Trinity 13

1  In Christ, We May Live

One of the basic differences between this country

and quite a few others, has been the way our law enforcement is supposed to work.

You know the phrase “innocent until proven guilty.”

There are many places where that’s not how it works.

What it means is that the person charged with a crime

is presumed to be innocent from the start.

So the prosecution must prove his guilt.

But there are places where if you are charged with a crime,

it’s up to you to prove your innocence.

But before God, can we presume that anyone is innocent?

A parent hears a crash from down the hall and checks it out. There’s shattered glass on the floor and cookies everywhere.

Several children in the room look around with wide eyes. Each and every one says “I didn’t do it.”

That’s exactly how we all are before God:

We make a mess by bending and breaking His rules. Then we pray to Him, perhaps even believing:

“I didn’t do it.”

We’d like to presume that we are innocent and righteous,

and occasionally defy God to prove otherwise.

Last week we learned that God’s Law kills.

Today we learn exactly how.

Some Christians had been teaching

that we must observe the Law in order to be righteous; that living as a Jew is part of being Christian.

Paul answers that teaching.

The Law doesn’t help us obtain righteousness before God. Instead, it removes any righteousness we thought we had.

The Law catches us with our hand in the cookie jar,

and that’s its job.

Because of the Law, we see that our rightousness is fake,

and our presumption of innocence is a sham.

But in Christ, we may live.

Because His righteousness is genuine. Because His promises are guaranteed.

2  Galatians 3:15–22

Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

2.1  Because His righteousness is genuine.

To the apostle Paul, the covenant and the promises to Abraham

are the same thing:

the promises God made before the Israelites existed.

Abraham’s grandson was Israel.

Israel’s descendants received the Law, 430 years later:

The 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai.

Paul points out that the covenant with Abraham

still stands on its own,

regardless of the Law that came later.

It was the promise to Christ, the Seed of Abraham: in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

The promise was fulfilled because of Christ.

If you want God’s eternal blessing in your future,

you will only find it in these events of the past.

You belong to one of the families of the earth,

and so this ancient promise also touches upon you.

It means that in Christ, we may live,

because His righteousness is genuine.

The Jews in Paul’s day were descended from the Israelites.

The Law was very important to them,

so you can imagine why they’d want Christians to follow it.

For them, the Law was not only the Ten Commandments,

but also the many principles surrounding them.

Israel was given the moral law in the Ten Commandments,

but also a civil law based upon that morality, and a ceremonial law governing their worship.

It’s no wonder that some Christians wanted all that.

We learned last week that the Law kills.

That’s the moral law, defining right and wrong. The Law kills our presumption of rightousness.

That’s its purpose. It was added because of transgression.

When we hear “Thou shalt,” or “Thou shalt not,”

we can no longer pretend to be good creatures.

Well, almost.

You remember in last week’s sermon,

Moses had to wear a veil after he descended the mountain, because the people couldn’t bear to see the glory of his face.

That was the awesome glory of God’s Law, His righteousness.

It made the Israelites guilty, and they couldn’t stand it.

All that was according to God’s plan.

But God also wanted them to know what the Law says,

so He allowed for Moses to wear the veil,

which had two effects:

The people could now bear to hear Moses speak, but they also began to despise the Law.

The same happens with us today:

we are sinners, like the Israelites. When we hear the Law, and it reveals our unrighteousness,

we can’t stand it.

But when the Law is softened, or veiled for us,

then we begin to think,

“That’s no so hard,” or, “That’s not so frightening,”

and we lose our respect and reverence

for both God and His Word.

We start to think that our righteousness is good enough.

Consider the difference between two naughty children:

one who is ignored, masking the law:

He soon finds that he can do as he likes, and has no respect for authority;

The other is made to suffer for his bad behavior,

and told to shape up or the suffering will increase:

He must learn to behave well, and at least respects the threat of discipline,

though in his heart he hates it.

The problem is that we all share the sinfulness of the Israelites.

Wickedness runs through everything we do,

in rivers and streams.

Often, the stream runs underground.

The Law is veiled and softened. We think we’re doing just fine.

But our rightousness is an empty shell,

with only foulness inside.

The unveiled Law kills us

by removing our shell of righteousness.

The Law makes us like a thief sentenced to prison.

You’d think he’d be reformed there.

But he’s not.

Being locked up by the authority

only makes him bitter against it.

That’s exactly what the Law is for:

not to make us righteous,

but to magnify our sinfulness, our transgression.

The unveiled Law tells us why we must die.

But the Law came after the promise to Christ.

in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Here is the good news:

despite the Law, the promise still stands.

In Christ, we may live.

While our rightousness is a rotten shell,

Jesus’ rightousness is the real thing.

Just after our epistle lesson, it says,

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Through Baptism, we wear His righteousness.

In Christ, we may live,

because His righteousness is genuine.

2.2  Because His promises are guaranteed.

Our text ends, But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Do you see how God works here?

This is His activity in our lives, to save us!

It all happens through the Scripture, His Word.

It may seem unlikely that such ancient writings

would have much relevance for people today.

But they do. They are God’s Word for all times.

Through the written Law, God confines all under sin.

Not because He’s mean and nasty,

but because sin is the reality about us.

Sin must be amplified and magnified,

so that we may be ready for the Promise.

Since the Law has failed to produce righteousness in us,

our hope lies in something older:

the promise to Abraham and his Seed.

That’s the covenant that stood through it all.

The Law was given to the Israelites,

to lead them to Christ.

The Civil laws lost their power

as Israel was split up and conquerored.

The Ceremonial laws lasted longer,

governing the Temple until forty years after Jesus ascended.

But now outward Israel is secular, if anything.

All that is left is the Moral Law,

which kills our presumption of righteousness, so that we may look to Calvary instead of Sinai.

Hope in God’s promise is well placed,

because it has stood the tests, and is confirmed by Jesus.

This is how Paul described it, with a human analogy: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.

So the legal arrangements in this world have a lasting power.

When you take on a car loan or mortgage,

it’s up to you to pay it off according to plan.

How much more, then, can we trust God’s promise?

Even the Law didn’t change it.

In fact, Abraham wasn’t the first to be promised a Savior.

Adam was promised before him, so that even long after Adam died,

when God wanted to destroy the world in the flood,

He saved the only family that still believed it.

That was ten generations before Abraham

God is the promise-keeper.

There’s an idea that since so many things change over time,

the distant past has little value for us.

Historians know it’s untrue,

because there is much to learn from the past.

But if the past has value for historians,

even though things have changed,

How much more value is there in the ancient promises,

from the One who does not change?

Just think: so many people crave knowledge about God,

so many speculate about what salvation means.

Meanwhile, all the answers are waiting for us,

and have been for thousands of years.

His promises, recorded so long ago,

are just as true today as the day He first spoke them.

Today, when you return to your home,

you will notice the effects of sin:

We grow old with cares and worries of the soul; we grow old and our bodies gradually fail us.

We learn to cope with our weaknesses, our failings. We cope with the weaknesses of others.

It’s evidence of the sin we all live in,

and a constant reminder of our mortality.

The Law says,

Be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect. and any presumption of our righteousness must die.

But remember that there is something stronger than all that.

Remember that God’s promise bestows forgiveness. Remember that Jesus secured it with His blood.

Your worried soul and tired body are redeemed.

Your failings are forgiven in the blood of Jesus. Your weaknesses are washed away by His strength.

Jesus has consumed your bitterness through His death.

He leads our way to eternal life, through His cross.

With the promises of God in Christ Jesus,

it’s not “guilty until proven innocent,” nor even “innocent until proven guilty.”

He simply declares the world “not guilty”

because Jesus did it all for us.

God’s promise won’t ever change.

History books can be edited and re-written,

but God’s Word will endure forever.

In Christ, we may live.

Over the next 2 weeks, our sermon texts show us

the only way to put this truth into practice.

For now, let’s rejoice that

Jesus’ righteousness is genuine, and His promises are guaranteed.

Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!