One of the sad realities of human society is the existence of various kinds of dictatorships. There are tribes, countries, families and churches where one man considers himself to be supreme, and he rules the roost with a rod of iron. Often in situations like these, punishments are issued without the issuance of laws beforehand. By that I mean that people are exiled, executed and excommunicated, simply because the dictator dislikes them and considers them to be a threat. Of course, this is a result of human depravity. Even the best of men can fall before this temptation to lord over others.
But it is a principle of justice, laying in every human breast, that where there is no law there is no crime. And, as you know, this is a principle which is Divine and Biblical. Romans 5:13 – “Sin is not imputed when there is no law.” And yet as we’ve said so many times lately – from Adam to Moses people were judged, and they did die. Death is the inevitable effect of only one thing – sin. So there must have been some sort of law, even against those who did not sin after the similitude of Adam’s transgression – even against those who didn’t sin against the same law that Adam sinned against. And the fact is: all those thousands of people died from day one to about 1500 BC, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the written law, because they were carrying the poison of sin within them. There was a law, written on the tables of their hearts, which all men knew intrinsically. And yet with every passing decade, century and generation, the depravity of man was corrupting him more and more, and the knowledge of God was growing more dim, until we reached Paul’s gloomy description of man in the first chapter of the Book of Romans.
And so, out of grace and kindness, God gave to Moses a written revelation of the heart of the Lord. First, there were ten rules, and then many, many more, which told humanity how to behave. “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound.” Moses was not the initiator of the law, but only the means of its transmission. Ideally, the U.S. congress should not be creating laws, but only adapting the principles of God to the way in which modern society operates. Humanity was given the so-called “Law of Moses” in order that we might more precisely understand that we are sinners and doomed to die the second death.
And yet, from time immemorial people have been crying, “Why has my baby died?” “Why is are there so many rules and regulations?” “What is wrong with a little immorality now and then?” “Why is God so mean and dictatorial?” “Wherefore the law?” And human religion replies with wrong answers to every one of these questions. The reason that people – including babies – die is because we are all sinners. And now God has given us His law to prove to us that we are sinners. The law was never intended to deliver us from our sins, but rather to show us our sins and helplessness. Over and over again Paul told the Romans, the Galatians, the Ephesians, and he said it to all of us: “They which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”
Well Paul, if the law has no direct role to play in the salvation – or preservation – of our souls… Wherefore then the law? That is our subject for this morning: “Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound.” It wasn’t that there was no offense before Moses came along, but his job was to make sure that everyone knew that we are all sinners.
In examining this subject lets focus the rest of our time on Galatians 3:24-26. I know that I have preached from this scripture before, but it was a while ago according to my records. And if you remember it, then I praise the Lord, because it means that the Lord used it to touch your heart. “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” If you know what a schoolmaster is, then this is a refresher course in the principles of education. If you don’t, then this is an extremely important elementary-school lesson.
The “law” to which Paul refers in both Romans and Galatians is the “Law of Moses.” The opinion of the Jews, particularly the Pharisees, had degenerated into the idea that if people obeyed all the principles and details of the Old Testament law, they would earn the right to fellowship with God. But it was Paul’s contention that Moses’ law was merely a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Then through the merits of the Son of God, man can fellowship with the Lord. The word “justified,” of course, means “to be declared righteous.” When a person tries to justify himself, he is trying to say that what he is doing is acceptable or right. But theologically to be “justified” is to talk about salvation, which includes the forgiveness of all sin. Moses’ law doesn’t make or declare anyone to be righteous; it does exactly the opposite – it makes the offense appear to abound. The Law of Moses declares us to be unrighteous and incapable of personal salvation. Justification is something which Christ does, and which we understand or “receive” by faith.
In almost every case, that person – that pedagogue – was a slave, owned by the child’s father. He was a non-person, with no rights except what his master gave him. He couldn’t make decisions, except where he was sure that his master approved. He couldn’t cross the road or greet a neighbor except with permission. But he was a slave who had been given special authority over the life of his master’s son. So, you can be sure that this slave was probably a very, very good man – humanly speaking. He was of the character of Abraham’s servant who went to find a wife for Isaac. His morals were beyond impeachment; His honesty was impeccable. If this man had ever been any disrespect shown to the master, it was ancient history. In all likelihood some of the people hearing Paul’s letter were pedagogues themselves. I wouldn’t be surprised from what I know of Roman society that these men were some of the finest people in the city – superior in character, in many cases, to their owners. But, in actuality, they were nothing more than slaves. And this is the relationship that the law has to God. It is His slave; His creation; His property, ordained to do His bidding. And what is that bidding? To prepare God’s children for adoption.
Picture the master’s son – in this case, it is you and me. Let’s say that he is eight-years-old. As he sleeps through the night there is a man asleep at the foot of his bed. When he wakes up in the morning, this pedagogue helps him select appropriate clothing for the day. On the way to school, there are other boys and other pedagogues, but this one lets his boy talk only to others of whom his father approves. I am told that in Paul’s day it was proverbial to speak of some people as having “the face of a pedagogue.” That meant a sour, mean looking face; a face that was more ready to say “No!” than “Yes!” And where we might speak of someone tagging along behind “like a little puppy,” it was a proverb “to follow closely behind like a pedagogue.” Why? Because it was assumed that this child wasn’t wise enough to know how pick his own friends. The pedagogue would say, “This one is acceptable; that one is not.”
Do you see how he might be a picture of the law? When I refer to the “law” this morning, I’m thinking of things like the Ten Commandments. I’m thinking primarily of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers – the Law of Moses.
So this pedagogue was in the business of protecting, and developing, the life of his ward – the master’s son. Imagine what would happen if that slave caused or permitted a deadly accident. His life would be taken in a moment; he would have been executed. And isn’t one of the benefits of the law, a simple preservation of life? No obedient Bible student need contract venereal disease, for example. None should ever have to face the death penalty. Although this isn’t the primary purpose of the Law, it is one of the resulting benefits.
Now, most pedagogues had authority to discipline the children in their charge. If that boy failed to apply himself to the lessons that the father demanded, then the father’s slave could beat that boy. If that little boy was dishonest or disrespectful to others, he could be whipped by his pedagogue. If he insisted on rendezvous with undesirable people, his body would feel some pain. Whatever was the standard set by father, the pedagogue was obligated to enforce it. And you might imagine that everything the boy hated was pictured in that slave. Oh, how he was whipped sometimes; oh, how miserable he felt – at the hand of a slave. Isn’t this too a picture of the law?
And the pedagogue delivered his little charge to the professional teacher or sometimes taught him himself. Which ever was the case, please notice that the teacher didn’t teach about himself. The pedagogue didn’t teach the child about the joys or problems of being a slave. He didn’t have a course on how to avoid slavery. Theologically, this is really important. The objective of the pedagogue was not the pedagogue. And despite what some people think, the object of the Law is not the law. The Law is only the schoolmaster of things much greater than itself. What that child was to learn was not the law per se, but the will and heart of the Father. Too many people get so caught up in learning all the laws that they miss the Lord of those laws. They are trying to parse verbs, diagram sentences and avoid slang, but can’t read the message. They know all parts of eye and the optic nerve, but they can’t see sunrise or the kitten’s whiskers. The schoolmaster’s job was to ready his master’s son to fill his fathers shoes.
In other words he was to strictly regulate boy’s life in days while that young character was still in development. When the child was too young to understand between right and wrong, it was the schoolmaster’s job to show him – and painfully show him if that was necessary. Over the years, and under the right discipline that boy would learn. He would hopefully learn with his heart, and not just his brain, all the principles of right and wrong. The intention was not to memorize a bunch of rules, but to grasp his father’s soul. And into his sub-conscience there was placed all he that needed for maturity.
Then one day father would examine the boy and decide if he was ready. And if acceptable, at that time he would be adopted as a legitimate heir and son of his father. In that society a child was not a legal son until he was publicly adopted. There was so much polygamy and immorality that illegitimate children were everywhere. So to protect society, children were not heirs until their fathers legally declared them to be heirs. That is what Paul is referring to in Galatians 4:1-7 – “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
It was the duty of the pedagogue to prepare the son for sonship, and similarly that is the duty of the law. It is to show you that you’re as far from God as an Australian bushman is from the White House. The Law whips us and convicts us; it drills into our heads that we are unworthy. It says, “Don’t touch that – it is sin. Don’t look at that, it is smut. Don’t read that, it is filth; Don’t go in there, you may never come out. Stay away from that person he’ll drag your soul toward hell.” And then it says, “So you have disobeyed your father have you? Well then, now you must face the consequences.” “The wages of sin is death.” “Behold all souls are mine, the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” This is the message of the Law. The Law is not a fun thing; it is harsh, it is cruel, it is even deadly. But it is exactly what we need, until we can see the demands of Jehovah God. To paraphrase Paul, “If it were not for the Law, I would have never understood sin.” The Law is holy, just and good, but it was never designed to ferry me to Heaven. The Law held a mirror up before my face and showed to me my ugliness. But that law had no way of washing away the filth of that ugliness. The law couldn’t make me the man that God the Father demanded me to be.
Did you ever have one of those pass/fail tests in school? If you passed this test then you’d pass this class, but if you failed – oh, oh. Back in my day, the mark to hit was 70% and below that you failed. God’s pedagogue demanded that the mark to hit is 100% – something which is humanly impossible.
It doesn’t look good under this pedagogue, he will never recommend us to Father. “There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” “There is none righteous, no not one.” “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The law has condemned me – and you – to eternal judgment. You’ve failed at keeping even the simplest of the Ten Commandments. And I preceded you in that failure. And the actual truth is – this law/pedagogue never really intended to recommend us to the Father. That recommendation was doomed from the beginning, and God knew it. That is why from before Creation there were plans for Jesus the Saviour.
That is the only approach that we can have to God: repentance and dependence upon His grace. The repentance must be in regards to ourselves and our sinfulness before the Lord. The dependence and faith must be upon Christ and Christ alone for salvation from that sin. Galatians 3:22 – “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
Returning to Romans Paul says, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” The law is really all about the Lord Jesus Christ. The law was designed by God to drive us to the righteousness and eternal life which can come in only one way – Christ Jesus our Lord. “Do you know God’s law,” might be an important question. But a much more important question is: “Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ.