all singing the same thing almost at the same time, in the same melody and tempo. We’re as close as we can be to unity. It doesn’t matter if you can’t sing or if your voice is off-key. The Bible says to make a joyful noise to the Lord. It doesn’t matter if you hum it or whistle it. When you’re singing, there’s unity.

Can you imagine at work your boss coming in and saying, "Okay everybody, it feels like we’re all disconnected. Come into my office and let’s sing a song to God together"? That would be weird. You’re not going to get this at work or in the world. You might get glimpses of it, but you don’t get this. This is God’s gift to us.

It is closeness and intimacy where you can let your guard down. You’re on edge and protective in this world, and you’re in a war. But you don’t have to be in war here. You can let your guard down and cry a little bit. You would probably never cry in your cubicle, but you would cry walking into church because you’re feeling the presence of God.

Guest (Male): Today on Abounding Grace, we’ve listened in to a portion of Pastor Ed Taylor’s study in Galatians. If you joined us late or would just like to give this a second listen, go online to aboundinggraceradio.com or look for our program wherever you get your podcasts. Have you had a chance to download our Calvary Church app? This is another great way to take in the teaching of God’s word.

We enjoy hearing from our listeners. Even just a quick hello telling us the station you listen to means a lot. Pastor Ed reads these comments. Let us know how we can pray for you as well. You can email us through the website at aboundinggraceradio.com. Please remember that Abounding Grace is made possible through the support of our listeners.

We look to the Lord to provide and guide. When you give a donation of $25 or more to Abounding Grace, you’re invited to request a copy of Pastor Ed’s book, *Letting Go of Your Past*. This encouraging book will help you release emotional burdens and embrace our God-given identity in Jesus. You’ll also learn how to apply biblical insights for overcoming anger, bitterness, and resentment.

Replace shame-filled condemnation with spirit-filled conviction and then experience the true freedom of forgiveness, even in difficult situations. Again, that’s *Letting Go of Your Past* by Pastor Ed. To order it today, call us at 877-30-GRACE. That’s 877-30-GRACE. Or go online to calvaryco.store. Be sure to join Pastor Ed next time for more teaching from Galatians, right here on Abounding Grace.