Day 3 at WOLBI

The week is just rushing along. This morning I lectured for three hours on Galatians 3-4. Every year I find the student body is a little bit different. A few years ago we had a really boisterous group that liked to talk and sing and banter with me. This year’s group seems very attentive and studious. They come in to the Jack Wyrtzen Center, sit down, pull out their notebooks, and start writing notes.
Today I had a lot of fun by asking a young man to play the part of Moses while I played Abraham. We walked across the front of the auditorium together so I could explain Paul’s point in Galatians 3:17-18 that the promise given to Abraham came before the law, and the law was added alongside the promise for about 1450 years (from Moses to Christ), but the promise (of salvation by faith) goes on forever. Because it’s an argument from historical sequence, it’s the sort of truth that you might tend to overlook. I picked a spot and told “Moses” to stand there, then I backed up about fifteen feet to show that the promise to Abraham came before the law. When I got even with “Moses,” we started walking together. We stopped at a point representing the death of Christ. Leaving “Moses behind, I kept walking to show that the law has ended, but the promise of salvation by faith goes on.
Then I took “Moses” and tried to show how the law restrains sin. I stood behind the young man (I think his name was Jimmy) and said, “Tell them no.” So he said no. Louder. So he said it louder. “Shake your finger at them.” So he did. Tell them, “I mean it.” “You’re in big trouble now.” He was a good sport and played along with me. And then, “Don’t kill.” “Don’t commit adultery.” “Stop stealing, you thieves.” And we walked along together with me whispering in his ear. The class was laughing and cheering. I told them, “The law restrains sin by telling you what not to do and warning you of the consequences.” When I said to “Moses,” “What do you see out there?” he got into it and said, “A bunch of sinners.” The class laughed and I whispered, “Tell them they’re in big trouble now.” He did and the class laughed again. I told the students their laughter proved my point. And so it went, as we worked through the idea of the law being given to reveal God’s nature, to show us our sin, and to teach us our need for Christ.