You
Hello and welcome to another teaching by 119 Ministries. Our ministry teaches
that the whole Bible is still true and directly applicable in our lives. If you
would like to know more on what we believe and teach, please visit us at
testeverything.net. We hope that you enjoy studying and testing the following
teaching.
When it comes to Galatians, many refer to the tutor found in chapter 3. We must
remember that the context of Galatians is that they were trying to be saved by
the law. Galatians 5-4, you who are trying to be justified by law have been
alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace. The law was never designed
to save anyone. Never. It was designed for instruction, not salvation. In fact,
Torah, the law, actually means instructions. They came after the
Passover Lamb was slain. So, first came salvation, then instruction. The context
in Galatians 3 is all about the curse of the law being done away with as
mentioned in verse 13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. When
Paul stated here the curse of the law, he is actually referencing the law of sin
and death, as he mentioned in Romans 8, because through Christ Jesus the law of
the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. And this is the
law he is referencing in Galatians 319. Why the law then? It was added because of
transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a
mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made. A tutor
teaches something, right? When you are done with the tutor, do you throw the
schoolbooks out too? The tutor was the curse of the law, the law of sin and
death. It pointed to our need for Christ. Let's look at verse 19 again. Why the
law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained
through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to
whom the promise had been made. He says why the law then? What law is he talking
about? Many assume he is referring to the law of Moses here, but as you will see
he is talking about the curse of the law, which again is the topic as mentioned
in verse 13. Paul also refers to the curse of the law as a law in Romans 7.
For in my inner being I delight in God's law, but I see another law at work in the
members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a
prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. It is the law that he
calls the curse, when he says it was added because of transgressions in verse
19. The Greek word for transgression is
parabasian. It simply means disobedience. So this law was added because of
disobedience. Disobedience to what? The law of Moses. You can't have
disobedience if you have no law. Thus the curse of the law, the tutor, came
because of disobedience to the law of Moses. So it is the curse of the law as
mentioned in verse 13 that we are no longer under, as mentioned in verse 25,
but now that faith has come we are no longer under a tutor. The tutor came
after the law as a result of our disobedience to the law. The focus of a
tutor was to point us to Christ, who would deliver us from it. Remember, Christ
is the word, the law, Torah, as a part of the word. He didn't come to do away with
part of himself. He came to do away with our disobedience. Compare the following
verse. Then look at the same verse with the biblical definitions applied.
Romans 6. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but
under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under
grace? By no means. For sin, breaking the law, shall not be your master, because you
are not under law, the curse, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, break the
law, because we are not under the law, the curse, but under grace? By no means. He's
saying just because you are not under the penalty of breaking the law, should you
abuse the gift of grace and break the law anyway? By no means. Paul uses the
word law for more than just the law of Moses. He uses it also in referencing the
law of sin and death, and even that which later became known as the Talmud. It
definitely makes it difficult when looking at his writings from a Greek
perspective, but allow me to remind us the warning Peter gave concerning Paul's
writings. 2 Peter 3. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just
as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He
writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His
letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and
unstable people distort as they do other scriptures to their own destruction.
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you
may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure
position. For gaining a better understanding on Paul's writings, please
consider watching our series called The Pauline Paradox. We hope you have
enjoyed this study. Remember, continue to test everything. Shalom.
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