"The Changeless Promise"

Freedom Series

Galatians 3:15-18

Part 16

06/05/11

Galatians 3:15-18
15

Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a mans 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 our self, 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 reading ahead is a good idea as it will answer many if not all your questions. Also read Romans as it is a great letter to give many answers to our questions on the law and on grace. 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 mans covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.

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.

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 clearification 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 year LATER and that law CANNOT annul the covenant! The covenant still stands it was NOT made in effective by the law. The law did not replace the covenant!!!
18

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

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. 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. Verse 15 In Genesis God made a promise to Abraham, a promise. This promise, or covenant as Paul called it here for the first time, was unconditional! No ifs, ands, and buts; no strings attached. Moses delivered a new covenant with burdensome requirements, a code of behavior that makes demands and issues threats. Two reasons: First, once a will or covenant (Greek diatheke) has been radified, it cannot be altered; second, the law, as a temporary expedient, was not essential to the unconditional covenant granted to Abraham. God established his covenant with Abraham in an unrevokable manner, so it can never be annulled or added to. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 4:29. Verse 16 Verse 17 Stresses 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 a completely different kind of covenant God completed with Abraham centuries before. Verse 18 The inheritance is the blessing promised by God and radified by him and his seed by means of an unconditional covenant. 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 lawnot promise; if worksnot grace.