Christ's Fulfillment of the Covenants

[0:00] Amen. Tonight's text brings us to the point that Paul's been building toward for all of chapter 3.

[0:15] ! When we see that point, you'll realize that Paul has been making it throughout the chapter. Tonight's verses are Galatians chapter 3, verses 23 through 25. After we read those verses, we'll do some review.

[0:29] The ESV ends verse 25 with a comma. If you have other translations, it most likely ends verse 25 with a period. So we're going to treat the comma in the ESV in verse 25 as if it were a period.

[0:45] The meaning doesn't change. So let's go ahead and read Galatians chapter 3, verses 23 through 25. Paul wrote, Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

[1:02] 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.

[1:14] Here's tonight's main idea. God's covenant with Abraham and God's covenant with Moses both find their fulfillment in Christ and the salvation that Christ provides to people who put their faith in Him.

[1:27] When we're talking about God's covenant with Moses, remember that we're talking about God's law. So we can use the Mosaic covenant and God's law interchangeably. For the last three lessons, we've mentioned the unifying theme in the first 25 verses of Galatians chapter 3.

[1:46] That theme is why tonight's main idea probably sounds familiar to you. Here's that overall theme one more time. God's covenant with Moses complements His covenant with Abraham, and both covenants find their fulfillment in Christ and the salvation that Christ provides to the people who put their faith in Him.

[2:05] Because a couple of weeks have passed since we last looked at Galatians, and even longer than that have passed since we looked at some of the earlier sections in chapter 3, let's do some quick review.

[2:17] In verses 1 through 5, Remember that those false teachers were Judaizers, people who claimed to be Christians.

[2:28] However, they taught that to be saved, Christians still needed to follow the laws of Judaism. Paul said that the Galatians had been bewitched by them, and this bewitching happened approximately a year after Paul had taught the Galatians the true gospel.

[2:44] The main idea for the first five verses was this. After being saved by grace alone through faith alone, believers who act as if they must be justified by works have lost their minds.

[2:57] The second section of Galatians 3 covers verses 6 through 14. These verses focus on God's covenant with Abraham, and the main idea for that section was that Paul uses Scripture to show how God's covenant with Abraham demonstrates justification by faith alone.

[3:17] The third section of chapter 3 covered verses 15 through 22. That was the section we studied in our previous lesson two weeks ago. That section covered the relationship between God's covenant with Moses and God's covenant with Abraham.

[3:35] The Judaizers wrongly asserted that God's covenant with Moses, which was the law, was superior to God's covenant with Abraham because the law came later. The problem with that argument is that nobody except Christ could perfectly obey the law.

[3:51] Rather than replacing God's covenant with Abraham, God's covenant with Moses makes the Abrahamic covenant even more important. The main idea from that third section was this.

[4:04] The law exposes sin and demonstrates the need for justification by faith alone. This brings us up to tonight's passage and tonight's main idea.

[4:15] Here is that main idea for tonight's passage one more time. God's covenant with Abraham and God's covenant with Moses both find their fulfillment in Christ and the salvation that Christ provides to people who put their faith in Him.

[4:31] Tonight's passage splits into two sections. And in verses 23 and 24, Paul reminds us of believers' past situation. So believers' past situation.

[4:45] Are your blanks for this section? Look at verses 23 and 24 again. Paul here uses two word pictures to describe the past.

[4:56] He says, 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.

[5:15] You may have noticed a change here. Paul has been writing in the third person since verse 6, But he switches to first person here. As he writes verses 23 and 24, he uses we and our whenever he talks to the Galatians.

[5:32] He first of all identifies himself with the Jewish people to whom both covenants were given. In a broader sense, though, he's identifying himself with all of mankind, both Jew and Gentile.

[5:45] Even the most pagan Gentile who had never heard of the true God is under obligation to keep God's moral standards and also God's spiritual standards. And if that person disregards those standards, we know that he will face the judgment of God.

[6:01] Both verbs in verse 23 emphasize that God's law and commandments hold us in prison and keep us confined so that we cannot escape.

[6:12] The Greek word translated held captive means to protect by military guards. When it was applied to a city, it was used of both keeping the enemy out and of keeping the inhabitants in.

[6:26] It's used in the New Testament of the attempt to keep Paul in Damascus. Luke describes how the Jews were watching the gates day and night to kill Paul when he writes about that same event in Acts.

[6:39] And the same verb is used metaphorically of God's peace and power in other places in Scripture, and it's applied to the law here in Galatians. So these terms show us the bondage of the Old Covenant.

[6:54] Paul defines the Mosaic Covenant as something by which God corralled his people as if they were under house arrest. The law was a restraint that God had placed on them because of their sinful hearts, their propensity to fall into idolatry, and also their covetousness.

[7:12] But the law also pointed them to Christ and their need for him as their Savior. When Paul wrote Romans, he expanded on the concept of people being in a spiritual prison before they came to faith in Christ.

[7:26] This bondage applied to both Jews and Gentiles, even though the Gentiles lacked specific knowledge of the law. Listen to Romans 1, verses 18-23.

[7:37] Again, these verses are Romans 1, verses 18-23. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

[7:56] For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made.

[8:13] So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

[8:25] Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

[8:37] Then if we move to chapter 2 of Romans, Romans 2, 14-16, make it clear that ignorance of God's law is no excuse. Listen to Romans 2, verses 14-16.

[8:51] For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

[9:02] 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 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

[9:18] Forgiveness means nothing to a person who is either unaware that he has done anything wrong or who is unconvinced that the wrong he has done produces any kind of serious consequences to him.

[9:33] And grace means nothing to a person who does not know he's sinful and that his sinfulness means that he's separated from God and also damned eternally. Teaching grace is pointless until the impossible demands of the law and the reality of our guilt before God is taught.

[9:53] Paul uses the prison and prisoner reference here in Galatians to remind his readers just how serious the situation is before people come to faith. Paul makes it clear at the end of verse 23 that he's talking about a specific faith.

[10:10] The ESV says that we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. The reference to the coming faith is important.

[10:23] If you have the King James Version, verse 23 is translated as, But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed.

[10:36] The New American Standard says, But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith, which was later to be revealed.

[10:49] The thing we need to see from looking at the different translations is the definite article in front of faith. Paul never references a faith, he references the faith.

[11:01] When the Bible writers talk about the faith, they are referencing the biblically orthodox view of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord as taught by the apostles. In his letter, Jude made a similar urgent plea for the faith.

[11:17] Like Paul, Jude also wrote to oppose false teachers. Listen to verses 3 and 4 of Jude. Jude said in verses 3 and 4, Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

[11:41] For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

[11:56] Through the Holy Spirit, God revealed the Christian faith to the apostles and their associates in the first century. Their New Testament writings, in conjunction with the Old Testament scriptures, make up the true knowledge of Jesus Christ and are all that believers need for life and godliness.

[12:15] God, with finality and certainty, delivered his complete body of revelation in scripture. Any system that claims new revelation or new doctrine must be disregarded as false.

[12:27] God's word is all sufficient. It is all that believers need as they contend for the faith. A popular saying today is that a specific belief is less than important.

[12:40] Some people say that we just need to have faith regardless of what we believe. Have you heard people say something like that? Well, people who claim that we just need to have a general faith are wrong.

[12:53] Faith itself does nothing to help us if the object of our faith is wrong. I can have faith that I can fly if I jump off the sanctuary roof, but gravity will prove my faith and my flying ability to be very misguided.

[13:09] To be saved, the object of our faith must be the Lord Jesus Christ and what is taught about him in the Bible. Jesus succinctly said the same thing in John 14, 6.

[13:21] Here is John 14, 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

[13:35] Let's go back to our Galatians text and move on to verse 24 now. Paul wrote in Galatians 3, 24. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.

[13:51] Paul, in the original Greek, used the word pedagogue here. It's the word translated as guardian in the ESV. The New King James and the New American Standard translate the word pedagogue as tutor.

[14:06] And the King James translates it as schoolmaster. In Greek culture, the pedagogue was the slave who was placed in charge of the heirs while they were minors.

[14:16] He would take them to school. He would administer discipline. And under this arrangement, although they were heirs, they were treated almost as if they were slaves.

[14:28] So the law, Paul says, functioned like a pedagogue. And this pedagogue was not only the child's teacher. He was more so the disciplinarian.

[14:39] He was often harsh to the point of cruelty. And if you see one depicted in ancient drawings, that pedagogue usually has a rod or a cane in his hand. J.B. Phillips said that the modern equivalent is a strict governess.

[14:56] And Paul uses the same word again in 1 Corinthians 4.15. In 1 Corinthians 4.15, the ESV translates the word this time as guide.

[15:06] So here is 1 Corinthians 4.15. Paul wrote there, For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

[15:22] In other words, there are plenty of people to discipline you, but Paul is saying that he was the only one to love them. Later in that same chapter, Paul asks a question.

[15:35] Here is 1 Corinthians 4.15. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness? When we look at our Galatians text and put the examples together from verse 23 and 24, consider what those examples tell us.

[15:56] The law expresses the will of God for his people, telling us both what to do and what not to do. The law also warns us about the penalties for disobedience.

[16:08] Because we all have disobeyed, we all have fallen under the law's just condemnation. We are all under sin, therefore we are all under the law.

[16:19] By nature and practice, we saw from verse 10 that we are under a curse, and that is the curse of the law. Nothing we can do can deliver us from the cruel tyranny of this curse.

[16:32] Like a jailer, the law has thrown us into prison, and like a disciplinarian, the law rebukes and punishes us for our misbehavior. But we're not done with verse 24 yet, and verse 24 has some good news.

[16:48] The verse continues after telling us that the law was our guardian. The good news of verse 24 is that our strict guardian was just temporary. Look at verse 24 one more time.

[17:02] So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. Once again, we see that the law's purpose is to point us toward a Savior, the one and only Savior who can justify us when we put our faith in Him.

[17:21] Flip over to Matthew chapter 19 for a little bit. Matthew 19, 16 gives us a good example of what the law could and could not do for the Jews.

[17:34] In Matthew 19, 16 through 22, we see Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler. So here are Matthew chapter 19 verses 16 through 22.

[17:49] And behold, a man came up to Him talking about Jesus saying, Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? And He said to Him, Why do you ask me about what is good?

[18:04] There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. He said to Him, Which ones? And Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[18:28] The young man said to Him, All these I have kept, what do I still lack? Jesus said to Him, If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow Me.

[18:46] When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. So the young man here had everything that anyone could desire, but he was not satisfied.

[19:00] He tried to keep the commandments all his life, but something still was missing. But think about what happened. What did we see in verse 16? Those commandments brought him to Christ.

[19:12] That is the one purpose of the law, to create in lost sinners a sense of guilt and need. The sad thing is that the young man was not honest as he compared himself to the law.

[19:24] Nobody could have perfectly kept the commandments that Jesus listed. Jesus even did the young man a favor by pointing out that he coveted his possessions. Sadly for the young man, though, Jesus' meaning escaped him and he went away without eternal life.

[19:43] So this shows that the law kept the Jews under its protective custody. It watched over them, keeping them safe until it could lead them to Christ. So for those that put their faith in Christ, the bondage was temporary.

[19:58] God kept those people in bondage until the full mystery of the gospel would be revealed in the person of Christ. Some received justification by faith alone in Christ alone.

[20:11] Those, like any true believer today, received eternal life. Others, like the rich young ruler, went away sad because the law could never save them. Writing about those who turned to Christ after realizing that they are condemned by the law, G.G. Finley said these words in an old commentary.

[20:32] He said, the law was all the wall standing guard over its subjects, watching and checking every attempt to escape, but intending to hand them over in due time to the charge of faith.

[20:46] The law posts its ordinances like so many sentinels round the prisoner's cell. The cordon is complete. He tries again and again to break out.

[20:57] The iron circle will not yield. The deliverance will yet be his. The day of faith approaches. It dawned long ago in Abraham's promise.

[21:08] Even now its light shines into his dungeon and he hears the words of Jesus, Thy sins are forgiven thee. Go in peace. Law, like the stern jailer, has after all been a good friend if it is reserved him for this.

[21:24] It presents the sinner from escaping to a futile and elusive freedom. So keep that point in mind. For believers, Law, the stern jailer, has after all been a good friend.

[21:40] The concept of being trained explains the Mosaic Covenant's emphasis on earthly blessings. God used the physical blessings of the Mosaic Covenant to train people by teaching them to take small steps to please him.

[21:55] The law points to the promise by showing that only faith can justify. It leads us to Christ and when we believe in Christ we receive all the blessings that God promised to Abraham.

[22:10] So the role of the pedagogue was never permanent and it was a great day of deliverance when a boy finally gained his freedom from the stern disciplinarian. That disciplinarian's purpose was to take care of the child until he grew into adulthood and at that time the relationship was changed.

[22:29] The two of them might remain close and friendly but the tutor had completed his assignment and so he had no more authority or control over the child that had now become a young man and that young man had no more responsibility to be directly under that tutor's discipline.

[22:46] Only Christ can deliver us from the prison to which the curse of the law has brought us because Christ was made a curse for us and only Christ can deliver us from the law's harsh discipline because he makes the sons who obey from love for their father and are no longer naughty children needing tutors to punish them.

[23:11] Think about the Jews' situation though. The Jews lived under constant pressure to follow the law in every part of life but they were treated this way so that they might be kept morally and religiously pure.

[23:25] How did that work out for them? Well, even with these restraints they kept falling into immorality and idolatry. So that's why Paul implies here the foolishness of any Christian Jew or Gentile ever returning to live under those laws.

[23:43] someone returning to those laws would be placing himself under the impossible system after he has tasted the full liberty of the gospel. And that's why Paul started this chapter way back in verse 1 with O foolish Galatians!

[23:59] The sole purpose of the law, God's divinely appointed pedagogue, was to lead men to Christ so that they might be justified. After a person comes to Christ there is no longer the need for external ceremonies and rituals to act as guides and disciplinarians because the new inner principles operate through the indwelling presence of Christ in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

[24:25] So the law in the ceremonial sense is done away with. In the moral sense for the Christian the law becomes an intimate friend that a believer seeks to love and favor.

[24:36] Now that we've looked at the believer's past situation let's move to verse 25 in the final section of tonight's passage.

[24:47] In verse 25 Paul reemphasizes the believer's present situation. So we've had the believer's past situation now we have the believer's present situation.

[25:01] Look at verse 25 again. Paul says So Paul again reminds us that we are free from the bondage of the law.

[25:16] What God started with the promise and formalized in a covenant cannot be replaced by a temporary law. The promise has endured into the present and now it has been completely fulfilled in the arrival of the promised Christ the Messiah.

[25:33] God has kept his word to Abraham. Think back to when we looked at the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said these words in Matthew 5 verses 17 and 18.

[25:45] Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you until heaven and earth pass away not an iota not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

[26:07] Christ's work on the cross also takes us to further back into God's dealings with Abraham. As one from Abraham's line, Jesus completes the promise to Abraham.

[26:19] Jesus is the seed to which the promise pointed. We learned that when we looked at Galatians chapter 3 verses 16 and 19. Christ perfectly lived the life of faith that is described in scripture and he died so that the blessing of God would be made known in all nations.

[26:39] Through trusting in Christ we become children of Abraham or said another way we become the people of God. Abraham all along was pointing us to Christ. In John 8 56 Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.

[27:00] He saw it and was glad. That's an astounding statement when you think about it. Abraham was justified by faith in the promise of God.

[27:11] That promise ever since the beginning was pointing to Christ. The only way to come to God is through Christ and Christ alone. Abraham and every other saved person in the Old Testament had faith that was pointing to Christ.

[27:28] Because of the progressive nature of God's revelation, those Old Testament saints may not have realized all the details about what God was going to do in Christ, but their faith still was in the gospel.

[27:43] Before Christ came, the law of external ritual and ceremony, especially in the sacrificial system, pictured the once-for-all perfect and effective sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world.

[27:57] When the perfect Christ comes into the believer's heart today, those imperfect pictures of him have no more purpose or significance, and the same was true for the Galatians.

[28:08] Those Judaizers refused to relinquish the ceremonial law even after making a profession of belief in Christ. To them, trust in Christ was merely added to the works of the law.

[28:22] And because they held on to the bondage of the law, the Judaizers could not receive the freedom of faith. Said another way, because they insisted on remaining under the tutor, they never advanced to the care of the Savior.

[28:38] Consider that last point again. Because they insisted on remaining under the tutor, they never advanced to the care of the Savior. How sad is that?

[28:50] The Judaizers knew the gospel, but they failed to fully accept it, to fully realize what the gospel meant. In a sense, they were like adults who intentionally only ate baby food.

[29:04] The law was never intended to be anything more than a temporary means of showing men their sin and of leading them to the Savior. Its internal moral demands left men ridden with guilt.

[29:17] Its external ceremonies like circumcision, offerings, washing, Sabbaths, and feasts symbolized the need for cleansing from that guilt. Now that faith in Jesus has come, a person is no longer under the law as a tutor.

[29:34] He's now out from the law's symbolism, the law's bondage, and the law's discipline. That's because the law's purpose has been fulfilled. Jumping back over to Romans, Paul wrote these words in Romans 6, verse 14.

[29:52] Here is Romans 6, 14. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace.

[30:04] So listen to that one more time. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace. That great verse raises another question.

[30:16] Because we are no longer under the law, does that mean we can live however we want when we become Christians? We are no longer held captive by the law, but God's moral standards remain unchanged.

[30:32] The New Testament reiterates them, and the power of the resident Holy Spirit in the believer enables obedience to them. Earlier, we heard from Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount, when we looked at Matthew 5, verses 17 and 18.

[30:49] Here's Matthew 5, 18 again, this time with verses 19 and 20 added to it. So Matthew 5, 18 through 20 say, and again this is Jesus speaking, For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

[31:12] Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

[31:27] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Because we have the entire New Testament, we have a negative view of the scribes and Pharisees.

[31:44] When Jesus first spoke these words, though, the typical Jew looked at the scribes and the Pharisees as the standard for righteousness. You see, from these verses that Jesus upheld the law, while at the same time signaled that external obedience to the law would never be enough to get into heaven.

[32:06] Paul anticipated that people would ask whether the law has become obsolete now that the faith has been revealed. Let's go back to Romans 6 to see how Paul answered the question that he asked in verse 14.

[32:21] Here are Romans 6, 15-23. Romans 6, 15-23 say, what then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?

[32:35] By no means. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

[32:51] But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. Let's pause there for a second.

[33:03] Let's look at the difference there. The Judaizers were living out of external compliance, but look at what verse 17 says. It says, but thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart.

[33:20] So, continuing on from there, he says, but thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

[33:35] I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.

[33:54] For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?

[34:05] For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin, have become slaves of God, the fruit that you get leads to sanctification, and its end, eternal life.

[34:19] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. For today's believer, the purpose of the law has changed.

[34:34] The moral law teaches us how to express our love to God, and it gives us a divine pattern for self- examination. In that sense, it's like a light or a mirror for us to use.

[34:47] And because Christians live in the maturity of the gospel, James calls the moral law the law of liberty. That comes from James 2.12. We are no longer in the bondage of old covenant people.

[35:01] We serve God as freeborn sons empowered by the Holy Spirit. The same person who regenerated us is the one who raised Christ.

[35:12] Consequently, that power that raised Christ is the power at work in us. And so for us, the moral law becomes a royal law. And just as the law brought the people to Christ in the past, it functions in a similar way with people today.

[35:31] God brings sinners to Christ through the law's work. The law teaches that God demands perfect obedience from each person and condemns any disobedience.

[35:43] It causes sinners to realize that they cannot save themselves, and so they must turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom alone is righteousness and perfection. Listen to how Joseph Pippa described the purpose of the law for believers today.

[36:01] He said, It is good for us to remember our sin and the curse from which we have been delivered, to fill periodically the awful reality of a Christless existence, so that we might be filled with gratitude and love for all that God has done for us in Christ.

[36:18] Consequently, we thank God for the law and seek to use it biblically. So remember the main idea. God's covenant with Abraham and God's covenant with Moses both find their fulfillment in Christ and the salvation that Christ provides to the people who put their faith in him.

[36:40] Paul continually points out to the Galatians that they've done nothing to merit God's salvation. They did nothing to become children of Abraham. It is the grace of God that saves us, just like it was the grace of God that saved Paul on the road to Damascus.

[36:58] When you think about it, God's grace in the gospel is stunning. It's not a moral improvement program. It's not about rule keeping or checking off boxes.

[37:09] It's not about being nice to others, which is good for me since I'm usually not nice to James. And it's not about getting our relationships and problems fixed so that we can have a successful life.

[37:21] It's about salvation by grace and that grace is full and free. All believers receive the Holy Spirit when they're saved. And all believers receive the Holy Spirit the same way that Abraham did.

[37:38] Through faith alone, we receive God's Spirit in us. Paul mentions the Spirit and the gift of the Spirit in Galatians 3.14. And it's a reminder that the blessings we receive in the new covenant in Christ are even greater than the blessings under the old covenant.

[37:56] Having the Holy Spirit changes everything. As believers, we actually have the living presence of Christ in us. Paul opened chapter 3 by talking about the Spirit.

[38:08] In verse 2, he said, Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Later, Paul tells us that those who are led by the Spirit are not under the law.

[38:22] We'll see that when we get to chapter 5, verse 18. We also read that same message about being under grace instead of being under the law.

[38:33] And we saw that when we looked at Romans 6.14. So, the theme of freedom from the law in Christ is still prominent near the end of Galatians as we get to verse 25 of chapter 3.

[38:46] And we'll see as we go through the remainder of Galatians that that same emphasis is there. We'll see just how important the gift of the Spirit is. So, to set us up for the coming weeks, listen to what Paul said elsewhere about the gift of the Spirit.

[39:02] These verses are Romans chapter 8, verses 9-11. Romans 8, 9-11 says, You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

[39:19] Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

[39:32] If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

[39:47] Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the reminder of why You provided the law. we thank You that it points us to a Savior.

[40:01] And we thank You even more that You provided that Savior for us. For those of us who believe in that Savior, let us become even more and more willing to point others to that Savior as well.

[40:16] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.