“The Promise, the Prelude,
and the Provision”
Galatians
3:15-22
Introduction:
I heard the story of a pastor who showed up at church with a bad cut on his
neck. What had happened? He said he was thinking so intently about his
sermon while he was shaving that morning that he had cut himself. One lady commented, “He should have been
thinking more about his shaving and cut his sermon!” Speaking of mirrors... it is
good to take a careful look in one on a regular basis! That is one function of
the Bible (James 1:23-24). It serves as
a well-lighted mirror, to show us our need, and to point us to Jesus. We’ll see
that idea in this central part of the letter to the Galatians.
Context: False teachers had come to
Galatia and were corrupting the message of the Gospel, by adding requirements to
it, particularly circumcision and certain other “works of the law.” Paul had
preached the message of the Cross to the Galatian churches: Grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone. Here, Paul appeals to Abraham to contrast
the Promise received by faith and the works of the Law. Tim Keller said, “For
a promise to bring a result, it needs only to be believed, but for a law to
bring a result, it has to be obeyed…” In 3:1-14 Paul made it clear that if
you are trying to be justified by works, rather than by grace, through faith,
you are essentially rejecting grace and saying that Christ’s work was not sufficient.
The question arises, “Why then the Law?” Martin Luther said: “The principle
point of the law is to make men not better but worse, that is to say, it shows
them their sin, and by that knowledge may humble, terrify, break them and drive
them to seek grace and come to that blessed Seed.” That points to:
The BIG
Idea: The Law exposes our desperate need of
grace. We can trust God to keep His promise through faith in Christ. We’ll
look at the Promise, the Prelude, and the Provision.
I. The Promise: The only way to God is by grace through
faith (15-18). Paul wants his readers to
understand that the Law came later, and did not annul the promise.
15 To give a human example,
brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it
has been ratified. 16 Now the
promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And
to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your
offspring," who is Christ.
The word “promise”
appears ten times in Galatians, 8 times in chapter 3! Six times in the verses
we are looking at today it refers specifically to God’s promise to Abraham (cf.
Gen 12:1-3; 18:18 etc.). That promise
involved being justified by faith and having all the blessings of salvation
(3:6-9). The repetition makes the
contrast clear: believing God’s promise is contrasted to relying on the works
of the Law. The Judaizers implied that the giving of the Law changed the
original promise: Paul here is arguing that it did not. He shows four ways in which the promise is
superior to Law…
1) It is confirmed
by God himself (v.15). As such, it
is confirmed as irrevocable and unchangeable.
Paul here turns for a moment from his involved argument for the OT to an
example for everyday life. Human covenants are usually not broken, or at least,
they are legally and morally binding agreements. Certainly, after someone dies,
their “will” is considered binding. Remember that God himself ratified the
covenant to Abraham (Gen 15:8-18). God’s
act indicated this covenant was unilateral, one sided, that essentially it was
a promise based on God alone. He will do it.
2) It is centered
on Jesus Christ (v. 16). Paul refers to the promise of a “Seed” to Abraham
(Gen 13:15f., 17:7f.). He certainly knew
that the word “seed” is ambiguous as to whether it refers to many or to one
(you can have a bag of “seed,” right?).
Yet under divine inspiration Paul concludes that “seed” refers ultimately
to one particular descendant of Abraham, Jesus himself (see 19b, He is “…the
Seed…” to whom the promise had been made…”). The promises pointed forward to the coming
One, the Messiah, the One who would do for us what we could not do for
ourselves… We won’t trace the use of the word “seed” through the Scriptures
today, suffice to say that “Seed” was first used prophetically in Gen
3:15… talking about the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head. That
promise is traced through the patriarchs, then to Jesse, and David, when the
promise is reaffirmed of a son, a descendant, who would have an eternal kingdom
and be called the Son of God. Paul will refer to the fulfillment a few verses
down when he says,
“In the
fullness of time God sent forth His Son, born of a woman [the Seed!] born
under the Law, that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might
receive the adoption as sons…”
In this whole process we see God overcoming barrenness, human sin,
using famine, protecting and delivering, even working through the evil
intentions of men to accomplish His purpose in bringing the promised Seed, in
the fullness of time, into the world. By
faith we are in Christ, the promised Seed, and so are children of Abraham, children
of promise.
3) “Promise” is chronologically prior
to the Law (v.17). Read verses
17-18…
17 This is what I mean: the law,
which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified
by God, so as to make the promise void. 18
For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God
gave it to Abraham by a promise.
The promise was prior to giving the Law by Moses and no amount of
passing of time could do away with it. “God gave it freely...” is translating a verb in the Greek perfect
tense, speaking of a past action with continuing results: it was freely given and ratified, and
it continues to be valid, God’s promise was not invalidated by the Law.
4) It is
completely dependent on God’s Power (v.18). Paul’s point: an inheritance
based on Law depends on man’s performance, whereas the one granted… to Abraham
by means of a promise depends on God’s power. Alexander McLaren seemed to grasp
the meaning of grace as he lay dying. A
fellow minister paid him a visit and asked, “What are you doing brother?” He
answered, “Doing! I am gathering all my sermons, all my good deeds, all my
prayers, all my evil deeds, and I am going to throw them overboard and swim to
glory on the plank of free grace!” The hymn writer said, “nothing in my hands I
bring, simply to his cross I cling!” In his commentary on Galatians Tim Keller
spoke about how easily we drift from that “faith alone” perspective…
It is common for believers to begin their Christian lives by
looking beyond themselves at “Christ … clearly … crucified” (v 1), relying on
God’s promise that Christ has taken our curse and given us His blessing. But,
as we go on, it is tempting, and easy, to look within ourselves at our own
“human effort” (v 3), resting in our own performance to give us our sense of
acceptability before God. Doing this makes us radically insecure—it cuts away
our assurance, and prompts us to despair or pride
(Galatians For You, Kindle Edition).
We are saved by grace alone through faith alone, and we live
by faith. The Gospel of Christ is the foundation and the fuel for Christian
living. Why then the Law? That’s the BIG IDEA: The Law exposes our
desperate need of grace. We can trust God to keep His promise through faith in
Christ.
II. The Prelude: The
Law was a part of God’s plan, a prelude, until the coming of Christ (19-22a).
The Judaizers who were troubling the Galatians had the idea that the Law was
there to prove that we were holy. The truth is, God gave the Law to
prove to us that we are sinners – sinners desperately in need of Rescue! It is
a mirror, showing us our need.
19 Why then the law? It was added
because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise
had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies
more than one, but God is one. 21
Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law
had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the
law. 22 But the Scripture
imprisoned everything under sin…
Paul rhetorically
asks the question, “Why then the Law?” The Mosaic Law is an interesting
contrast to the promise to Abraham. Many writers have noted that God said to
Abraham “I will…”; He said to Moses “Thou shalt…” They aren’t contradictory in that both reveal
aspects of God’s plan: The promise reveals a lot about God and his grace, the
Law reveals a lot about us and our need for grace!
First of all, notice in
v. 19 that the Law was added because of transgressions (the term, parabasis, has the idea of “stepping
over a boundary”). It seems that the Law
in this sense had a “restraining” function, maintaining the separateness of
God’s people through the centuries. It also had a “revealing” function,
emphasizing our need.
It was temporary – provisional. It was added “until…”
what? The Law was anticipating the coming “Seed,” the Messiah. When he had
come, the purpose of the Law had been fulfilled. What did the tearing of
the Temple veil on Good Friday, and the destruction of the Temple in AD 70
signal? Were the promises of God failing? Quite the contrary, God was fulfilling
His promise through the Seed, the Redeemer, the Rescuer spoken of in the
Scriptures themselves! Jesus is the promised Messiah and Savior!
Paul says in v.20 that
the Law required a mediator. I am not dogmatically certain about what Paul is
referring to here. Clearly God is the Author and Giver of the covenant of the
Law, He was present with Moses on Mount Sinai. Yet Moses “mediated” the Word to
the people. We have hints from the inspired writers of the NT that angels were
involved in the giving of the Law to Moses (Acts 7:53; Heb 2:2). Since “angels” can also be translated
“messengers,” might Paul have in mind the role of priests in mediating between
God and the people, and that of the prophets in speaking to the people for God
and calling them to covenant faithfulness? In any case, no mediator was needed for the
Abrahamic Covenant, it was a unilateral promise directly from God. Remember Genesis 15? God alone passed through the divided
sacrifice, He put his signature on the contract, he said he would do
it. Abraham was only a witness and a
beneficiary!
Paul asks another
question, which he promptly answers, in v.21. Why then the Law? Is
the Law contrary to God’s promises?
No, the Law could not impart life! Romans may have been written about the
same time as Galatians. In that letter Paul said:
“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to
those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world
may become accountable to God; 20
because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for
through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:19-20).
Paul’s opponents
might ask, “Is the Law then contrary to promise? Is there a contradiction?” The true purpose of the Law is to confirm the promise and make it
indispensable. As we noted earlier, Martin
Luther argued for the same understanding of this passage when he said,
The principle
point… of the Law… is to make men not better, but worse; that is to say, it
shows them their sin, that seeing it they may be humbled, terrified, bruised
and broken, and by this means may be driven to seek grace and so come to that
blessed Seed (Christ).
The Law was not
given to provide life (3:21). It
could not save, it could not provide life. If it could, then there would be a
contradiction! If Law could save, then, as Paul said in 2:21, Christ died for
nothing! But God spared not His own son, but delivered him up for us all,
precisely because there was no other way. The Law could not provide
life.
Why then the Law?
The Law was given to reveal sin (3:19a, 22). “…but…” [alla] –
This is a strong adversative: not only can the law not give life, not only was it not intended
as a means of salvation, not only is it not contrary to God’s promises, “but…”
strong contrast, it “shut up” = [sunkleiw]
- to lock up securely, to enclose on all sides with no way of escape, the ESV
translates “imprisoned” everything under sin. Bottom line: The Law
shows there is no hope of salvation by human effort. All that is left is to
cry out in our helplessness to the Creator of the Universe, in our desperate
need calling to Him for mercy. The Law was part of God’s plan, a prelude, and in
effect, a mirror, to allow the Jews, and us, to look with opened eyes and to
see the depth of our need and the extent of God’s grace. That is the BIG
Idea: The Law exposes our desperate need of grace. We can trust God to keep His
promise through faith in Christ.
III. The Provision
of Grace: The Law
shows our sin and points us to Christ, through whom the promise is received by
faith (22b). John Stott said in his discussion of these verses, “The whole
Bible from Genesis to Revelation tells the story of God’s sovereign purpose of
grace, His master-plan of salvation through Christ…” (The Message of
Galatians, p,91). Paul points to that plan at the end of v.22…
“…so that the promise by
faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”
This is an important
part of what Paul is saying… the Law is part of God’s good plan. Not to save us
through our goodness, but to lead us to grace, because it shows us how far
short we fall, exposing our hopeless estate. I came across an old story of a
theological discussion between a preacher and a farmer…
A well-known preacher went out to a farmer’s field to greet
him. The farmer didn’t have any formal
education, but he loved God and was a student of the Word. The preacher asked, “John, what do you think
is the hardest thing in religion?” The farmer replied, “Reverend, you’re asking
me? I am only an ignorant farmer, you tell me!” “Well,” said the minister, “it
seems to me that the hardest thing in religion is to give up those pleasurable
indulgences to which our nature is so prone, but which are contrary to the requirements
of religion.” “Well reverend,” said the farmer, “I think there is something in
religion that is even harder.” “What is it John?” “It is to feel that we are
wretched and lost, and perishing, and to relinquish all other hope than that
which rests in the atoning blood of the Redeemer.”
Only God, through His Word, leads us to repentance and faith! By
His doing you are in Christ Jesus! The Law didn’t serve as a means of
living righteously, because there is none righteous, no not one. It is a mirror, it exposes our sinfulness, our desperate, hopeless situation, and leads us to cry
out to God for mercy. We can only do that as He stirs up faith in our heart,
faith to believe the promise, that the Rescuer has made a way, and whoever
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!
What is God
saying to me in this passage? The Law
exposes our desperate need of grace. We can trust God to keep His promise
through faith in Christ.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Chuck Swindoll said, "Receiving
God’s acceptance by grace always stands in sharp contrast to earning it on the
basis of works. Every time the thought of grace appears, there is the idea of
its being undeserved. In no way is the recipient getting what he or she
deserves. Favor is being extended simply out of the goodness of the heart of
the giver." (Grace Awakening, p.
9).
There is nothing to do but to look to God for mercy, to
trust Him, to take Him at His Word, “the hand of a beggar reaching out to
receive the gift of a king.” Have you taken a hard look in the mirror of
the Word lately? If so, you know the
truth of Scripture: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” You understand Jeremiah’s lament, “The
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?”
All we can do is to confess our weakness, our need, and believe the
Good News: “This is how God showed His love among us, he sent his one
and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” We can’t do
anything to earn or deserve a relationship with God. Jesus paid it all, all to
Him I owe. When we get that, it changes everything. It overflows in a grateful
heart, we want to know Him and to grow to be like Him! AMEN.
Comments
Post a Comment