The Church’s Responsibility to the Law

Transcript

GR1155
06/06/1999
Church's Responsibility to the Law
Galatians 3:23-25
Gil Rugh


Galatians chapter 3 in your Bibles. Very early in the history of the church a problem developed over the believer's relationship to the Mosaic Law. In Acts 15 a conference was held in Jerusalem with Paul and other of the apostles discussing what is the responsibility of the believer to the Mosaic Law. There the matter was handled and yet it was not settled because the difficulty continued on. And in just about all of Paul's letters there is a reference to this ongoing conflict over the relationship of the believer to the Mosaic Law. That's the issue being addressed in the letter to the Galatians where Paul is writing to churches spread throughout the region known as Galatia and there Judaizers, Jews who claim to be believers in Christ. They come into the churches saying you need to believe in Christ but you need also to submit to the Mosaic Law. This confusion over the Law has continued right down to our day.

I was rereading a book this past week. It's been written in the last few years. It is a collection written by six or eight different writers, all evangelical Christians, a number of whom you would recognize very quickly if I mentioned their names. And the book is permeated with a discussion about the relationship of believers to the Law. And I was impressed with the fact that not one of these writers has a proper biblical perspective on the Law and the believer today. Every single one of the writers came from the approach that the Mosaic Law, or at least part of the Mosaic Law, is binding upon the church today. They also taught that it was necessary to preach the Mosaic Law so that people would be prepared to hear and believe the Gospel. And this was a reminder to me that the confusion over the purpose of the Law and the relationship of the Church and the believers in the Church to the Law continues write down to our day.

So before we launch into Galatians I want to establish a couple of foundational points with you so that we help keep our thinking clear. It is foundational and of utmost importance that you remember that the Mosaic Law was a covenant made between God and the nation Israel. The Babylonians did not live under the Mosaic Law. The Assyrians did not live under the Mosaic Law. The Persians did not live under the Mosaic Law. The Philistines did not live under the Mosaic Law and on we go. Israel lived under the Mosaic Law.

Turn back to the book of Exodus if you will. Exodus 19. And here you have the beginning of the Law at Mount Sinai. The chapter begins Exodus 19:1, "In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai." Verse 3, "Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him saying, 'Thus you shall say [now note t his] to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel." You note the objects of God's Word. Those with whom God is going to enter in this covenant relationship. It is to the house of Jacob, the sons of Israel. It talks about delivering them from Egypt. Then he says in verse 5, "Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine." God with sovereign power and authority over all has said I have selected you from all the peoples of the earth. He singles them out as unique. Israel stands apart from all the other peoples, all the other nations. "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words." You note he calls the leadership of the nation representing the nation. He told them what God had said. Their response, verse 8, "All the people answered together and said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do!'"

We note in our previous studies the Mosaic Covenant is a conditional covenant. It is conditioned upon the agreement of the people. Here they give their agreement and so the covenant will be established.

Look over in chapter 24 of Exodus. Exodus 24:3. For the context verse 1, "Then He said to Moses, 'Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel." They are invited if you will to worship before the Lord on the mountain. Verse 3, "Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the LORD and all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do! Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Then he arose early in the morning, and built and altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered sacrifices." Then the blood from the sacrifices is sprinkled. The book of the covenant is read. The people say at the end of verse 7, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do. Moses too the blood, sprinkled it on the people. 'Behold, the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.'" The Mosaic covenant is made with the nation Israel, a physical people, a physical nation.

Turn over to chapter 34 and then we'll stop there. There are many passages we could look at on this theme. Exodus 34:27, "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Write down these words for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. Now that somewhat defines and confines the Mosaic Law. It is made with the nation Israel. There is provision within the Mosaic Law for non-Israelites.

Back up to Exodus chapter 12. Speaking about the Passover, one of the feasts of Israel. Verse 47 of Exodus 12, "All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. But if a stranger sojourns with you." So here's a non-Israelite who is living among the Israelites. "And celebrates the Passover of the Lord. Let all his males be circumcised, then let them come near to celebrate it ; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law shall apply to the native as to the sojourner who sojourners among you." You note the Law pertains to non-Jews when these non-Jews live among the Jews. When they take up residence in the nation Israel. Other than that the Gentiles are not impacted, if you will, by the Mosaic covenant. It is an agreement made between God and the physical people of Israel. So if you just keep that in mind. I am appalled at how many books and commentaries I read that talk about Gentiles being under the Mosaic Law. You understand the Mosaic Law was not given to the Church. It was not given to the Gentiles. It was given to the nation Israel. And where we get into problems are people begin to spiritualize and allegorize and say well Israel was the people of God. The Church is the people of God. The Mosaic Covenant was really given with the people of God. That makes just mush and confusion out of what the Scripture clearly says.

Also, as Paul has made clear in his letter to the Galatians--and you can come back to Galatians chapter 3--the Law was not provided as a way of salvation for the nation Israel. Verse 17 of Galatians 3 says, "What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise." And the previously ratified covenant was that justification was by faith. It was the covenant made with Abraham. So hundreds of years after God's covenant with Abraham, He entered in to a covenant relationship with Israel with the Mosaic Law but that Mosaic Covenant could not in any way alter or change any of the provisions of the Abrahamic covenant. So Paul has clearly demonstrated the Mosaic Law was never intended to be a way of salvation for the nation Israel. Salvation was by faith from the beginning of the nation. Galatians 3:6 Abraham believed God and God credited to him as righteousness, quoted from Genesis 15:6. The Mosaic Law was a covenant made by God with Israel, not as a way of salvation, but to guide and regulate their conduct as a nation. It was a kind of constitution that governed the ceremonial or religious life of the people, the civil or governmental life of the nation and the moral conduct and behavior of the nation. And while we can see those three areas included within this Mosaic Law, it is one covenant and one law. You cannot break out the pieces and say well, we are not under the ceremonial part of this law but we are under the moral. We are not under the ceremonial but we are under the civil. And there is endless confusion among Bible teachers and commentaries over that simple fact.

The Mosaic Law was never intended as a way of salvation. It was given to guide and regulate the life of the nation, religiously, governmentally and morally. What the Judaizers of Paul's day were doing they were saying you Gentiles have to come under the authority of the Mosaic covenant. They thought it was a necessary part of true salvation. They didn't understand. You can't alter the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant which is justification by faith. They are in effect telling the Gentiles you have to become part of Israel to get saved. Believing in Christ as the Messiah and the Savior is wonderful, but you must complete now the process by becoming a convert to Judaism if you will by submitting yourself to the requirements of the Mosaic Law. Acts 15 makes clear this was their teaching.

Paul demonstrating that is absolutely wrong. It is a corruption of the truth of God. Well if the Law was not given to the nation Israel as a means of salvation what was its purpose. Paul asks the question in verse 19. "Why the Law then?" Well it was given to demonstrate how sinful Israel really was. How guilty they were before Him. It showed everyone as condemned under sin, imprisoned by their sin in verse 22. It keep the Jews in prison until Christ came and was a tutor to Christ, verses 23, 24 and 25 are going to talk about.

So Paul's continuing this same explanation of the purpose of the Law and how it functions. And particularly he's showing how it relates to the nation Israel because the Law is given to Israel. Because once you demonstrate that Israel is not under the Law any longer, well the issue of the Law for Gentiles is dead. Because if the Jews are not under the Law certainly the Gentiles are not under the Law because the Law was never given to Gentiles in the first place.

Look at verse 23, "But before faith came." Before faith came. Now what he is talking about here is the coming of Christ. It was talked about at the end of verse 19, "Until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made," the promise of Christ. Faith here is not talking about faith generally. Because faith always has existed. Faith existed when the nation just consisted of Abraham and his wife Sarah because Abraham believed God, had faith in God, and God credited to Him as righteousness. But he's talking about a definite faith here. In fact, in Greek he uses the definite article "the". He does it twice in verse 23. "Before the faith came." "Being shut up to the faith." Verse 25, "But now that the faith has come." Each of these uses of faith has the definite article in Greek. He's referring to a specific faith. It's the faith referred to in verse 22. "The Scripture has shut up every one under sin so that the promise by faith in Christ Jesus might be given to those who believe." He's talking about the coming of Christ and that's when faith comes in its fullness. Because the fullness of revelation takes place. Abraham believed God but He did not recognize the fullness of the promises that God had given him in declaring him righteous, that it would take place through the provision of the only begotten Son of God who would give His life on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. But now faith has come, which is another way of saying Christ has come.

John's gospel chapter 1 verse 17 says, "The Law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." But grace was manifested in the Old Testament. If there hadn't been, every single person would have been destroyed immediately by the judgment of God on Him for His sin. But the full manifestation of grace and truth is centered in Jesus Christ and He is the foundation for all grace and all truth that has ever been demonstrated. And it was possible for God to declare Abraham justified by faith because in the plan of God He provided His Son and so faith came in Christ in that He is the provision that enables God past, present and future to declare righteous those who believe in Him.

But before faith came, before Christ came, we were kept in custody under the Law. We. Well, I guess that means all of us, right? No, it doesn't mean all of us because the Gentiles weren't under the Law. Most of the Galatians never had lived under the Law. They were Gentiles. The Law was given to Israel. Paul was talking about we Jews. I'm a Jew. Includes the Judaizers, others who might be Jewish. "We Jews were kept in custody under the Law." That word "to be kept in custody" means to be confined, to be under military guard. We were kept in custody under the Law so the Law was like the guards watching over us, keeping us confined.

"Being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed." That word translated "being shut up" same word that was used in verse 22. The Scripture has shut up every one under sin. Meaning is very similar to the word translated "kept in custody," different word. It means to confine, to put in prison. So the picture's clear. Here you have the military guards watching over those who had been imprisoned and that's the view of the situation those under Law. The Jews were what? Imprisoned by the Law, guarded by the Law. Why? What did the Law do? It closed them in. It revealed the greatness of their sin, the magnitude of their transgressions, their guilt before God. And in the Law there was no escape because all the Law could do was condemn and cursed is everyone who does not do everything that the Law demands. As Paul dealt with earlier in chapter 3. So the Law has imprisoned them.

"Being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed." And the picture is of Israel being confined, kept in custody until Christ came. That's the picture. Until the faith which was later to be revealed. The later to be revealed faith, and that word "revealed" is the word "apocalypse." We have it with the book of Revelation. The apocalypse. It means the revelation. And the faith that was revealed was what? That salvation is found in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, and His work is the reason that God can declare righteous all who have believed in Him and now believe in Him and will believe in Him. So the Law confined them until Christ came.

You note what is said here that the Law's purpose was what? Not to save, not to provide righteousness but to imprison. Same thing that verse 22 said. And it shows the Law was of temporary duration. It was only until the faith which was later to be revealed. Same point made at the end of verse 19. Until the seed would come. That's the point. He's going to emphasize that temporary nature of the Law in the verses that follow as well. So the Law had a purpose. It showed Israel its sinfulness, kept them under its authority until Christ came.

Verse 24. It's important that you follow along on this verse. It is probably more misunderstood and misused than just about any other her verse on the Law and the believer in the New Testament. Part of the misunderstanding comes from the poor translations that have been done of this verse. Some of the confusion just comes from stupidity. We'll not try to sort it all out.

Look what it says. Verse 24. "Therefore," the word denotes the connection to what he's been saying. So he's not moving to a new realm, but he's still building on what he has been talking about. Wherefore or "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ." The King James version translates this, "The Law became our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." And people develop in their thinking the Law was like a school teacher. And the Law taught those things that were necessary for a person to come to know Christ. The New American Standard translation is not much better. It says the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ. You note the words "to lead us" are in italics if you are using a New American Standard Bible. It indicates they are not in the Greek text. Just like in the King James you don't have "the Law was our school master to bring us to Christ." There's no words "to bring us" in the Greek text. What he says here the Law was our tutor. Literally the Greek word is petagogos. We get the English word "pedagogy" from that. Just bring the Greek "petagogos" over. Literally it means a child leader, one who leads a child or leads a boy.

The words "to lead us to Christ" are not here. First, let's us look at what is the word "tutor"? What does the word "petagogos" really mean? And I was encouraged. There's almost universal agreement on this now among commentaries and those who have done any work on the Greek text and studied the words and so on. One commentator put it this way. And he does not hold the position that we would hold on the distinction between Israel and the Church and so on. I don't want you to think I'm coloring what I give you by people who have an ax to grin. He says, "For while today we think of petagogos as teachers in antiquity, a petagogos was distinguished from a dedasgolos." Dedasgolos is the Greek word for teacher. A petagogos was not a teacher. A petagogos was distinguished from a teacher and had custodial and disciplinary functions rather than educative or instructional ones. In other words the petagogos had authority over the child, he disciplined the child. Part of his role might be to see that the child got to his teachers but he was not the teacher of the child. The petagogos was a slave, a household slave. He was entrusted with the responsibility of the freeborn son, a son born in the home, to the slave owners. That son was under the authority of his nursemaid or his nanny until about six years of age. Then the petagogos took over and from about six years of age until 16 years of age the petagogos was the authority figure for this son. He disciplined him and kept him in line. In carvings and pictures he's often pictured with a cane or a whip. And a large portion of the references to the petagogos have a negative flavor because of the severity of the discipline and so on that he would exercise. Wouldn't it be helpful to have that? You turn over that son at six till sixteen and say now you're responsible to see he doesn't get off track. You're responsible to see that he does what he should do, to correct him when he doesn't do it. When he's sixteen we'll take over. Well, that's the way they did it.

For Paul's day when they read about the petagogos, no problem. Oh, here's the one who's teaching and instructing so that they'll come to Christ. No. It's the same picture of the Law as you had in verses 22 and 23. Confining him, having charge as the custodian, exercising authority and discipline. That was the role of the petagogos.

And John Stott writes, and John Stott does not hold the position that we would hold regarding Israel and the church and so on, but he says, "The King James translation school master is unfortunate. For the petagogos was not the boy's teacher so much as his disciplinarian. Like a jailor, it, the Law, has thrown us into prison, verses 22 and 23. Like a petagogos it rebukes and punishes for misdeeds." “Us” and “our” because he believes that we are still under the Law not realizing the distinction between Israel and the Church. But the distinction on the function of the petagogos from the teacher is clear.

Now you note the words "to lead us" are not in the text. So it says the Law has become our petagogos to Christ. And again just about all the commentators that I consulted--there were a number--agreed that this is a temporal use. We're talking about until Christ both by the grammar and the context. Regardless of the theological position of whether they believe we are still under the Law for some reason, they agreed that what he is saying here is the Law served like the jail did. Oversee and confine and discipline until Christ came. So verse 24 is saying the same thing as verse 23 using a different picture. Instead of being guarded in jail, you are being overseeing, you are in the custody of a petagogos.

One of the Greek writers before New Testament times records the account of a school boy talking about us petagogos child and saying how severely the petagogos disciplined him and how he took him to his teachers and made sure he did what he should do and so on. There's the picture here. And the Law served that purpose of what? Confining Israel, disciplining Israel until Christ. Again, it was of temporary duration. In the picture of the petagogos, he had the custody of the child up until the age of 16 of 17 then that son entered into his position as a son. He was free from the authority of that slave, in fact, he ruled now in the house as a son.

So what Paul is saying here is the Law served as a tutor, a petagogos, over Israel until Christ came. When Christ came its function was over. Verse 26 will talk about the fact we are now sons. So you are no longer under the authority of the petagogos. Verse 24 concludes so that we might be justified by faith.

Let me read you another writer's comments. Again, from a different theological viewpoint than we would have but what he says on this text is exactly accurate. The point of the analogy here is not that the Mosaic Law as a positive preparation for Christ rather the focus here is on the supervisory function of the Law, the inferior status of one under sub-supervision and the temporary nation of such a situation in the course of salvation history. In other words the Law served as an authority over the Jews. It indicated an inferior position like the child under the petagogos. And it indicated the temporary nature of the Law and it was until Christ would come.
That we might be justified by faith. The Law never was for justification, a point that Paul has made consistently through this letter. You can't be justified by the Law. By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. The Law served a purpose for Israel in its authority over them until Christ came. That justification might be faith in Christ. It was always by faith but with the coming of Christ, the fullness of the provision of a Messiah who is the crucified Savior now is there in all its fullness and clarity.

Like the writer of the Hebrews begins his letter by talking about, "God spoke in a variety of ways to a variety of people down through Old Testament history, but in these last days He has spoken to us in one who is a son. There's a fullness and a clarity and a finality that did not exist before. Salvation has always been by faith but with the coming of Christ there is a fullness and a clarity to it all. And the focus of our faith is clearer than it could ever have been. And that's true for the nation Israel as well.

So what did the Law do? Verse 22, "The Scripture has shut up everyone under sin." That would include Gentiles although in the specific context the Scripture he's been dealing with is the Law. But it's true Jew and Gentile alike are shut up under sin by the Scripture. Verse 23 definitely focuses on Israel. We Jews were kept in custody under the Law. So under sin, verse 22, under the Law, verse 23, under a tutor, verses 24 and 25. And he'll use that expression, the end of verse 25, no longer under a tutor. The authority, custodial nature, of the Law clearly emphasized.

Verse 25, "But now that faith has come we are no longer under a tutor." Now again keep in mind this does not mean that for the first time . . . People get confused on this and say well, see faith came with Christ so before that people were saved by keeping the Law. Wrong. I was reading one well-known evangelical teacher. Just about everyone in the room would know who it was if I mentioned the name. He says we are not under the Law. What Paul means is we are no longer under the Law as a means of justification. Well, there's a partial truth in that in that we are not under the Law for justification. But you must understand no one was ever at any time in history under the Law as a way of justification. If that was so the Law would have changed the Abrahamic Covenant which was justification by faith. And Paul's already established that can't be changed. So Paul is demonstrating you cannot be justified by the Law but in doing that he's not implying that anyone ever had been justified by the Law. So the change is not that at one time Israel lived under the Law for justification, now it lives under faith. No. Israel was always saved by faith. Now with the coming of Christ the object of that faith is fuller and clearer than ever before.

The purpose of the Law. It served as an authority to confine and restrict and discipline Israel. But never to bring righteousness. And that purpose even in confining Israel in its immaturity, in the state of its immaturity, has concluded with the coming of Christ.

Now that faith has come with the coming of Christ, we, talking about Jews, are no longer under a tutor. And again, once Paul establishes the Jews are no longer under the Law. It's a dead issue for Gentiles. The problem with the Judaizers is they are saying they had to live under the Law and Gentiles had to become like Jews and live under the Law for salvation.

Back in chapter 2 Paul used this argument. At the end of verse 14, "If you being a Jew live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews." I mean, Peter, you're Jew and you don't even keep the Law. But what kind of foolish thinking would you say the Gentiles should try to keep the Law which we as Jews don't even keep. We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles. "Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. Since by the works of the Law no flesh will justified." That's why Paul here talking about we, we Jews. You know once you establish we Jews are not under the Law, of course the Gentiles won't be under the Law. But the whole purpose of trying to bring the Gentiles under the Law was saying they had to become like Jews. And the Jews aren't even under the Law anymore because the Law's no longer in force, no longer operative. We are no longer under a tutor. So it makes no sense to say that Gentiles must live under the Law.

Now this does not mean that Jews cannot observe parts of the Law, for nationalistic reasons, for cultural reasons, for pragmatic reasons. In other words, Paul is a Jew but he's not under the Law. He can have a pork sandwich but he doesn't have to have a pork sandwich. He can observe the Sabbath if he wants to, but he doesn't have to. The Law is not in force, but he may have other reasons for wanting to do some of those things. Fine. But he is not obligated to the Law. The Law is not binding upon him.

You know I was amazed at the commentators who basically followed the same explanation of verses 24 and 25 that I have given you, and when all said and done said but of course this does not mean that we are under the Law. One writer said clearly this does mean the Law was not our teacher to bring us to Christ, but this does not mean we are not under the Law for bringing people to Christ. But he never gave another verse to establish it. If the view--and this is the view that is often taught by reformed theology (covenant theology)--you must preach the Law if people are to be saved because in preaching the Law you bring people under condemnation. Then when you have them under the Law and under its condemnation, then you preach the Gospel of grace and they can believe. But if they have not come under the condemning power of the Law, they can never really believe in the Gospel. And Galatians 3:24 is often the verse that is used. The Law was our school master to bring us to Christ. And that's the purpose of the Law even today--to be a teacher, to be a school master, to bring people to Christ. That's a misunderstanding and a misinterpretation of verse 24. And it boggles my mind that evangelical commentators would say yes, that's been a misunderstanding of verse 24. But that doesn't mean that we still shouldn't preach the Law and unbelievers aren't under the Law. But they never give any other scripture to substantiate it. You know it's like the Roman Catholics. They develop the doctrine of penance and doing penance because of mistranslation of the word "repentance." And in one of the editions of the Roman Catholic Bible they translated the Greek word "repentance" by "do penance." Even the Roman Catholics acknowledge that's not a correct translation, but they still require you to do penance. Well, it doesn't matter that we founded that on a misunderstanding of the verse. Well, it's like this. This verse doesn't teach that the Law brings you to Christ, but we should still preach the Law to bring people to Christ. You say, I think you're confused.

So we want to be clear here. The law was not a teacher to bring Israel to Christ. The Law was an authority and a disciplinarian to confine Israel and restrain Israel until Christ would come. It served that purpose with Israel, not with the Gentiles. And it served it only until Christ came. Now that faith has come we are no longer under a tutor.

"We are no longer under the Law. For you were all sons of God through faith in Christ." I'm not going in to verse 26, but you note that's the picture. You've become a son. All kind of confusion here. We'll get into more as we move into the last part of the book of Galatians. One writer, evangelical writer said every believer is under the Law for sanctification. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that exciting? You've become mature. Now you were a son. You are not under the Law, but you have to go back to your immaturity under the Law for holiness in your walk. It just is utter foolishness. And worse it is an abuse of the teaching of the Scripture.

Let me walk through here a summary. Verse 19 asks the question why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions. It came to show the sinfulness of sin, the guilt of the nation Israel. It was give to the nation Israel remember. It was temporary. It was given until Christ would come. It was given to imprison, verse 22. And the overall emphasis of Scripture would include, Jew and Gentile, but the Law particularly focused on Jews. But everyone is shown by the Scripture to be imprisoned by their sin. Verse 23 Israel is under custody, imprisoned by the Law, until the faith that would come with the coming of Christ. The Law was a tutor, a custodian, a disciplinarian, the authority for Israel in its immaturity until Christ would come. Emphasized here the inferior state of the Law. It's inferior role. It's temporary purpose.

So any attempt to say that the Law must be preached today as preparation for the preaching of the Gospel is a total distortion of the Scripture. The Law is not enforced today. Christ has come. Its purpose has been served. It never did serve that purpose. So we need to be careful. We preach sin. We preach the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. We preach faith in Him. We don't preach the Mosaic Law. There are things in the Mosaic Law we learn from. Everything in Scripture is profitable, but we do not preach that people live under the authority of the Mosaic Law. It is over. So I don't get upset that they won't allow the Ten Commandments to hang on a courtroom wall. I get upset with the lack of any moral foundation standard. But we are not under the Law. And Gentiles never were. Jews were. There is a law for Gentiles and we'll talk about sometime--Romans chapter 2.

So do you know how you're saved? You must recognize you are a sinner. You must recognize that Jesus Christ the Son of God died on the cross, was raised from the dead and only by believing in Him can you be saved. That's the message. Believe in Him. Faith has come. And when you believe in Him you become a Son of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for the revelation of Yourself as it unfolds through the Scripture. Thank you for Your sovereign purposes in calling Israel to Yourself and establishing a covenant with them that provided for justification by faith. Thank you, Lord, for the giving of the Law and its purpose in restraining, confining, imprisoning, disciplining Israel until Christ would come. Thank you, Lord, that in Christ we have the fullness of what was promised to Abraham, that justification is by faith and the One who would make that possible by the sacrifice of Himself has come, the glorious fullness of liberty in Christ. Salvation by faith in Him is fully and clearly now made known. May we as Your people and Your Church be clear. That we might be firm, unshakable on Your work with the Gospel today so that Jesus Christ might be honored. We pray in His name, amen.