Dec. 10, 2023

“THE ROAD TO FREEDOM”

“GOD’S PROMISE”

GALATIANS 3:15-29

Paul was trained as a Jewish rabbi and was fully equipped to argue his case. He will make four statements that help us understand the relationship between the Promise and the Law.

1.   The Law Cannot Change The Promise- Galatians 3:15-18

So how do we understand the relationship between the promise made to Abraham and the law given to Moses?

The word promise is used eight times in these verses, referring to God’s promise to Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Galatians 3:15-18 “Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”

Note Abraham did not make a covenant with God; God made a covenant with Abraham!

But Paul reveals another wonderful truth; God made this promise, not only to Abraham, but also to Christ. “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.” vs.16

“… which was four hundred and thirty years later…” vs.17

Genesis 46:1-4

The 430 years is the time from God’s confirmation of His promise to Jacob until the law at Sinai.

2.   The Law Is Not Greater Than The Promise- Galatians 3:19-20

Hebrews 12:18-21

Paul’s points out that the law is inferior to the covenant of promise in two ways:

*The Law Was Temporary.

Galatians 3:19 “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.”

Romans 7:4 “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”

*The Law Required A Mediator.

Galatians 3:19-20 “… and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.”

When God gave the law to Israel, He did it by means of angels and through the mediation of Moses.

Acts 7:53 “Who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

But when God made His covenant with Abraham, He did it personally, without a mediator. “God is one” vs.20, therefore there is no need for a go-between.

3.   The Law Is Contrary To The Promise- Galatians 3:21-26

You can almost hear the Judaizers shouting the question:

Galatians 3:21 “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.”

Why, then, was the law given?

• The Law Was Not Given To Provide Life.

vs.21 “…For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.”

*The Law Was Given To Reveal Sin.

The law is “holy, and just, and good.”

Romans 7:12 “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.”

But we are unholy, unjust, and bad. The law does not make us sinners, it reveals to us that we already are sinners.

Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

The law is like a mirror that helps us see our “dirty faces” but you do not wash your face with the mirror.

James 1:22-25

It is grace that provides the cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Galatians 3:22 “But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

Jew and Gentile alike are under sin. But since all are under sin, then all may be saved by grace! God does not have two ways of salvation; He has but one, faith in Jesus Christ.

*The Law Was Given To Prepare The Way For Christ.

Galatians 3:23-26 “But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

4.   The Law Cannot Do What The Promise Can Do- Galatians 3:27-29

*The law cannot justify the guilty sinner: 

Romans 5:4 “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”

God justifies the sinner. No one is righteous, it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that a sinner is justified, declared righteous before God.

Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

This baptism of the Spirit identifies the believer with Christ and makes him part of His body.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14

Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.”

The believer in Christ is not just a “child of God” he is also a “son of God.” The believer has an adult status before God, so why go back into the childhood of the law?

Galatians 3:28-29 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

vs.28 “…for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

God in His grace has declared all people to be on the same level that He might have mercy upon all people.

Romans 11:25-32

*You and I cannot keep the law, not for a week, nor even a day. But praise God that someone kept it for us. Jesus Christ took our sin and gave us His righteousness.