FREEDOM FROM THE LAW

It’s Not about the Rules – 40 Days to Freedom

The Rule –

Getting it “right” is the way to be sure that you’ll be accepted by God and our community.

AN UNBREAKABLE PROMISE

Freedom from the Law

Gala

tians

3:

15-1

8, (N

LT)

“Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.

Gala

tians

3:

15-1

8, (N

LT)

God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.

Gala

tians

3:1

5-18

, (NL

T)

This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.

Gala

tians

3:

15-1

8, (N

LT)

For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.”

Unbr

eaka

ble

Beca

use… • Nature of Covenants

(v.15)• Recipient Is Christ

(v.16)• The Precedence of

Time (v.17)• Originated in God’s

Grace (v.18)

“The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ, and through Christ we say yes to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:20, NCV)

A REVEALER OF SIN

Freedom from the Law

Key

Ques

tion

#1:

Why, then, was the law given? (Galatians 3:19a)

VIDE

O

Gala

tians

3:

19, (

NLT) “Why, then, was the law

given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people.”

Gala

tians

3:

20 (N

LT) “Now a mediator is

helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.”

The

Purp

ose

of th

e La

w• Show People Their

Sin (19a)• Played a Temporary

Role (19b)• Show the Superior

Status of the Promise (19c, 20)

UNABLE TO GIVE LIFE

Freedom from the Law

Key

Ques

tion

#2:

Aren’t the Promise and the Law in conflict with each other?

Gala

tians

3:

21 (N

LT)

“Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.

Gala

tians

3:

22 (N

LT) But the Scriptures

declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 3:21–22, NLT)

The

Law

an

d Th

e Pr

omise

• The Law Could Not Give Life (v. 21; Romans 8:3-4)• The Law’s Blessings

Are Temporary (Deut. 8:1)• The Law Prepared

the Way for the Gospel (v. 21; Romans 3:9, 23)

The First Covenant (OT) and the Second Covenant (NT) are not in conflict but are eternally connected in perfect continuity through God’s historical

plan of salvation.

A GUARDIAN AND AN HEIR

Freedom from the Law

Key

Ques

tion

#3:

How is life different as a child of the promise versus a child of the Law?

Gala

tians

3:

24, (

NLT)

“Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.

Gala

tians

3:

25, (

NLT)

And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.”

Gala

tians

3:

26, (

NLT) “For you are all children

of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

Gala

tians

3:

27 (N

LT)

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Gala

tians

3:

28 (N

LT)

And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”

Gala

tians

4:

6 (N

LT)

“And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

Gala

tians

4:

7 (N

LT)

Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”

Child

ren

of

the

Prom

ise

Are…

• Free of the Law’s Guardianship, (v.24-25)• Children of God through

Faith, (v.26) “clothed with Christ”• One in Christ, (v.27)• Heirs of God’s Promise to

Abraham, (v.28)• Filled with the Spirit, (4:6-7)

Our security in our relationship with God never was about our ability to perform according to the Law. Our one hope, our one shot, our only prayer is

our faith in the promise of God in Jesus. Period.