The school master

     Galatians 3: 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

    25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

    A schoolmaster is simply a TEACHER . . . The responsibility of a schoolmaster is to educate his student . . . to teach that student . . .

    and the lesson that The Law “taught” to the people of God in the OT can also be taught to you and I today . . . The Lesson that God  teaches us through “The Law” is beyond price . . .

    As we talk of things of value – I am reminded of Lu 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness (GREED) for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of “the things” which he possesseth.

    The quality of our life – or the gain that we get from life is not determined by how many rules we are able to keep NOR is it determined by the overabundance of our possessions . . . 

    I Tim 6: 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

    The idea of “godliness” is not referring to learning how to live so that we don’t sin as much as we used to . . . The Bible tells us that EVEN the thought of foolishness is sin – and since we cannot even control our own 

    thoughts – we cannot ever reach the point in life where we are able to avoid the practice of sin (physical/mentally) . . . so to live “a godly life” is not telling us to somehow approach (get closer) to sinless perfection . . .

    The schoolmaster is teaching us that To live “a godly life” – is to live a separated life.  The “godly life” which brings contentment - is a life

    that is separated from the world by a boundary - by a twisted cord - by the Landmarks of True WORSHIP - and one of the lessons which “The

    Law” is trying to teach us – is that peace with God is not found by living our lives within a set of rules which is able to turn us into Christians by making us LESS SINFUL.  After we are saved - the secret to finding peace with God is to find proper worship IN THE TRUTH

    The whole point to The Law is not to make us a better people through the practice of good deeds by keeping/practicing The Law . . . but rather the whole point to The Law is to make us a better people through HUMILITY 

    as we look at our lives – while we also look at God’s definition of righteousness in The Law . . . This lesson of humility is supposed to be learned as we compare our lives/thoughts with God’s definition of righteousness as revealed to us in The Law -- 

    Ro 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.  – it is in this manner that we are taught the meaning of Ro 3:23 For I all have sinned, and I have come short of the glory of God . . . 

    To “come short” is to miss the mark . . . “The mark” that we miss . . . is the perfection that would be required of us -- if we were ABLE to “keep” The Law . . .

    Galatians 2:16 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.  The gain (or the profit) in/of our

    life is not determined by the value of our possessions . . . neither is there profit to be found in our life as a result possessing an abundance of good works as we spend our life trying to “keep The Law” and to do more good than evil in our lives.

    I Tim 6: 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

    This verse tells us to adopt the attitude -That it is ENOUGH for us - that we have found “The Truth” in the lesson that has been taught to us by the Schoolmaster . . . that lesson being - that the abundant life is not found in 

    either the value of our possessions NOR in the abundance of our good works . . . but the godliness spoken of which brings contentment into our lives –(is in fact) - the blessing of being able to offer “a worship” which God will accept – (along with the understanding) that in a saved man’s life “the blessing of proper worship” is a thing of greater value than any other blessing that we could ever hope to possess.  

    I Cor 2: 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

    I Tim 6: 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

    “To be content” gives us the idea of raising a barrier “to ward” something off (or to keep it away from us) . . . like stacking “sand bags” during the time of rising water in a flood.

    When we see the “waters of temptation” rising around us . . . when we see that we are not as prosperous as others and as we begin to get jealous of “the world” . . . we should at that point start laying down the sand bags of contentment in order to ward off the attitude of envy and discontentment which can only lead to “impatience with God” and to discouragement as a Christian.

    Ps 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

    17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; THEN understood I their end.

    He only found understanding – in the place of proper worship . . . To view our lot in life through eyes that have not been properly trained by the 

    “schoolmaster” is something that will distort our vision of what our purpose in life actually is . . . and as we begin to compare our circumstance in life with the prosperity of the world around us . . . we will begin to question

    God and also our faith . . . BUT when we enter into the boundary of The Landmarks of Truth – when we go to the sanctuary of God  – when

    we find strength in that twisted cord of church fellowship . . . we will then understand that the worth of man’s life is not measured in the value

    of his possessions NOR is the worth of a man’s religion measured in success as defined by “the world” . . .

    Mt 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

    What greater blessing can any people have – than the promise that Jesus will “literally” be in their mist . . . The point is - “that it is not possible” for us to receive a more valuable blessing – than the ability and the 

    opportunity to offer PROPER worship unto God in what we KNOW is a “Landmark church” . . . God does not measure our lives by the value of our

    possessions – nor does He value our worth by the accomplishment of good works that are found within The Law . . . God measures our worth

    “as Christians” by the lack of pride in our heart which is humility – and by our willingness to be obedient (submissive to Him) which is an  expression of our love.  

    John 14:15 If ye love me, keep (guard) my commandments.

    John 15:10 If ye DO keep (value) my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

    Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

    The most valued possession of any man in any age -- is NOT what is able to comfort our flesh - impress our neighbors or build up our religion – but rather THAT which is able to comfort our heart. 

    Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth (is above) all understanding, (this peace is what) shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

    The peace of God refers to “the rest” that we have within our heart when we learn to have the attitude that The Truth is ENOUGH – and that nothing else in our life really matters.