"The Changeless Promise" Galatians 3:15-18

Galatians 3:15-18
15 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. 16 Now 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. 17 And 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. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but some may ask then what is the purpose of the law??? We will get to that next week. This study is one where we try to keep questions and comments to the weekly passage, but this is an open book study and reading ahead is a good idea as it will answer many, if not all, of your questions. Also, read Romans as it is a great letter that will give many answers to our questions on the law and on grace.

Review:
Paul takes the Old Testament, which the Judaizers claim to believe and study and use to support their view of works, and he turns it around to show them that the Old Testament, in fact, teaches salvation by grace through faith. If you go back through our previous teachings in this series, you will find Paul quoted MANY Old Testament scriptures to prove his points.

Let's take a look at these 4 verses in today's study.

15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men [in a human analogy]:Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.

In Genesis God made a promise to Abraham. This promise, or covenant as Paul called it here for the first time, was unconditional! No ifs, ands, or buts; no strings attached. When Moses delivered the law it contained burdensome requirements, a code of behavior that makes demands and issues threats. Quite a difference between a covenant promise and the law!

I here quote John Macarthur: “ Let me show you the difference [Abraham’s Covenant and Moses’ Law]. To Abraham, God said, "I will. I will. I will." To Moses, He said, "Thou shalt. Thou shalt. Thou shalt, or else." There is quite a difference. The promise set forth a religion for God; the law set forth a religion of man. The promise talked about God's plan, God's grace, God's initiative, God's sovereignty, God's blessing, God's promise. The law talked about man's duty, man's works, man's responsibility, man's behavior, man's obedience. The promise, which stood for grace, had only to be believed; the law, which stood for works, had to be obeyed. They were two different things.

Once a will or covenant (Greek diatheke) has been ratified (with Abraham), it cannot be altered. The covenant God made with Abraham is irrevocable, it can never be annulled or added to. “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 4:29

16 Now to Abraham and his Seed (singular) were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds (plural),” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed (singular),” WHO IS CHRIST.

Christians are the spiritual seed of Abraham (see v. 29).

To avoid ANY misinterpretation of the word "seed," this passage clearly brings out that this passage was NOT referring to "seeds" as of MANY, but as of ONE. So NO spiritualizing this to be many seeds. And then it goes even further to say that this Seed is CHRIST, not the Jews, in this passage. So we see the PROMISE was made to Abraham AND Christ. This scripture makes that point clear!

Note: Thank God for the extra clarification of this verse or we would likely have many misinterpretations of who is the "seed."

17 And 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.

Keep in mind the LAW (through Moses) did not come until 430 years LATER and that law CANNOT annul the covenant! The covenant still stands, it was NOT made ineffective by the law. The law did not replace the covenant!!!

The law, which was put into force after 430 years, could not override or annul the standing covenant with Abraham (see Gen. 15:18).

Thus, stressing the seniority of the Abrahamic covenant over the Mosaic law. For Paul, the law

was not merely a late edition in the history of salvation; rather it was completely different from the covenant God completed with Abraham centuries before.

18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

In this passage we just read, Paul shows the supremacy of the way of GRACE over the way of the LAW.

Our inheritance IN CHRIST is not of the law, if that were the case it would not be of promise. But it was given to Abraham BY PROMISE.

For Paul, it was crucial that this original covenant of promise be distinguished from the law of Moses. The law demands, “Do this!” The promise grants, “Accept this!” Paul drew the two into sharpest antithesis. If law…not promise; if works…not grace.

There is really not a whole lot of commentary or understanding of the original Greek to get this message. It's so clear! We sometimes make the Bible harder to understand than it has to be. This passage is a clear example of this.

Question:
Have you believed (complete trust and abandonment) on the Lord Jesus Christ?

I also pray that if you have lived a legalistic, works kind of contact with God,
that the Lord will set you free to live a faith-filled, loving relationship with God through our living Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!!!

For some reason the 3 last blogs from this series are not showing. To view and read them go to:

Galatians 3:1-5: http://biblefood.blogspot.com/2011/04/freedom-series-stop-your-foolishness.html

Galatians 3:6-9: http://biblefood.blogspot.com/2011/05/who-are-sons-of-abraham.html

Galatians 3:10-14: http://biblefood.blogspot.com/2011/05/curse-of-law-freedom-series-gal-310-14.html

THIS CONCLUDES THIS WEEK’S TEACHING.

I look forward to questions, comments, and testimonies from you.