Our scripture reading tonight comes to us from Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 3, verses 1 through 29. Galatians chapter 3, verses 1 through 29. Hear now the word of God. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing? if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham. He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those who believe are children of Abraham. The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announce the gospel in advance to Abraham. All nations will be blessed through you. So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. Clearly, no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, the man who does these things will live by them. 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. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The scripture does not say, and to seeds, meaning many people, but and to your seed, meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this. The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise, but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. What then was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party, but God is one. Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not. For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Christ Jesus, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. so the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Beloved, may God bless his word to our hearts and to our minds tonight by his Holy Spirit. Many of us are very interested in family genealogies and histories. Perhaps we have spent some time in our recent past looking at our family genealogy and tracing back our roots and our ancestors to Holland or to Sweden or somewhere else over in Europe, to Germany perhaps. Many people are very interested in finding out where they came from and who these people were that lived before them. Religion also is based in many religions and in many places on important genealogical links. For example, the Mormon cult is based as a whole on a series of genealogical links because Mormons say that around 600 B.C., a group of Jews sailed to the New World, which is today America, and settled here. And supposedly, according to Mormons, Native Americans are the descendants of these Jewish travelers. And many Mormon prophets and missionaries have used this supposed genealogical link as a tool in evangelism. They've gone to places like Central and South America and they've said to Native Americans that you are the seed of these Hebrew people. And this genealogical link, supposedly, is a key tool for them and the result has been that many people have become Mormons in these places. It's a key tool for them in evangelism. Now that's a fraudulent genealogical link that they're making. It's not true. It's based on deceit and lies. But when we come to Galatians chapter 3, we see that Paul also is concerned, in a much different way now, of course, but he is also concerned about genealogy. And Paul here is tracing the roots that we have as Christians back way, way far in the history of redemption. He's giving us here a picture of God's plan to save a people for himself through Christ. And he does so by going back to Abraham. Now, in the book of Galatians, Paul was being opposed by a group of zealous Jews called the Judaizers. And these people said that a person must become circumcised in order to be saved. So these people say that the genealogical link needs to go through this thing called circumcision. Paul, on the other hand, says something very different. Paul says the genealogy that we have as believers is not ethnic. It's not based on our circumcision. But it's based by faith in Christ. And Paul explains to us here that all believers are one in Christ Jesus because we have been delivered from the law. We are all one in Christ because of the work of our Savior. Now, as we read Galatians chapter 3, it's important to keep two things in mind. First, what we once were under the law, which will be our first point. Secondly, then, what we are now in Christ. What we once were under the law and what we are now in Christ. Paul begins here in verse 23, and our focus tonight will be on verses 23 through 29. And he begins here in verse 23 by giving us an image. of what we once were under the law. And he says that under the law, we once were prisoners. Now, to be a prisoner, that's not a good thing. We were shackled up, condemned by the law. And when Paul talks about law here, it's important that we understand what he means. The law, as Paul is using it here in this verse, is talking about that thing that was given to Moses back on Mount Sinai. The law of commandments, the law strictly commanding that we obey God perfectly. That's the law that he's describing. So he's not talking about that covenant of grace that God made with Abraham. And in talking about this law, he uses an interesting word in verse 23, an interesting phrase. He says, before faith came. It's important that we pause for a moment and look at this phrase. Because what Paul is meaning to say by this can be easily misunderstood. When Paul says the words, before faith came, he's talking about a time before the incarnation. Before the coming of Christ. So Paul's not saying that there was a time in the Old Testament when the Jews were saved by their keeping of the law. That's not what Paul's saying. Because salvation, throughout the history of redemption, is always by grace alone, through faith alone, in the coming Messiah alone. And for us, in the Messiah that has come, alone. So this is talking about a time before Christ came in the incarnation. And he's saying before faith came, we were held as prisoners by the law. We were locked up. We were shut up to the faith later to be revealed. What this means is we were shut up under sin. The law came as shackles and as weights, condemning us, shutting us all up in disobedience, according to Romans chapter 11, verse 32. So the law imprisons us under sin. And it does this because it demands perfection. So, when this law comes that demands perfection and it meets my sinful, depraved heart, what happens is that the law condemns me. I can't obey it perfectly. I'm a sinner. So, I'm a prisoner under the law. And God uses this law as a hammer, really, to break apart any fanciful ideas that we might have that somehow we are righteous in ourselves. He breaks apart our pride through this law. But not only were we prisoners under this law, But Paul goes on in verse 24 and says that under the law we also were school children. Look with me now at verse 24 here of Galatians 3. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. The words here Paul uses, the law was put in charge. These words are translated in other versions with the word tutor. So the law, Paul is saying, is a tutor to lead us to something. It's a tutor that's put in charge for immature young children. In the Old Testament, in the days of the first century, tutors were very important. Because they were given to instruct children, to teach them the things that they needed to learn in school. And many of you today, probably, as children, have tutors as well. My sister recently took her ACT test, and in order to prepare for this test, she had a tutor. Someone who came along to instruct her, to teach her, to help her with this test. But once she took the test, she no longer was under this tutor. The tutor came, taught her, instructed her, but the tutor was temporary. And that's the same thing that Paul is saying here. The law as a tutor is temporary. It's given to hedge us in. For Israel in the Old Testament, it acted kind of like a barrier to protect them from idolatry. So it has a positive role to protect children who are underage, children who are immature. But it wasn't given in and of itself to save. It was given to lead us by the hand, and to lead us by the hand to Christ. So the law is our tutor, and the law is something that condemns us as a prison, was something in place just for a set period of time. And it pointed to the one who could redeem us from the curse of the law. Galatians 3.13 talks about this. Christ came to redeem us from this curse that we were under as sinners. And now that faith has come, Galatians 3.25 says, now that Christ has been revealed in the flesh, in the incarnation, Now that the object of our faith has come, we are no longer prisoners and we are no longer school children. We have grown up, Paul says. So our second point then is what we are now in Christ. What we are now in Christ. At this point we need to pause for a moment, however. Because it would be easy for us to say, well, that law, way back a long time ago, that was maybe useful for a time, but we're not prisoners anymore. We're not little school children that are immature. So why don't we just kind of push that law aside? The law is hard. It's full of strict commands. So why don't we just move it aside? It would be easy for us to think that way. But in the book of Galatians, we read that that is not the case. That we are not just to take the law and put it away. Because as believers, the law has a positive function for us to guide us in how we are to live. It's a guide for us in gratitude. Galatians 5, verses 24 to 26 talk about this. In fact, throughout Galatians 5, beginning in verse 17 and going all the way to Galatians 6, verse 10, Paul gives us a very strict list of commands from the law, of what we are to do and what we are not to do. And he sums it up here in verses 24 to 26, saying that those who belong to Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Now that's just a quick summary there at the end of what Paul had said previously in the ten verses before. The law is strict and it comes in to show us how we are to live. Now, we might say, well, none of us here have gone out and committed murder and none of us have committed adultery, so we might have the prideful tendency to think that we are doing pretty well here in keeping the law. But we know, don't we? We know our own hearts. We know that we are full of envy, that we covet, that we are lustful, that we often are anxious, worried about what might happen tomorrow or the next day or the day after. We know that often we're in search of the praise of other men. We love to be puffed up. We love that praise. So we know that we are lawbreakers. So the law for us expresses God's will for us. It still shows us our sin because we still commit sins. We still break this law. But it is also a guide for us now in gratitude. So there is a positive use of the law and we must keep that in mind when we read Galatians chapter 3. What we are in Christ, then, is a people who have been redeemed from the curse of the law. Now, as a people that are to use the law in gratitude. And now, as a people, Paul says here in verse 26, who are sons of God. Sons of God. Look at verse 26 here in Galatians 3. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Very simple and short verse, but a very important verse. Because this is who we are in Christ. When Paul says we are sons of God, this is important because he's making a distinction. Christ, of course, was the only natural son of God. He's the only begotten son of the Father. We, however, are adopted sons and daughters of God. We were born as sinners, born as prisoners, but now we have been adopted as the sons of God through the Holy Spirit, according to Romans 8, verse 14. It's the Holy Spirit who assures us that we are sons of God. And 1 John 3.1 says that, Behold what manner of love the Father has given, that we should be called children of God. It is by grace, through the work of Christ, that we, who were sinners, have been adopted as sons of God. But not only that, we also, in Christ, are all one. According to verse 28, Galatians 3.28, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We need to think about this and let this sink in for a moment. Paul is speaking here in verse 28 hyperbolically. He's exaggerating because, of course, there are men and there are women. We look down the pew and we see men and we see women. We see people who are Dutch and we see people who are Asian. We see people who are German, Jew and Greek. So, of course, there are still men and women and Jews and Greeks. But what Paul is saying here is that being in Christ has nothing to do with these distinctions. Being in Christ, it doesn't matter if you're European or Asian or African. These things don't matter. Colossians 3.11 says this. There is no distinction between Jew and Greek. No distinction between circumcised and uncircumcised. There is no distinction in our rank or in how we stand in the view and the eyes of the world. It doesn't matter if we are a CEO, if we drive a truck, if we are a housewife, if we mow lawns. These things don't matter for those who are in Christ. And here in verse 28, Paul is using samples of things that show us that none of these earthly distinctions count for those who are in Christ. There is no distinction of gender, Paul says. There is neither male nor female. Now again, we need to pause as we read that. In the first century, when Paul wrote this letter, the world that he lived in had created all sorts of barriers and barricades to separate men and women. In the first century, there were men and there were women, and they each had a particular role to play in society. Women were not educated. Women were looked down upon as second-class citizens. So this is a remarkable statement. Paul is saying that in the world of Christianity, Men and women are not looked upon as being superior or inferior to one another. Together, Paul says, men and women are co-heirs with Christ. Look at Galatians 3.29. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. heirs according to the promise. What exactly does Paul mean by that sentence? 1 Peter 1, verse 4 helps us here. In this verse we read that through the obedience, through the death, through the resurrection, through the ascension of the God-man, an inheritance has been purchased for us. Where is that inheritance? It is in heaven. It is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Men and women together are co-heirs of the grace of life, according to 1 Peter 3, verse 7. According to Galatians 4, verse 7, we together, men and women, are the children of God who are heirs of this inheritance and this promise. as we think about that we realize this verse is an incredible promise and as we think about how many people use this verse today to try to prove that men and women are equal in their roles in the church and equal in their roles in the home in that it doesn't matter if you have women elders or men elders or if you have women ministers of the word or men who are ministers of the word. People often point to this verse to say, in fact, that these distinctions between the roles of men and women in the church, that these distinctions are eliminated. Not only is that a false conclusion based on the whole testimony of Scripture, but they're misreading this verse. Because this verse is talking about the inheritance we have in heaven. Not just about our roles in this life, which are important, very important. But this is talking about heaven. And Paul is saying, all of you, men and women together, are first class citizens in heaven. if you believe. So you are all one in Christ and heirs of the promise of heaven. But what you may ask, and it would be a good question to ask, what is it that makes us heirs of this promise? And what exactly is it that makes us one in Christ? The fact is that Paul says we are sons of God, we are one in Christ, we are heirs of the promise, but how is this possible? Well, our text, again, answers this question for us. Galatians 3, verse 24. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Beloved, the ground and the reason for why we are one in Christ is the gospel. It's verse 24. It's justification by faith alone. So it's the gospel that unifies us and makes us one. Many of us have all sorts of different likes and dislikes. We all do different hobbies. Some of us like baseball. Others like football. Some of us love to watch curling during the Olympics. Others of us think curling is just glorified shuffleboard. The point is we all have all sorts of likes and dislikes in this world. Some like chocolate ice cream, some like strawberry. Those are not the things that make us one in Christ. Those are not the things that unify us as the people of God. We are gathered together to worship here on this Lord's Day, tonight, not because we agree with the other person on sports or on politics. That's not the reason we're here. We are here and we have unity because we have unity in Christ. We're a colony of the church. The church is a colony of heaven on earth. And we are united through the gospel. It's the work of Christ, his merit, that makes us one. It's Christ who has redeemed us from the curse of the law. It's Christ that makes us sons of God. That makes us one and that unites people that have totally opposite likes and dislikes. It's the gospel that makes us one. According to our text here, in Galatians 3, every person who has ever lived and ever will live is in one of two camps. They're either under the law, where they are condemned, Where they are prisoners, where they are locked up, where they are immature school children. Or, secondly, they are the spiritual descendants of Abraham. And they are the spiritual descendants of Abraham because they are in Christ. Christ is the one who fulfilled these promises made to Abraham. And because we are in Christ, we then can be said to be the children of Abraham. Our spiritual genealogy is that we are children of God through faith in Christ. We are the ones who have received the inheritance of the promise made to Abraham hundreds of years, thousands of years, before the coming of Christ. So rejoice tonight, beloved. If you have confessed your sins and if you have rested in this promise of Christ crucified, rejoice for so great a salvation. Rejoice that together we are unified. One people of God, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. That is what makes us one in Christ. It is that promise that God has redeemed a people for himself in fulfilling his promise to Abraham through the merit of our Savior. So be comforted. Be comforted with the words of the Apostle Paul that we are justified by faith alone in the merit and the work of Christ alone. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank you this evening for the Gospel. We praise you that no longer are we under the condemnation of the law, but that we now are found in Christ, not having a righteousness of our own that comes through the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. So comfort us this day, Father, with the hope that we are children of God, that we are united together as your people through the blood of Christ, The fulfillment of the promises to Abraham has come true through the faithfulness, the merit, the righteousness of our Savior. So this week, Father, we pray that we may go about the task which you have called us to do with joy. With joy that we have been purchased through the blood of your Savior and that we have an inheritance in heaven that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.