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TEXT: Matthew 5:17-20; Romans 8:3-4; Galatians 3:19-29
OBJECTIVE
The students will be able to explain that the Mosaic Law had a time and place, but its main purpose was to point to Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Law, and lead men to Him.
REFERENCE INFORMATION
Though certain religious ceremonies of the Law were done away with, the precepts upon which the Law was founded still stand. The precepts of the Law are what the Psalmist praises in Psalm 119, and it is the precepts of the Law which the scribes and Pharisees failed to keep, choosing to follow ceremony instead.
The Law, as God gave it through Moses to the Children of Israel, was framed exclusively for the Israelites. It was to constitute their moral, ceremonial, and civil code when they became established as a nation in the Promised Land. It was known as God’s covenant with Israel and, as such, it was never imposed on any other nation or people.
Because Israel failed to keep the covenant made at Horeb, God promised He would make a New Covenant. God said of the New Covenant, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). In Hebrews 8:6, we read that this is a “better covenant,” and that it was established upon “better promises.” Under the New Covenant, we find that the Christian is Christ’s message in the flesh, “known and read of all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). That is because God’s Spirit has written His law, “not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” With the establishing of the New Covenant, Christ became “the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4).
QUESTIONS
The word schoolmaster comes from the original Latin word paedagogus or pedagogue—the entrusted servant who watched over a boy until he was grown. The pedagogue’s duty was to protect the boy in all his activities. A schoolmaster held an important place but it was not intended that the schoolmaster be retained after the young man came to maturity. Thus it was with the Law of Moses. It was given by God and was good; it was needful for Israel until Christ came. But when Christ came, the days of the schoolmaster (the time of the Law) were completed.
- For what reason was the Mosaic Law given? See Galatians 3:19.
Response: The Law was given to reveal sin and point to Christ. Your students should understand that the Law was only a means of disclosing sinful propensity, not of producing it. Discuss the similarity of this to a beam of sunlight revealing particles in the air. The particles were already there, but the light revealed their presence.
- For whom was the Law made? See 1 Timothy 1:9-10.
Response: The Law was made for the lawless. It regulated sinners and protected the nation of Israel. Discuss how civil law is designed to protect people today, governing the actions of men. Ideally, those who disobey the laws of our country are judged and then sentenced if they are found guilty, thus protecting others from further crimes. Under the Law, Israel was a theocracy. As long as they obeyed God as their King and Ruler, all went well. His laws regulated the lives of the nation. They were happy and prospered when they followed the Law. They were in trouble when they did not.
- The rituals of the sin offering as found in Leviticus 8:15 and Hebrews 9:19-22 pointed to sin. How did these also point to Christ? See Hebrews 13:11-12.
Response: In making a sin offering, animals were slain and the blood shed. So was Christ slain and His Blood shed. Also, as the bullock was taken outside the camp, so Christ suffered outside the gate to sanctify His people with His Blood.
- What did Jesus mean when He said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil”?
Response: Your students’ responses to this question should bring out that to fulfill means “to carry out, or to complete.” Discuss with the students how the Law was a shadow—a promise—of good things to come (Hebrews 10:1). Ask your students what it takes to make a shadow. Bring out that some substance is required as well as light. Jesus’ death and resurrection added the substance which completed the Law. This sacrifice gives the Law its true meaning, leading men through repentance to justification.
- The observance of the Law required more than ceremonial sacrifices. In Galatians 3:22-26, what is the key word used in every verse? Why was that word significant in the salvation of those under the Law, as well as in the salvation of us today? See Habakkuk 2:4 and Romans 1:17.
Response: The key word is faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Discuss with your students how people under the Law served God by making the sacrifices commanded by the Law, thus looking forward by faith to the promised Messiah. When the people obeyed the Law from their hearts, they felt the witness of God’s Spirit. Ask the students what action brings God’s witness to the hearts of men today. The answer is, “having faith in Jesus Christ and obeying the Word of God.” The verses in Habakkuk and Romans bring out that faith was and is necessary to worship God under either the Old or New Testament.
- What does it mean to be justified? Considering Galatians 2:16 and Galatians 3:24, by what are we justified?
Response: To be justified means “to be freed from blame, to be acquitted.” We are justified by faith. Discuss with your students the difference between the means by which men were justified through the Law and justified through Jesus Christ. Through the Blood of Jesus our sins are blotted out and the stain of sin removed from our lives.
- How does righteousness, which is by faith, operate? See Romans 10:9-10.
Response: The one who believes in his heart and confesses the Lord Jesus with his mouth shall be saved. Use this question to generate a discussion of how much easier it is to serve God under grace than under the Law. Have the students tell of the requirements of the Law in the blood sacrifices— how an animal, without blemish, had to be brought to the altar and slain by the priests, not just once in a person’s lifetime, but at various times in order to meet the ceremonial requirements. Ask the students to detail the steps of coming to God under grace: coming to God with prayer and faith in Jesus Christ, believing that God has raised Him from the dead.
- What was one of the indirect results of the Law? See Acts 10:28. How was this indirect result abolished through Jesus Christ?
Response: The Jews believed the Law meant they should isolate themselves from the nations round about them. Jesus’ sacrifice broke down this isolation and made it clear that the Gospel is for all men everywhere. Discuss how Jesus fulfilled the types and shadows of the Law by the sacrificing of Himself, also fulfilling the promise God made to Abram: “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Ask the students the extent of the Jews’ isolation of themselves from other nations. Review with your class how God broke down this “wall of partition” between Jews and Gentiles. Wrap up your lesson by asking the students: “What is Christ’s plan for His people today?” Answers could include: “Ye are the light of the world,” “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,” “Ye shall be witnesses unto me . . . unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
CLASS ACTIVITIES
Take to class a tool or kitchen appliance that is hand operated and one that is operated electrically; for example, a meat grinder, food processor, blender, or can opener. Demonstrate the use of both, showing that each did the job, but the power tool is so much of an improvement over the other that if we have a choice, we probably won’t go back to the one that has no power. Just so with the New Covenant. When God’s commandments are written in the heart, by grace we are able to live pleasing to God.
Pass out a pencil and index card to each student. Have students read pre-selected verses, looking for main ideas. Then each one should write a “telegram version,” summarizing the message of the passage in as few words as possible. Share these abridged editions. Scripture passages concerning the Law: Matthew 5:17-20; Romans 8:3-4; 10:4-9; Galatians 2:16; 1 Timothy 1:8-11. For example:
Full verse — “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” — Galatians 2:16
Telegram Version — Works of the Law do not free a man from blame. We are set free through faith in Christ.
Have two students act out the parts of a Pharisee and a Christian. The Pharisee could ask the Christian these questions:
Why aren’t you sacrificing animals anymore?
How do you receive forgiveness for your sins?
Who gives you authority to live your life in this new manner?
Choose a product or an advertisement of a product which claims to be a “new” or “improved” version. Relate this to the New Covenant in Christ Jesus.
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