SLIDES

The Letter to the Galatians

Part 13

(Galatians 3:15-18)

Introduction

Most of you have bought a house or houses. You may have bought that house 20 years ago and have ten more years to pay on it.  The contract you entered into to buy your house cannot be changed, abrogated, or altered in any way unless you and the loaning organization both choose to change it. You cannot all of a sudden decide that you have been paying to much and beginning in less money each month. Unless your lender agrees to do that, it will not happen. In the same way, the lender cannot decide to begin charging you more each month without your approval.

In Genesis 15, God made an eternal covenant with Abraham that included descendants forever, land forever, and spiritual blessings forever. When we think of the eternal nature of the Abrahamic Covenant, we can liken it to a lighthouse standing strong amidst a raging storm. No matter how fierce the wind blows or how high the waves crash, the lighthouse remains a constant beacon of hope, guiding lost ships back to safety. Similarly, God's promise to Abraham serves as a guiding light for Israel and for Gentiles in Christ, reminding us that His covenant is unwavering, and His presence anchors us through life’s turbulence. It brings ships back to safety. Similarly, God's promise to Abraham serves as a guiding light for Israel and for Gentiles in Christ , reminding us that His covenant is unwavering, and His presence anchors us through life’s turbulence.

Paul has demonstrated in chapter 3 that justification is received by faith, not by keeping the Mosaic Law or any kind of works.

In this chapter, Paul so far has vindicated justification by faith not by works of the Law through four proofs. These are:

1. By the experiences of the Galatian believers. (3:1-5)

2. By the example of Abraham. (3:6-9)

3. By the effect of the Law (3:10-12)

4. By the death of Christ (3:13-14)

Today we will discuss Paul’s fifth proof that vindicates that justification is by faith.

5.  By the eternal Promises of the Abrahamic Covenant (3:15–18)

Galatians 3:15   Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.

This is the fifth way that Paul has used to validate that justification is by faith alone and not by works. Paul here uses the promises God made to Abraham and his seed in the Abrahamic Covenant to vindicate that justification is by faith not by faith plus the works of the Mosaic Covenant. Paul begins by using an example about situations from everyday life between individuals in the first century. During biblical days, what we would call a contract today was called a covenant. A bilateral covenant was an agreement between at least two individuals or nations. David and Jonathan made a covenant agreement and David made a bilateral covenant with the elders of Israel in Hebron.

To ratify means to give formal consent to a covenant, making it officially valid. In Paul’s day to ratify a covenant was accomplished though exchanging shoes or by the sacrifice of a sheep or goat for a blood sacrifice. Today contracts are ratified by signing a document called a contract.  Paul’s point here is a human covenant or agreement, once made. could not be changed in any way, dissolved, or invalidated unless all parties agree.

 A man may have bought a piece of land from another individual for a certain amount of money. Several days after the covenant was ratified, the man who bought the land decided he paid to much. He goes to the man to plead his case that he paid to much. The man who sold the land disagreed. Therefore. the man who bought the land went home disappointed. Both parties have to agree to change a covenant before it could be changed.

In verse 16 Paul uses the word “now” to connect the illustration about covenants between humans to the covenant God made with Abraham.

The promises to which he is referring basically concern the land, the descendants of Abraham, and spiritual blessings. In the eternal Covenant God made with Abraham that is called the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised him and his descendants land forever, descendants forever, and spiritual blessings forever.  God expanded these promises in what we could call codicils or sub-covenants. These codicils or sub-covenants are found in Deuteronomy 28-30 where God expanded the promises concerning the land. This is called the Land Covenant. In 2 Samuel 7:14 God promised that He would put his descendants on the throne forever. This is called the Davidic Covenant. Lastly, in the New Covenant God expanded the spiritual promises. We must also add the promise of the Holy Spirit that we saw in Galatians 3:14.

Before we discuss verse 16, let’s quickly review different seeds of Abraham.

1. The physical descendants of Abraham, immediate family, to include Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and Esau.

2. The descendants of Abraham though Jacob who was the father of Israel.

3. The spiritual descendants of Abraham, Jew or Gentile, because of their faith in Jesus.

4. Jewish believers who are the spiritual and physical descendants of Abraham.

5. The Ultimate descendant of Abraham, Jesus the Messiah.

In number 5 of this list, we see the ultimate descendant of Abraham, Jesus the Messiah who Paul will emphasize in verse 16. The word ultimate as defined by Miriam-Webster Online Dictionary is “the best or most extreme of its kind, utmost - the ultimate sacrifice. The online dictionary not speaking of Jesus, of course, used “the ultimate sacrifice” as an illustration. He was the ultimate sacrifice for his sacrifice was only one. That certainly helps make him the ultimate descendant of Abraham. Jesus being God, sinless, and eternal also helps to make Him the ultimate decedent of Abraham. Now let’s read verse 16 in that light.

16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. 17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

The central point Paul makes relies upon the Greek noun sperma and the Hebrew noun Zera. Both of these are a collective nouns, most often singular in number but plural in referent. Other collective nouns would be deer and sheep. Paul focuses upon the singular number to emphasize the ultimate seed of Abraham, whom he identifies as the Messiah. His point is that the promises were given to Abraham and to his ultimate descendant, the Messiah.  Paul’s use of the term “seed” should help us recall God’s words to Abraham in Genesis 22:18: “And in you seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” This came through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the woman’s Seed whose heel was bruised but who crushed the head of the Evil One by His crucifixion and resurrection. 

The result is found in Galatians 3:29. “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” What promise? In the context of Galatians which is justification by faith not by works of the Law, Paul here must be stressing that justification by faith is the promise to Abraham and Abraham’s ultimate descendant, the Messiah. Now to verse 17.

17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

Now Paul returns to the premise he made in verse 15 that unless all parties agree to change a covenant in any way, the covenant cannot be changed.  Most covenants have two more people participating in the covenant. This is called a bilateral or multilateral covenant. All involved have to agree to the original terms of the covenant and any changes that would be made. The covenant God made with Abraham was a unilateral covenant. God made the covenant with Abraham. Abraham was just the recipient of that Covenant. God was the one who made the promises of the covenant, and He would be the one who would be responsible for assuring the covenant would be fulfilled.

The point that Paul is trying to make is that the Abrahamic Covenant was ratified and put in force with Abraham 430 years before the Mosaic Covenant was put into force with Israel.  The Mosaic Covenant, which was a covenant of works, did not or could not replace or change the Abrahamic Covenant when it was ratified 430 years before it.  Since the Abrahamic Covenant was an eternal covenant, and the Mosaic Covenant was a temporal covenant, Paul, therefore, demonstrated that justification was by grace through faith, promised in the Abrahamic Covenant, was permanent and took priority over the Mosaic Law. To put it another way, the Mosaic Covenant of works when ratified did not replace or change the Abrahamic Covenant’s promise of justification by faith. In verse 18 Paul wraps up his thoughts on the two covenants being mutually exclusive from one another and again justification by faith, not works win the argument again. In this verse justification by faith is described as an inheritance.

Galatians 3:18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

The word inheritance refers to “a portion that is allotted to someone.” As in the OT, this is something which is given rather than won (or worked for); it is given by God.  He is saying her that if justification by faith is based on the Law of Moses, then is it not based on a promise made by God but by human deeds. But since the Abrahamic Covenant is based on God’s promises, our inheritance is guaranteed. Paul is clear that those who have faith in Christ receive justification because all the demands or the Mosaic Law or of any merit system are satisfied in Christ.

The Abrahamic Covenant was the priority. The Abrahamic Covenant was a contract that the promises went through a chosen and specific descendant Isaac not Ishmael. But the promises will be totally fulfilled in Abrahams chosen and specific seed, Jesus. The point of that choice was to teach that it would not come through the works of the law, but through the promise of faith, through Yeshua the Messiah. The point is that the Abrahamic Covenant has priority over the Mosaic Covenant changed in any way.

Application

We as Americans are performance oriented. You may find yourself overwhelmed by the expectations of the day-to-day, often feeling as though your worth is tied to your performance or accomplishments. Instead, remind yourself that the Abrahamic Covenant emphasizes our identity is in Christ and the New Covenant.  Create a simple “Promise sheet" in a notebook or on a piece of paper so you can write down how God’s promises are at work in your lives because of the promise God made to Abraham that we are justified by faith, not by works.  This should help bring peace and assurance that we are loved and accepted by God.