Galatians 3:15-29 Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before the coming of this faith,we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
In the above scriptures, Paul explains that the law that happened 430 years after God’s promise to Abraham could not be negated by the law of Moses. The Lord had tested Abraham’s love and faithfulness to him by demanding that Abraham sacrifice his only son, Isaac. This was a huge demand from Abraham for God had given Isaac to Sarah and him when they were very old. Isaac was a miracle baby, coming to them only because God had activated Sarah’s dead womb. And God’s promises to Abraham could only come through his one and only son, Isaac. However, God asked Abraham to sacrifice this miracle son on Mount Moriah. So, Abraham was in the process of carrying out God’s wish when an angel interrupted the scene. The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:15-18) From that one act of obedience, God would bless all nations through THE SEED that would come from the womb of Sarah, Abraham’s descendant. So later we see John the Baptist under God’s direction seeking the Seed God had promised to Abraham. When Jesus came to be baptized, John knew he was the One. John was looking for the man who would have the Spirit remain on him after he was baptized in water. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17) Paul was assuring the Galatians that the law did not do away with the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. God’s promise to Abraham that his descendant would bless all nations on the face of the earth had come in the form of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Paul is telling the Galatians that God’s words are eternal: what He says will be done. The law and its strictures could never save anyone or make them into new creatures who would be acceptable to a righteous and holy God. Eternal life was for the born again, not for the unredeemed, members of the kingdom of darkness. The DESCENDANT of Abraham came to deliver men and women out of a finite existence into an eternal existence. But for that to happen, people must find that life through faith in Jesus Christ. He alone amongst men is eternal: therefore, men and women are transformed to eternal life by being IN CHRIST, dying with him and resurrected IN HIM. This is the Good News Paul ministered in every city.
What then is the law? Why was it given if it has so little power to save men from destruction? The law was given to protect the Descendant who would be coming. The law is good, and it shows God’s holiness and perfection. The law contains orders and commands. Many regulations were written to guide men and women to a good life, a righteous life. A given in people’s lives is that they are sinful and easily fall away from following their Creator. This instability on the part of men and women, their tendency not to be faithful to God and their willingness to destroy others that God has created, brought on the necessity of the law which is a revelation of the nature of God. The demands of the law literally locked men and women into condemnation, for its demands were always unreachable to people. No matter how disciplined or religious they were, the law would lead them into failure to please a righteous God. God put the law and its regulations into their existence so they would realize God has expectations on their lives. Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. The law was a harsh guardian, for the Jewish people failed miserably in obeying the tenants of the law. Because of their waywardness to God’s commandments, they were punished harshly. They were even driven away from the Promised Land. They were slaves in foreign countries, living under the harshness of slavery. In the days of Nehemiah and Ezra, we see a remnant of Israelites back in their own land. They rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem, the holy city of God. They also worked hard to restore everything in Jerusalem that had been destroyed by the armies of their enemies. On the first day of the seventh month, the people gathered to hear Ezra read the law and all of its regulations. As they were weeping, they realized how evil they and their ancestors have been to a faithful God. How wayward they were to the God who freed them from Pharaoh’s hand. This day was the day of the Trumpets. This holy day was announcing several days of repentance before celebrating the Passover, the day of deliverance from Egypt. As Ezra was reading the law, the people were in great mourning, understanding how unfaithful they have been to God. But then the leaders of this small remnant who are now back in their land said to the people “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. (Nehemiah 8:9) Instead they were to celebrate with rich foods and dance in happiness for their faithful God had brought them back to the Promised Land. This scene reveals clearly God’s love for the Israelites even though they could not accept the strictures of his laws and regulations. The guardian was always present before them to insure that the Seed would be brought to the world. Out of this remnant, the line of David would be preserved, and Jesus would come from tribe of Judah.
Paul is pressing the point to the Galatians that they are no longer under the obligations of the law, that their perfection in God’s sight does not come through obedience to the law, but through the grace and mercy that God gives them because of the work of the SEED. He wants them to know the promise to Abraham is still in effect. He is warning them, if they feel it is necessary to be circumcised or to follow the regulations of the law, they will miss out on the redemption effect that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. The law has only the power to condemn. Jesus came not to condemn but to save people from their sins. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:17-18) The Seed that was conceived by Abraham’s faith in God’s word brought salvation to all people. God's plan from the beginning of time was to transpose man from his nature into the nature of the eternal God, to take on God’s nature. Animal sacrifices could not alleviate man from his sinful nature. Animal sacrifice could stave off God’s immediate anger for sinful man’s reluctance to serve him or honor him, but animals are not in the nature of humans, only Christ carries that nature. He humbled himself to redeem mankind from their sins. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8) Why humble himself and take on the nature of humans? He humbled himself, making him the complete man. He called himself the son of man. Salvation comes to us through and in Christ. You might see it this way. Lying on the ground looking up, Jesus comes to you, lying on you, transporting every part of your body from hand to hand, from joint to joint, to arm to arm to leg to leg. He is transposing his nature into every part of your body, making you a new creature in his image. Of course, the real nature of this action is spiritual, not physical. But the transition is complete. We are in the nature of God, but not in the nature of finite flesh. We are acceptable to a holy God for we are in unity with him. Animals are not in the likeness of humans. Their sacrifices could not satisfy the righteousness of God who demands a complete change. But Jesus in the likeness of men could satisfy God’s desire for mankind: to be with him forever. The law could never perform this act of transference; the law could only condemn us, telling us we are not like God, perfect and holy. Paul tells the Galatians the reality of the transition from death to life. in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Our friends around this breakfast table, we are new creatures. We belong to the Seed promised to Abraham long ago. We are like him; we belong to him; we are part of the family of God. Live not in the condemnation that the law brings; instead, live in freedom under God’s mercy and grace. If you come alive in that freedom, you will know what it means to be alive in Christ.
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