The Book Of Galatians Chapter 3 Part 5 God's Promises Are Received By Faith Not By The Law

Jesus Christ is the seed of Abraham through whom we receive God's promises. 

Galatians  3:16-18  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17)  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18)  For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 

The Holy Spirit directed the apostle Paul to expound the truths concerning law, grace and salvation through Jesus Christ.

He is proving that the promises of God cannot come through keeping the law because the "just" shall live by faith.

A "just" person is one who by faith in Christ, is justified, declared innocent of all transgression and fully forgiven by God in heaven. 

Matthew 1:1  The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 

Paul makes it clear that scripture says the promises were given to Abraham and his seed and this is in singular form, meaning to one seed of Abraham.

The one seed through whom these promises are given is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why Matthew's genealogy of Christ begins by calling Jesus the son of Abraham.

Christ is that long promised seed of the woman, seed of Abraham, seed of David and Son of God.

Promised redemption and salvation of God begins in Genesis 3:15 and relative to Abraham, the promise was given 430 years before the Hebrews ever received the law from God at Mount Sinai.

Therefore, the law cannot do anything to make the promise of God void because the promise preceded the law.

The law convicts mankind of sin and points us to the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:19-20  Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20)  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 

If the law does not annul the Abrahamic covenant, and cannot confer salvation then why did God give it? 

This was a very natural objection in the mind of any Jew who had paid attention to the apostle’s reasoning.

It was given that we might know our sinfulness, and the need all mankind had for the mercy of God. 

The law was given to restrain sinful man by forbidding certain actions on pain of death. 

It was used for detecting, discovering, and making known our sins and consequences. 

The law convicts all mankind of their sins, stops their mouths, and pronounces the whole world guilty before God 

The law of God is the righteous line, a straight edge that determines whether we have deviated from God's holy standard.

The law of God is holy and good and reveals the wicked nature of our sins.

Romans 7:7-14  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. 8)  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9)  For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10)  And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 11)  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12)  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 13)  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 14)  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 

The law was to be in force till the advent of the Messiah. After that it was to cease.

Through the coming of Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, the law of God received its full and perfect accomplishment. 

But when the seed came, and the fullness of divine grace in the promise was made, then the law, as given by Moses, was to cease. 

The first covenant was found faulty and yielded to another, better covenant (See Hebrews 8:7-8).

Then, it came to an end as the ceremonial law was  abolished. 

The moral law ceased to be a covenant of works, though it continues as our rule of walk and manner of living.

Puritan pastor and scholar Matthew Henry offers an excellent exposition of this text.

"And though the law, considered as the law of nature, is always in force, and still continues to be of use to convince men of sin and to restrain them from it."

"Yet we are now no longer under the bondage and terror of that legal covenant." 

"The law was not intended to discover another way of justification, different from that revealed by the promise."

"It was given only to lead men to see their need of the promise, by showing them the sinfulness of sin, and to point them to Christ, through whom alone they could be pardoned and justified."

Psalm 68:17  The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. 

When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God, His glory was on display and the angelic host accompanied Him.

Acts 7:51-53  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52)  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53)  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 

The martyr Stephen preached one sermon and was stoned to death. In his Spirit guided sermon he accused the gospel rejecting Jews of being stiffnecked rebels like their fathers.

They received the law of God in the presence of angels on Mount Sinai but they failed to keep it.

Moses was the mediator between the Hebrews and God under the old covenant.

Moses is the mediator who stood between God and the people of Israel. He was not making peace between them, but was showing the word of God from Him to them at their request (See Deuteronomy 5:5).

Jesus Christ is the mediator between man and God of the new covenant because He is both Son of man and Son of God. 

He is perfectly, uniquely equipped to represent us as our high priest interceding for us before the Father, and He is able to reconcile us to our Father in peace.

Galatians 3:20  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 

The idea of mediation supposes two persons between whom the mediation is carried on. 

The law is a contract between two parties, God on the one hand, and the Jewish people on the other. 

It is only valid so long as both parties fulfil the terms of the contract. It is therefore contingent and not absolute. 

Unlike the law, the promises God gave Abraham are absolute and unconditional. God gave it directly to the patriarch of our faith without any mediating party.

It depends on the decree of God. There are not two contracting parties and there are no stipulations. 

God as the Giver is everything and the recipient does nothing but receive blessing and promise.

The law of God requires a mediator between Holy God who is offended by our sins and sinful man. 

The law is not God's normal way of dealing with man. He gave the promises directly to Abraham without a mediator. 

There was no middleman between God and Abraham. He made the promise directly to Abraham. 

Thus, the gospel announces that sinners can be reconciled to God through repentant faith in Christ. 

Through the new birth, the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, and the indwelling presence of God's Spirit, we are directly connected to our Father.

We now can come boldly to His throne to obtain grace and mercy and help in our times of need (See Hebrews 4:14-16).

We have taken time to carefully explain what God says to us through His apostle Paul.

His law is no longer the way to approach God but it remains in force as the moral guide for Christians.

The Holy Spirit who lives in each believer, will always lead us to obey the moral law of God. He will never lead us to do something that contradicts the scriptures. 

Thus, the promises of God were given directly to Abraham before the law and are not contingent upon keeping the law.

Our Lord Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed the law of God for us, just as He suffered for us, died for us and rose from the dead for us.

This Spirit inspired truth dismisses false teachings of law keeping Judaizers who troubled the churches in Galatia.

God gave us His Spirit to help us live a holy life in a unholy world.

May our hearts be filled with praise and adoration for Jesus our Savior.

May we rejoice that we stand in God's promises by faith.

May we ask the indwelling Spirit of God to help us live a holy life so that we can fulfill our desire to do all for the glory of God.

Bob