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Galatians 3:19-22 (KJV) Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

God Gave Us The Law To Teach Us
The Depth Of His Love and Grace

“Wherefore then serveth the law?”. Paul asks the question in every person’s head: “Why did God give Israel the Law? Why Mount Sinai?”. When you look at the early history of Israel, in fact, of all mankind, you will see that salvation has always been by the Grace of God. We are told:

It was added because of transgressions

Word Study: The word translated “TRANSGRESSIONS” is the Greek parabasis, which means “an overlooking, a failure to acknowledge or give credence to”. The Law did not CREATE transgressions. It was “ADDED BECAUSE” of transgressions, because of will oversight of something. The Law was added because man repeatedly LOOKED OVER and DEVALUED the love of God for His creation. The first time this happened was in the Garden of Eden. God, in His love, gave Adam the world. And yet Adam doubted the love of God, and showed that doubt by partaking of the forbidden fruit.

Romans 5:14 (ESV) death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression {parabasis} of Adam

God loved Adam, and proved it by what he did. But Adam doubted the love of God, and proved that by what HE did. He disobeyed God. He hid from God. He blamed God. This is THE Transgression (1 Timothy 2:14). And yet, God loved him anyway, and gave Adam life for death. Death reigned on the earth from Adam to Moses. Why? It wasn’t because people ate of the forbidden fruit as Adam did (for no one could get into Eden).

Death reigned because people rejected the love of God, choosing instead love of self and by extension love of sin. The wages of sin is death, and God is life. There was no law, and man embraced death while rejecting God.

When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He came to mediate a New Covenant, to bring us, through the Gospel, into a loving relationship with God. The Bible says:

Hebrews 9:12-15 (KJV) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. [13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15] And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the TRANSGRESSIONS {parabasis} [that were] under the first testament {the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law}, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

The Mosaic Law given at Sinai was different than anything God had done up to this point. Because man would not believe that God called us to His side out of love, out of what was best for us, God gave the Law temporarily to Israel and to mankind. Again, read with me:

Galatians 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, TILL THE SEED SHOULD COME to whom the promise was made

When God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:7 “To your OFFSPRING {zeraʿ} I will give this land”, God was not speaking of the physical descendants of Abraham. God gave the earth to Adam, and Adam in love with God was to maintain the earth. God gave the land to Abraham and his “seed”, to those who love the Lord. When God made His promise to Abraham, the promise was not to ethnic Jews, but to those who were in Christ. Paul previously told us:

Galatians 3:16 (KJV) Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. {God} saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

There are four “seed” of Abraham mentioned in the Scripture. There are (1) The PHYSICAL descendants, those who can trace their bloodline back to Abraham. Then there are the (2) BELIEVING PHYSICAL descendants, those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. There are (3) BELIEVERS who are the spiritual seed of Abraham. But the ultimate Seed is (4) Jesus Christ. Paul said that when God made His promise to Abraham, that He had Jesus Christ in view.

The Everlasting Covenant that God made through Abraham is to whosoever repents and receives THE SEED of Abraham, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Law was temporarily given until those who were under it were convinced that God loved them, and that God knows best. Those who are saved by the Grace of God live their lives following the Lord because we know that this is where the blessing is. There is NO PARADISE outside of a surrendered life to the Lord Who loves us. He made the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and He sets the parameters as to what is best for us!

The Law Is Different In It’s ‘Contract Formation’
Compared To The Other Covenants

The Law of God – the Mosaic Covenant, a.k.a. the Old Covenant – is entirely different in its composition than all of the other Covenants God made prior to it. We are told of the Law:

Galatians 3:19 (KJV) and it was ordained {diatassō, set in order or prescribed} by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Word Study: The word translated “MEDIATOR” is the Greek mesitēs, which means “a person who intervenes between two different parties so as to form a contract, restore peace, or to bring about unity”. God gave the Law of Moses through mediators, through a neutral party. Though God wrote the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10) on two tablets of stone that He gave to Moses, the fuller text of the Law came to Israel by angels. To be honest, I never knew this until I studied this section. Dr. Constable’s Notes on Galatians states:

“Angels, who stood between God and the Israelites, mediated the Mosaic Covenant to Moses and the Israelites. The N.T. refers three times to the interposition of angels in the promulgation of the Law: God’s intercourse with Moses through the Angel of His Presence {the Angel of the Lord} was evidently a common topic in Jewish schools of theology.”

Moses blessed Israel before he died, saying:

Deuteronomy 33:2 The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

God was the Source of the Law. He gave the Law from His right hand. When the Evangelist Stephen preached to the Pharisees just prior to his death, he said:

Acts 7:52-53 (KJV) Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: [53] Who have received the law by the disposition {diatagē, by the instrumentality or ministration} of angels, and have not kept [it].

In the Book of Hebrews, the Apostle speaking of the Law said:

Hebrews 2:1-2 (KJV) Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let [them] slip. [2] For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;

The Mosaic Covenant (the Law) gave God AND the Jews responsibilities that had to be fulfilled. But what of the other Covenants?

1. When God established His covenant with Adam, He spoke to Adam face to face (Genesis 1:26-30; 2:16-17; 3:16-19).

2. When God established His covenant with Noah, He spoke to Noah face to face (Genesis 9:8-17).

3. When God established His covenant with Abraham, He spoke to Abraham face to face (Genesis 12:1-3; 15; 17:9-14).

4. When God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, He spoke to Moses face to face (Exodus 3:1-4:23).

5. When God made His covenant with David, He spoke to David face to face. (2Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17:11-14; 2 Chronicles 6:16).

In each of these contracts or covenants God spoke without a mediator. But when He established the Mosaic Law, God used angels as mediators. Why? Because Israel had rejected the love of God. They overlooked His goodness, His Grace. They repeatedly tried to design their own gods and golden calves, rather than trust the love of God.

Israel Repeatedly Rejected Faith In God’s Love

When God led Israel to the Red Sea, rather than look to God’s love, the God Who saved them, the Israelites fussed:

Exodus 14:11-12 (KJV) {Israel} said unto Moses, Because [there were] no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? [12] [Is] not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For [it had been] better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

How galling that had to be to God! As slaves, Israel cried out to God, and He raised up Moses to lead them out. Now they doubt God and His love. When God destroys the Egyptian Army but saves Israel, they should have glorified Him forever. But then Israel gets to a place called Marah:

Exodus 15:22-23 (KJV) So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. [23]And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.

Did the people look to God for water? No! “The people murmured” (Exodus 15:24). They complained. They whined. And yet, God had Moses cast a tree (Exodus 15:25) into the waters of Marah, and the water was cleansed. God in His Grace blessed them, even though they doubted His love. Then Israel travels to

Exodus 17:1, 3 (KJV) And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and [there was] no water for the people to drink. … [3] And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore [is] this [that] thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

Again they failed to trust the love of God. They murmured, they complained. And yet God, once more, brought these ungrateful people water out of dry Rock.

Where God gave Israel water out of the rock was called Mount Horeb, which is another name for Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomy 5:2 (NASB 95) The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

2 Chronicles 5:10 (NASB 95) There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

God only gave the Law through the mediation of Angels to Israel after they repeatedly rejected His Grace and love. When God prepared to remove the Law through the New Covenant, He used angels as mediators.

1. The Angel Gabriel came to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, to tell him that Elizabeth was going to have the Messiah’s Herald. This was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy (see Isaiah 40:3-5; Matthew 3:1, 3; John 1:22-23; Luke 1:76-77; Malachi 3:1; 4:5).

2. The Angel of the Lord told Joseph that Mary was carrying the Messiah (see Matthew 1:20-24)

3. The Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she is going to bear the Messiah, the Savior of the world (Luke 1:26-38).

4. On the night that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God sent the Angel of the Lord to tell the shepherds about the birth of Christ the Lord (Luke 2:9-16).

Angels mediated the Old Covenant, the Law, because man rejected the love of God. As God prepared to bring in the New Covenant through His Son Jesus, He once more sent the Angels to those under the Law to announcing the coming change. The Law was only to last:

Galatians 3:19 … till the seed should come to whom the promise was made

When the Messiah came, God would no longer mediate through the Angels. He would mediate through Jesus Christ, His Only Son, our Lord.

Galatians 3:20 (KJV) Now a mediator is not [a mediator] of one, but God is one.

The Law was mediated through Angels, a Law which man completely fell down on. God kept His part, but man never ever kept his. Man broke the contract repeated. But we are told, “God is one”. Though man failed, God loved. He sent bus ANOTHER Mediator, One better than the Angels. God sent us His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 (KJV) For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; [4] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. [5] For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; [6] Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

God gave us the Law because He wants us to realize that we must REPENT, and come surrendered to Him Who loves us. He proved His love by sending His Only Begotten Son to die for us. The Father approaches us through the completed work of His Son Jesus. At this time there is only “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”. You cannot come to God and His “New Covenant”, a Covenant of Grace, without coming through the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6). The reason that God established a priesthood in Israel was to “offer gifts to God according to the Law” (Hebrews 8:4). These gifts and sacrifices never pleased God, but were offered year after year because no person can make themselves right before God. The priesthood in Israel was a shadow of the better covenant that was coming. The Bible says of Jesus:

Hebrews 8:6-13 (KJV) But now hath He {Jesus Christ} obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. [7] For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. [8] For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: [9] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. [10] For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: [11] And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. [12] For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. [13] In that he saith, A new [covenant], he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away.

The Old Covenant was established through the mediation of angels because Israel rejected the grace and love of God. But God promised a NEW Covenant, one Mediated by His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. This New Covenant would be better because of Jesus. It would be better because God promised, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people”. The Old Covenant relied on broken people to keep a perfect Law. The New Covenant – purchased with the Blood of Christ – brought with it the operation of the Holy Spirit in washing, regenerating, and indwelling the believer.

The New Covenant Christian follows the Lord because WE LOVE THE LORD. The Old Covenant adherent follows God because THEY FEAR PUNISHMENT.

The Law Diagnoses Our Problem,
Leading Us To Repentance

Galatians 3:21-22 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Righteousness cannot come by the Law. The Law requires that those under it DO or else. But we are one and all broken. We cannot fix ourselves. God must fix us. God did this through the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus became Incarnate, God become flesh, God become Perfect Man, He walked this earth sinlessly and perfectly. Jesus kept the Law that we could not keep. Keeping the Law, He proved Himself “the Lamb of God, without spot or blemish”. Then Jesus Christ went to the Cross, willingly sacrificing Himself for us. The Bible says:

Hebrews 9:12-15 (KJV) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. [13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15] And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament {Covenant}, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Whereas the Old Covenant required repeated animal sacrifices to pay for the sins of humanity, the New Covenant relies on the Blood of Christ, shed once and for all for our sins on Calvary. Jesus died for us so that WE CAN SERVE GOD, so that God through His Spirit can change our hearts to receive the love of God.

Beloved, we who are Christians serve the Lord our God not because we are afraid we’re going to go to hell. We serve the Lord our God because we LOVE Him, because He is good to us, and He is our Father. Our hearts are tender to Him, to His glory. We love Jesus!

The Old Covenant of Law was mediated by angels. The New Covenant of Grace is mediated by Jesus (Hebrews 12:24). Which covenant are YOU under? If you only work for God because you don’t want Him mad at you, you’re not under the New Covenant. If you come to Church or tithe or give or read your Bible or pray because you’ll go to hell if you don’t, you’re not under the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant addresses your actions. The New Covenant addresses your hearts. The Old Covenant requires circumcised flesh. The New Covenant circumcises the heart. The Old Covenant is everything YOU do to make yourself right with God. The New Covenant is everything GOD does to get your heart right with Him. The New Covenant was prophetically spoken of to Israel when God said:

Deuteronomy 30:6 (ESV) the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (ESV) I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Praise God for the Lord Jesus Christ! Next week we’ll see how God used the Old Covenant as a school teacher to lead us to Jesus. Amen.