New Testament 6
Lecture 23
Galatians 3: 19- 4:7
Proof of Explanation (3:9-4:7)
•	1. The Law is to reveal ______________2. The Law prepares for the coming of ______________3. The Law acts as a moral ______________/guardian
Introduction:
•	It has been said often and loudly, “You can’t legislate morality”. It means that the mere passing of ______________ cannot and will not change the ______________ of ______________.  Laws cannot produce human goodness.  Yet, law does set a standard of  minimum morality and standards of what is right and wrong.  
A Speed Limit Sign
•	Does this guarantee a careful, considerate driver at every wheel? Why not?

•	What does the Speed Limit sign do to the violator? 
•	It can condemn him when he violates it. 
Galatians 3: 1-18
•	Allowed Paul to show what the ______________ cannot do. In 3: 19 he turns to show what the law can do.  It is good to know both of these. This will allow us to use the law in a biblical manner when talking to lost men and women.  
The Law
•	Still has not power to confirm ______________ on anyone.  Paul was not teaching that it had no value though.  What is its purpose? At least here we learn it has a twofold purpose: 1) to reveal sin until Christ should come (3: 19-22) and 2) to prepare God’s people for Christ’s arrival (3:23-4:7).  The Law has proven to be useful until the person comes to salvation in Jesus Christ and then it has no further part to play.
•	The Law is to Reveal Sin (3: 19)
“Why the Law then?” This is a most appropriate question for Paul to address here.  “It was added because of transgressions, have been ordained through the agency angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made.” In many ways this is one of the most difficult passages Paul penned.  We must understand verse 19 to understand the whole paragraph.  Someone has estimated that 200-300 different interpretations have been given for verses 19-20.  
KJV, RSV, and NASB
Read that the______________“was given because of ______________”. This is a proper translation, but the question is what does it mean?  NEB translates that the law was added “to make wrongdoing a legal offence.”  Perhaps the best understanding is that the law was added “to show what sin is”.  This means that the law shows that sin is a violation of God’s will. Romans 4:15 makes it clear that without a standard, there can be no transgression (crossing the boundary).  The law drew that line or erected the fence of offence.  
Dr. J. W. MacGorman,
Says, “the ______________ converts sin into ______________…It enables men to recognize their sinfulness.” (MacGorman, ______________, p. 101). 
“The Law was added”
This phrase is essential for Paul’s argument of justification by ______________. It says that the law was not part of God’s original promise. 
“Until the Promise came”
This shows that the law was temporal. It was not a permanent part of the plan of God.   It serves an interim function “until the coming of that “______________” to whom the promise referred, that is, Christ. 
Angels as mediators of the Law?
What does Paul mean by this?  This is best appreciated when considered against the background of the Judaizers who felt the law came directly from God.   Paul declared the Law came from these angelic “______________”.  There is no statement about this in Exodus or Deuteronomy. But Jewish tradition suggested that God used angels in giving the law. It was used to emphasize the majesty and transcendence of God. The tradition is reflected in Amos 7:38, 53, and Hebrews 2:2.  
Paul counters the Judaizers argument
that the Law came from God to Moses to the People.  Paul says that it was:  
God to angels; 
angels to Moses; 
Moses to the people. 
Verse 21
“Is the Law contrary to the promises of God? May it never be!  For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, the righteousness would indeed be given based on law.” This verse makes it plain that the law is not contrary to God’s plan and promise of grace.  The law does not annul the promise and it does not take its place.  Law defines sin, but it does not and cannot cure sin.  Barclay likens this to a doctor who is able to diagnose a disease, but cannot prescribe the medication to cure the disease.  It has its place, but is not the cure all.
Verses 22-23
Has a universal truth contained in it. “But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed”  The OT shuts all men up in sin.  No one escapes the truth that all men are in bondage to sin.  All men are prisoners of sin until Christ sets them free.  Why do men need Jesus? “Shut up” means “to keep in prison, to confine”.  
The idea is that the law
 is too hard to keep and be obeyed ______________percent.  So the attempt to keep law in order to get a right standing with God leads to despair. God intended it this way, so men would fall back upon his promise.
2. The Law Prepares for Christ’s Coming (v. 24-25)
“Therefore the law has become our tutor, to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
The Law was intended to bring men to the place of despair and ______________that they would cast themselves on the ______________ and ______________ of God found in Jesus Christ.  Whatever else the Law was to do, it was to show the complete spiritual bankruptcy of men and the need for a Savior. It prepares men for Jesus’ coming into their lives.
3. The Law: a Moral Disciplinarian (24)
“Therefore the law has become our ______________, to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”  This “tutor” played a key role in the life of the Greco-Roman world.  Sons were provided slaves who were responsible for their upbringing.  The technical term for this slave was a ______________.  
The Tutor/Pedagogos
Was not really a ______________ (KJV) but rather a ______________ whose duties were to supervise the life a young man in the place of his parents.  He lead the boy to school and home.  He made sure he did his school lessons and trained the boy in obedience.  They could discipline by example and by whipping, if necessary.  
The Role of a Pedagogos
Was never ______________. His job was temporary.  His purpose was to prepare the son for adulthood. When the father determined the boy was now a man, the pedagogos was no longer responsible for the boy.  He had no more control or authority over the young man any longer. They might remain friends, but the young boy was now on his own. 
So, the major purpose
Of the ______________ was to______________ men to ______________.  It was intended to bring them to a place where they called out in desperation for God’s mercy. After a person comes to the Father by fait in Jesus Christ, there is no longer any need for the Law or its purpose. It has done its job. The law is done away in its ceremonial sense, while its moral sense will remain a friend to the Christian who seeks to love God and seeks God’s favor.
Verses 25-29
Paul shows that when ______________ and ______________ come to Christ, they are found to be______________at the foot of the ______________.  We find our freedom in Christ.  How are free?
V. 25 – No longer under tutor
Now that we are in union of Jesus, we have a new ______________ in charge of our ______________.  Two great words describe this life: freedom and equality.  With Christ’s coming a new way was made for men to relate to the law.  The old has given way to the new.
Verse 26 – “You all”
This phrase is emphatic. He was writing to Gentile believers and his “______________” couples them with the Jewish believers.  Through faith, both Gentile and Jew, are free and alive to live for Jesus.  A new status has also come. You all are sons of God! What brought this about? The Law? Or faith in Jesus?
Verse 27
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”  Perhaps you realize that this is the only reference to baptism in the book of Galatians.  It should be clear, that Paul is not talking about baptism regeneration in these verses, in light of his whole argument about works and faith. He is expressing the picture of dying to self and sin and rising to serve Christ in a new quality of life which baptism depicts.  Putting on “______________”  shows that a definite change has been made. 
Verse 28
“There is neither ______________ nor ______________; there is neither slave nor free man; there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This verses shows the utter equality found at the foot of the cross of salvation!
The Past
Feelings had seen that only Jews were considered worthy of ______________ and then even the ______________would be questionable from time to time and rabbi to rabbi. But Paul says, No social divisions, not economic divisions, no sexual divisions are allowed at the foot of the cross.  All are considered as potential children for the Father’s family.  No favorites here!
Verse 29
“And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise!”  
The “______________” is conditional and means that there could be some question as the reality of the fact, that one belongs to Christ.  There is no question to the reality that one who does belong to Christ. He is guaranteed to be an offspring, heir of Abraham.  This union puts one into the family of faith and the inheritance is always a gift, not something one earns.  
Ch 4: 1-7
Paul will now continue to develop the idea of Sonship Beginning and slavery ending. Paul is continuing to expand his discussion on the ______________, but goes in a different direction.
The Illustration of life under the law (4:1-2)
The background for these verses most likely come from the Greco-Roman world and its laws which established how a boy became a recognized adult.  The son was always considered a boy until his father changed that status.  More than that, while still a son, the boy’s status was no different than that of the slave.  All of his decisions were made for him. He had no freedoms at all.  A ceremony was scheduled where the father would openly and publicly declare this boy was his legal heir.” His status changed at this moment.
Roman Boys
Would take their toys and girls in a similar ceremony and offer them in a sacrifice to the gods as a symbol of putting away ______________ behind them.  This may be the custom that Paul alludes to in 1 Cor 13:11. 
Greek Boys
Would be under the control of the father until about the age of 18.  At that time a festival, called an ______________, would be held. The boy was declared an ______________, a cadet, with special responsibilities to his city or clan for a period of two years. During the ______________ ______________, the boy’s long ______________ would be cut off and offered to the god Apollo.
Jewish Boys
Were generally considered boys until the age of ______________.  The bar mitzvah was held on the first Sabbath after his 12th birthday. The boy’s father prays, “Blessed by thou O God who hath taken from me the responsibility of this boy.” The boy would pray, “O my God and God of my father, on this solemn and sacred day which marks my passage from boyhood to manhood, I humbly raise my eyes unto Thee and declare with sincerity and truth that henceforth I will keep Thy commandments and undertake to bear the responsibility of my actions toward Thee.” 
A Comparison of life (4: 3)
“So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.”  Elemental things (stoicheion) has a root meaning of “______________” or “______________” and seems to imply some kind of order or foundational things. It can be used in reference to the alphabet or building blocks of writing.  What are they? You make your guess: Scholars suggest: demon spirits who rule present world system, stars and therefore astrology; human religions.  Many prefer the last.
The Bottom Line
Of verse 3 is that we were all under the control of outside forces and the Law could not redeem us from them.  The law did not put us under those ______________, but it was helpless to ______________ us.  
John Stott aptly summarizes the verse:
“Just as during a child’s minority his guardian may ill-treat and even tyrannize him in ways which his father never intended, so the devil has exploited God’s good law, in order to tyrannize men in ways God never intended. God intended the law to reveal sin and to drive men to Christ; Satan uses it to reveal sin and drive men to despair.  God meant the law as an interim step to man’s justification; Satan uses it as the final step to his condemnation. God meant law to be a stepping stone to liberty; Satan uses it as a cul-de-sac, deceiving his dupes into supposing that from its fearful bondage there is no escape. (“The Message of Galatians: Only One Way,” ______________ series, p. 105.

God’s Response to Man’s Situation (4:4-7)
Wonderfully and mercifully God stepped into man’s predicament and provided the means for ______________  How did he do that?
The Perfect Time (4:4)
“In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son…”
God moved while the Roman government was ruling the known world.  They had established peace, roads, money, trade, travel and transportation and the Greeks had introduced a language that all the world understood: Greek.  The Greek and Roman gods were losing their appeal to the masses and proving to be lacking.  The common masses were hungry for a religion of truth.  The Law of Moses had done its job with Israel and it was the time for the (Promised Seed) the Savior to come.
What was the Way? (4b)
God sent His Son! The second person of the Trinity put on human form and flesh, yet remained without sin.  He was born to the virgin, Mary.  He was subject to the ______________ of ______________, yet met its demands of holiness.  This uniquely qualified Him to be Savior of men who would respond by faith.
Verse 5
“in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons”
This incredible verse reminds the reader of Romans 8: 3-4. Read it. “Redeem” is exagorazo and comes from the marketplace. It was used to refer to the buying of slaves whose freedom was purchased. Through this action, men who had been slaves were free men, and yet, for Christians, we are more than that: we receive adoption as sons (Rom 8”15, 23; 9:4; Eph 1:5; 3: 14-15).  This completes the slaves liberation!
Adoption
Is ______________ in Greek. It is a compound of ______________ (______________) and ______________ (a ______________). It refers to a man’s giving the status of sonship to someone who is not his natural son.  Men are not naturally the sons of God. The only way to become a son of God is by adoption.  In the Roman world, adoption gave the adoptee special status and dignity and family membership. Imagine changing from the role of slave to son with all of its privileges?
4:6 Abba! Father!
The Spirit is the one agent who assists the believer in confirming many things in his/her life.  Here Paul says that it allows the adopted son to cry “Father”.  How does this compare to Romans 8:14-16? 
Abba is an Aramaic word for father. 
It was a term of endearment used by young children of their fathers. 
So, the HS brings us into close, intimate contact and relationship with the Father. 
The Consummation (4:7)
How could one draw to a conclusion such an awesome passage?  Read 4:7 “Therefore you are no longer a slave; but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”  Anyone ready to shout?  We have joint inheritances with Jesus.  The ultimate result of relationship with the Father through Jesus the Son is we possess the Father’s estate.  Just as in ancient laws, sonship meant heirship. By faith, we become sons, and God gives sons everything His Son possesses!
So What?
What is the answer to spiritual bondage to the Law? 
______________What is the answer to legal bondage to the law?
______________