Pt8-Spirit Walkers: Cutting Out the Middle Man

March 11, 2018             NOTES NOT EDITED
Spirit Walkers—Cut Out the Middle Man

Galatians 3:19-25

SIS—The Law served as a sort of “middle man” (mediator) between God and man, revealing the existent and extent of sin, while providing a measure of restraint in society, until Jesus came.

Intro:  What do Amazon, Netflix, and Warby Parker have in common . . . besides having indecently wealthy Founders?  They all based their business model on the idea of “cutting out the middle man.”  Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon, is now the richest man in the world, passing former record holder, Bill Gates.  The Netflix CEO’s aren’t doing bad either. Netflix’s stock has climbed steadily in the last few years.  For Hastings, the entertainment company’s cofounder and CEO, those gains have been hugely lucrative. His roughly 3% stake in the business is now worth well north of $1 billion. Altogether, his personal fortune currently stands at $2.2 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time rankings of the world’s billionaires.  (forbes.com, 7/22/17).  Warby-Parker is an online, eyewear company started from a seed project at the University of Pennsylvania business school.  According to one online source, “Warby Parker's "Home-Try-On program" allows customers to choose five frames from the website, which they receive to try on at home for five days, free of charge. Customers can also upload a photo and try on frames virtually.”  In 2015 the company started with $2500 in 2010 was worth $1.2 billion! 

Well, the principle of “cutting out the middle man” applies to spiritual matters as well as business ventures—and with an even more “lucrative” payout that is eternal.  The Law served as a sort of “middle man” (mediator) between God and man, revealing the existent and extent of sin, while providing a measure of restraint in society, until Jesus came.  Now, there is no need for a “middle man.”  Grace connects us directly to God through faith in Jesus Christ.                         

Let’s read Paul’s discussion of the purpose for the Law in the O.T.
Galatians 3:19-25.

As we begin our examination into Paul’s answer to the question:  “Why then, the Law if the promise to Abraham was sufficient?”  The question of the Law’s place in God’s plan, particularly this section of Galatians, has generated enough debate to stock numerous shelves in theological libraries.  At least for scholars, this section is not as simple as it might seem upon first glance—at least, if you are a biblical scholar.  I am not a biblical scholar.  I am a serious student.  I think many times scholars miss the “forest for the trees” as the saying goes.  I will try to present the straightforward argument as Paul presents it in these seven verses.  Paul’s argument rests on two tall pillars.  One, the Law is used as a tool to PROVIDE insight into our sin and depravity and God’s holiness.  Two, the Law is used as a tool to PREPARE the souls of God’s people to appreciate and accept the grace He offers through Jesus Christ.

1.  The Law PROVIDES insight into Our Sin and Depravity, and God’s Holiness (19-23)

Without the Law, we would not—could not—understand the depth of our human depravity, in light of the Holiness of Almighty God.  The Judaizers misinterpreted and misapplied the Law of God in suggesting that it could “justify a soul before God.”  The Law can and does provide insight into the human condition, but it cannot provide righteousness.  The Law is limited by God’s design.

(1)  The Law is limited by its FINITENESS (19a)

¹⁹ Why then was the law given?  It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. 

Make special note of the word, “until.”  This word sets the outer limit of the Law’s operation.  The “Seed,” as we learned earlier refers to Jesus Christ, particularly his substitutionary death on the cross.  The Promise refers to God’s announcement to Abraham in regard to Christ, 430 years before the Law.  This verse clearly teaches that God designed the Law to have a “finite” period of operation.  Beginning with Moses, and ending with Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ, according to his own words, “filled up the requirements of the Law to its ultimate fulness”  (Mt. 5:17).  Jesus did not abolish the Law, He completed it.  The Judaizers wanted to continue consuming the Law past its expiration date!  That’s like drinking “sour milk.”

(2)  The Law is limited by it’s FORM (19b, 20)

^19b The law was put into effect through angels  by means of a mediator.  ²⁰ Now a mediator is not for just one person, but God is one.

In this verse we have quite a few nuggets to be mined in a theological discussion, such as “angels,” which is always a topic leading to lively discussion.  But, the angels are not the main issue.  They were present at the giving of the Law (Acts7:53, Heb. 2:2) but their precise role is not elaborated, so we will not elaborate on that here.  The key issue is the “FORM” of the Law.  It was a contract between God and His people.  Moses was the “mediator,” or “middle man” in delivering the Law to the people.  The Law, then, became the “middle man” through which the Israelites related to God.  A contract involves more than one person and someone has to “ratify, certify, or validate” that contract—hence, a mediator.  But, when God dealt with Abraham through the promise, God dealt directly, and “God is one.”  That is an important concept to make note of because it is also the wording of the most significant verse in the O.T. for a Jew, the Shema (Deu. 6:4):

⁴ “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.” 

Paul will later come back to the idea of God’s nature as “One God in Three Persons” in a few verses in regard to Jesus Christ and His work.  Paul uses the idea of a “mediator” again in 1Tim. 2:5:

⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, ⁶ who gave Himself—a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.

Grace has no mediator, in the sense that Jesus is God, the Son, and God is one.  Grace, unlike Law, establishes a direct relationship between man and God, because “God is one,” and “Jesus is God.”

The FORM of the Law as a contract, makes it a kind of “middle man” between God and man.  Moses is a picture of Christ in the O.T. in that Moses is associated with the Law.  By being in the form of a contract, the Law acted as a “middle man.”  The FORM of the Law limited the Law to the period between Moses and Jesus.

(3)  The Law was limited by its FUNCTION (22-23)

²² But the Scripture has imprisoned everything under sin’s power,  ^a so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ  might be given to those who believe.  ²³ Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.

Much time is spent in theological commentaries analyzing which came first, “sin or the Law.”  Should this be translated, “added because the people were sinning” (in that case, as a RESTRAINT), or, “did the Law reveal to the people that what they were doing was sinful—that is, “added for the purpose of REVEALING they were sinning.”  In the latter case, they were not sinning until the Law was given.

The case for the Law “revealing” sin is strong.  In Romans Paul states, “The knowledge of sin comes through the law” (Rom. 3:20); and then again in Romans 7:7,  “I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.”  Clearly, there is a strong argument that the purpose of the Law is to “reveal the sinfulness of certain behavior.”

The language, however, in verses 22-23 gives the image of the Law as a “jailer” “imprisoning everything (v22),” and we “were being confined” (kept under guard, NKJV) by the Law (v23).  The debate is whether God gave the Law because people were sinning, or whether the Law was given to “reveal” they were sinning and didn’t know it.  Both ideas can be argued from Scripture.   The argument for Law as a revealer of sin is strong; but the language of the Law as a “jailer watching over prisoners is also strong.  I conclude the Law functions both as revealer of sinfulness and restrainer against sin in society.  The grammatical evidence here in Galatians provides strong evidence for the Law being a “REVEALER” of man’s sin.  The context in regard to the “jailer” gives strong evidence for the Law as a “RESTRAINER” of sin.  Other texts support this idea.

The Bible talks Christians being the “salt of the earth,” (Mt. 5:13) and one important function of salt in ancient society was to retard, or restrain the decay of meat.

Years ago the beloved New Testament Professor at Wheaton College, Merrill Tenney in his book, “Galatians:  The Charter of Christian Liberty,”  wrote, “If no restraint had been placed upon man [by the law] degeneration would have been swift and disastrous” (p. 126).  In fact, the Bible’s record of the history of Israel exposes the fact that, even WITH the knowledge of the Law—Yahweh’s standard for righteousness—the Israelites failed miserably again and again.

The main issue is, the Law PROVIDES insight into both the existence of sin and the extent of man’s sinfulness. It is God’s “spotlight” on the wicked heart of man.

In any case, the Law is “limited” by its FUNCTION.  It could only reveal, and to some degree restrain sin, but it could not “fix” or “cure” sin.  The Law was never intended to function as a solution to sin.

While the Law is “limited,” that does not mean it is “imperfect” or without value to Christians today.  Reformed theologians generally recognize a “Threefold Use for the Law.”  Generally, it is described as 1)  A mirror of God’s holiness into which we can look and sin the disfiguring results of our sin; 2) As a restraint, as we have already seen, against rampant evil in a society; and 3) as a manual of holiness revealing what is pleasing to our Holy Father. 

The Law was limited by design not imperfection.  The Law CAN PROVIDE insight into the existence and extent of sin, but the Law CANNOT provide righteousness.  In that regard it is limited. Saying the Law is “limited,” and no longer in force, is not to say it cannot provide useful instruction for how we should live and insight into the holiness of God.

Another important function of the Law is that it

2.  PREPARES the Soul to Receive Grace

²⁴ The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. ²⁵ But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

We have already seen that the Law operates as a “jailer.”  That emphasis is upon confinement, or the lack of freedom.  The Law is driven by “rules” and characterized by “punishment.”  This is the legacy of life outside of grace—we are prisoners to sin.  One author outlines “Life under the Jailer (Law)” as being characterized by 1) a sense of bondage; 2) a sense of abandonment and lack of a personal relationship with God, where everything is based upon punishment and rewards; and 3) a sense of anxiety about never really knowing one’s standing with God.  That is “Life Under Law.”  The image of imprisonment being watched over by a jailer. It is a very negative picture.  It is the picture of self-righteousness and religiosity.

(Life Under the Paidagōgos)

Paul now turns the page on the Law to expose a more positive, preparatory view of the Law—“the Law as our guardian” (v24).  Other versions refer to the Law as, “our schoolmaster (KJV); “our tutor” (NKJV); or the one “put in charge of us” (ESV, NIV).  The word in the original is: paidagōgos (παιδαγωγός).  The “paidagogos” was a very significant person in First Century Greco-Roman culture. This is not as harsh a tone as with the idea of a “jailer.”  It focuses more on “preparation.”

The “paidagogos” was usually an older slave of the household.  It is formed from two words meaning, “boy leader.”  Many of these “paidagogoi,” were teachers captured in war who were made slaved.  There duties could include teaching, but mostly dealt with discipline.  The “guardian, schoolmaster, or tutor” had general supervision of the boys in a household.  It was the guardian’s duty to make sure they grew up to be well-discipline, properly mannered, and received a good education.  Often, the paidagogos was not the teacher, but it was his job to make sure that the student got to and from school, studied his lessons, and generally stayed out of mischief.  The pedagogos was usually very stern and “did things by the book” as the saying goes.

The paidagogos, or guardian, is still an image depicting the Law.  The paidagogos still had much in common with the image of the “jailer.”  Both held great control over their charges, and both issued harsh discipline for disobedience.  But, the picture of the “Paidagogos” gives a more “preparatory, positive, and instructive” picture of the Law.  The Paidagogos was a strict disciplinarian to be sure, and his discipline caused a young boy to yearn for the day he could be free from the Guardians charge.  The Law is like salt, making a person long for the refreshing water of grace.

The key phrase, with both the idea of a jailer and a guardian, is “until Christ.”  The Law was always meant to be temporary, “But since (when) faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (paidagogos)” (v25).

The paidagogos’s, or guardian’s job, was to prepare a son to take his rightful place of full standing in the household.  The Law, characterized by bondage, impersonal ritual, and anxiety prepares one to fully understand and appreciate what it means to be a “son or daughter of the most high.”  The bitterness of the Law makes grace taste sweeter.

The Law is characterized by a jailer and Paidagogos, as bringing bondage, impersonal ritual, and anxiety over one’s standing with God.  The Law gives way to our full inheritance received by grace characterized by:  1) freedom, 2) a personal relationship with God, and 3) maturity of character.

The Law, though limited in scope and power, is extremely important in God’s redemptive plan.  For one, the Law PROVIDES insight into the existence and extent of our depravity and sin.  Two, the Law serves as a guardian PREPARING our souls to receive and deeply appreciate the grace of almighty God.

Isaiah 51:7 says, “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.”  Spirit Walkers obey God’s Law—not just those laws written on stone tablets, but more so the law of God written on our hearts.

Let’s think about this idea of a “guardian” for a moment.  The guardian, who represents God’s Law, was not despised by the household.  Indeed, he was the most trusted servant entrusted with the care of the most valued possession of the household.  When the guardian’s work had come to an end and the child was now a mature adult, did the child then toss aside all the values of the household and the lessons learned at the guardian’s feet?  Why, of course not.  This would have meant the guardian, the Law, was a failure.  No, when grace enters one’s heart, we do not become “lawless,” but we merely shed the youthful garments of rules and ritual and obedience becomes a matter of the heart.

Remember, Jesus said, “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.” (Mt. 5:17).

Though the Law was limited by God’s design, and could never bring life and righteousness, it does have a place in God’s plan of redemption.  It PROVIDES insight into the existence and extent of our depravity and sin.  The Law PREPARES the heart to receive the salvation of God by grace alone through faith alone; and, the Law, by demonstrating the impossibility of fulfilling it in the flesh, gives us a greater appreciation of what Christ did for us by removing the curse of the Law.

The Law of God stood as a “middle man” in God’s economy.  Until the Promise of Christ was fulfilled, the Law was a “jailer” and a “guardian”—a middle man between God and His people.

This is the most important “spiritual take away” from today’s lesson.  The Law acts like a “middle man” putting rituals and religion between a person and God Almighty.  On the cross, Jesus cut out the middle man.  By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone we are made righteous before God and have direct access to Him as sons and daughters.  The Law, an ancient synonym for “religion,” will never get you to God.  Cut out the middle man—give up religion for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We will pick up our study at this point next week, Lord willing.