“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 happened? He said he was thinking so intently about his
sermon while he was shaving and he cut his neck. One lady answered, “He should have been
thinking more about his shaving and cut his sermon!” It's good to take a careful look in the mirror
on a regular basis, and that is one function of the Scripture. 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: Some false teachers had come to
Galatia and were trying to change 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: Grace alone, through faith
alone, in Christ alone. Here Paul appeals to the example of 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 has 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 enough to save you. The question
arises, “Why then the Law?”
The Maine*
Idea: The Law exposes our desperate need of
grace. We can trust God to keep His promise through faith in Christ.
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. 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.
In the 7 verses which
we are looking at this morning Paul uses the word “promise” seven times
referring specifically to God’s promise to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3). 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 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. God’s promise…
It is confirmed by
God himself (v.15). Confirmed as
irrevocable and unchangeable. Paul here
turns for a moment from his involved argument for the Old Testament to an
example for everyday life. Human covenants are not broken, or at least, they
are usually 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). We’ve
had some lively discussion about this the last couple of weeks at the men’s
meeting Tuesday morning! The majority
report: God’s act indicated this covenant was unilateral, one sided, that
essentially it was a promise based on God alone.
It is centered on
Jesus Christ (v. 16). Promise of a “Seed” to Abraham (Gen 13:15f., 17:7f.). Paul 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 verbal tense has
the idea of a past action with continuing results. 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.
“Promise” is
chronologically prior to the Law (v.17).
The promise was prior to giving the Law through Moses and no amount of
passing of time could do away with it. “Ratified,” is in the Greek perfect
tense, speaking of a past action with continuing results: it was ratified, and
it continues to be valid, God’s promise was not invalidated by the Law.
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? 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!
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 preachers 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!
Paul say in v.20 that
the Law required a mediator. I am not fully certain about what Paul is
referring to here. There are at least a couple of possibilities. God was the
Author and Giver of the covenant of the Law, He was present with Moses on Mount
Sinai, yet 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” I wonder if Paul might 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, one-sided promise 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 this same time. 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. 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 for mercy to the Creator of the Universe, in our desperate need calling for
mercy. The Law was part of God’s plan, a prelude, 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 Maine* 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 an illiterate 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.”
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 does expose
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? 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 believe God, to trust Him, to
take Him at His Word. Faith is “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? If you have done that, you know the truth of
Scripture: All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You understand Jeremiah’s lament when he
writes “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.
No comments:
Post a Comment