One of the dangers, I suppose, of putting my address on public announcements or advertising, is that people know where you live. I had a visitor a few nights ago who I hope was not prowling about my house after dark. He did however leave a letter on my mailbox addressed to me. So it was evident that he knows me, but he didn’t sign it, which is kind of concerning that he wants to be anonymous.
The bottom line of the letter he left was to inform me that generations of Bible teachers and scholars have gotten wrong the date of the Sabbath. I didn’t want to waste my time reading all the information there, but the gist of it was that if you recalculate the Sabbath based on their calendar, then you come up with another day for the Sabbath that we are to worship on, which is the correct day. And their opinion was that worshipping on the proper Sabbath was the missing key to spiritual knowledge and power.
But as I said, I didn’t want to waste time reading about moon cycles and all that sort of thing because it was evident that they got the basic principle of the gospel wrong. Their idea was that if you keep the law of the Sabbath, then you unlock the blessing of God. And so once I realized that was the gist of the letter, I discarded it. The apostle Paul has been making arguing this principle in his letter to the Galatians, that there is not salvation by faith plus keeping the law. We are not under the obligation to keep the law of the Sabbath. There is no benefit to keep the law of the Sabbath, or as Paul was arguing here in Galatians, to keep the law of circumcision, or any of the other ceremonial laws. Paul has argued conclusively that the law is not a means of righteousness, nor of salvation. So no matter what sort of pseudo science, or Biblical research, or whatever else they might use to try to entice you with, if it speaks of the necessity for keeping some point of the law, then they are of a false doctrine, and we need to disregard it and not let it upset our faith.
Now in regards to arguing that doctrine of salvation by faith alone, in Galatians chapter 3, Paul is giving a scholarly treatise on the purpose of the law, versus the promise of faith. It’s almost like when the Supreme Court makes a decision on a law, and then one of the leading judges writes an opinion. Paul is using a very technical, almost legal argument to establish the purpose of the law as a means of refuting the false doctrine that had pervaded the church. These false teachers were legalists, and so Paul uses a legal argument to defeat them.
But I will say that his message is difficult to comprehend sometimes. I have heard that supposedly there are 300 or so interpretations of this passage that have been broached over the years. So even Bible scholars are not always in agreement as to what Paul is saying exactly in some cases. However, I think we can focus on what is clear and plain, and perhaps what is unclear will be explained by the context.
So we’re picking up his argument in the middle of the chapter, vs 15, and I don’t want to have to regurgitate everything that has been said up to this point. But it is important to look back to vs 8 and following and remember that Paul has used Abraham as an illustration of faith in contrast to the false teachers reliance upon Moses and the law. Paul isn’t saying that Moses or the law was bad, but he points them back to Abraham to show that salvation by faith preceded the giving of the law, just as Abraham’s salvation was by faith before he was circumcised.
He says in vs 8, “So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” And he concludes that argument in vs 14 saying, “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Now that phrase “In Christ” is a very important phrase that Paul is going to use again in this next section. Being in Christ is the means by which we are made the children of God, and the children of Abraham, and the inheritors of the promises or the blessing.
So let’s continue now in vs 15, Paul says, “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.” He says in other words, I am speaking in human terms, but in men’s covenants, once a covenant has been ratified, no one can change it or add to it. A covenant is a legal agreement between two parties. And ratified means it has been agreed to, or signed by both parties. Once a legal covenant has been ratified, you can’t just arbitrarily add to it or take from it. That’s pretty much common to law everywhere.
Vs16 “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. 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.”
So the first thing Paul does here is apply the principle of a human covenant to the covenant God made with Abraham. And in vs 15, he is identifying who is involved in the covenant. And what he says it is was made by God to Abraham and to his seed. And Paul gives us some insight there that may not have been clear in the Genesis account, and says that it wasn’t given to Abraham’s seeds, plural, but seed, singular. He then tells us that signifies that the seed was Christ, the Messiah, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And according to vs 4, what God promised Abraham constitutes the gospel.
Then what he adds in vs 17, is that the Mosaic law, which came 430 years after Abraham was given the covenant, does not invalidate the covenant made to Abraham and his seed. It had been ratified by God, and thus the law cannot nullify the covenant promise made to Abraham that through Him all the nations would be blessed.
Vs 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.” So in other words, the inheritance promised to Abraham was not based on keeping the law. The law didn’t come for 430 years later. God gave His promise based on Abraham’s faith, not on the condition that Abraham kept the law. So the illustration shows that salvation is based on faith, not on law. The law cannot affect salvation by faith.
The question then on the minds of the legalists would be, then what was the purpose of the law? We know that God gave the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai. What purpose was there in giving the law, if it wasn’t to provide a path to salvation?
Paul answers that question in vs19 “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is [only] one.”
I think what Paul is saying in “the law was added because of transgressions,” is that because of sin, God gave the law to elucidate sin more clearly. Sin existed before the law, of course. But sin became clearer, more condemning if you will, after the law was given. The law clarified sin, it made it more apparent, it made it more condemning. The law showed the extent of sin and how sinful man really was. I think the law also revealed God’s standard for righteousness more clearly. But basically Paul says the law made sin more sinful.
Paul says the law was given until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. The law was given until Jesus came, who then fulfilled the law, and He became the curse of the law for us, that we might be sent free from the condemnation of the law.
Now vs 20 talks about angels and mediators and is really one of the most confusing and obscure texts in the NT. What it might be referring to, is that the Mosaic law was given through a mediator, which is typical in a two party covenant. But in a unilateral covenant, such as God made with Abraham, there is no mediator. But that still doesn’t answer all the questions about this verse. However we will press on to plainer things and leave the not so plain things for God to reveal as He sees fit. The plain thing to remember is that the law was given to make sin more sinful, more apparent, more clear. It was to make man more aware of his sin.
Paul continues with a question of his own regarding the law in vs 21 “Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”
Paul says that the law is not something evil, in opposition to God’s promise. The problem with the law is found in its inability to give life. In reality, the law brings death because it shows that man is sinful, and the wages of sin is death. If the law could have given life, then it could have produced righteousness. But the Law of Moses brings no life; it simply states the standard of God, tells us to keep it, and tells us the consequences if we break the command.
Paul uses in vs 21 the idea of imprisonment as an illustration of the law. Sin, brought about by failure to keep the law, holds us captive. The law then put us in prison, because it pointed out our sinful condition. So we sit imprisoned by sin, and the law can not help us, because the law put us in the prison. Under the law, there is none righteous, no not one. We are all sinners, condemned to death and held captive.
Only faith can break us out of our imprisonment to sin. The Law of Moses can show us clearly our problem and God’s standard, but it cannot give us the freedom that only Christ can give. That freedom is given to those who believe.
Vs.23 "But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor [to lead us] to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
What I think Paul means there is before faith in Christ came. Faith existed since the beginning. But faith in Christ was not revealed util Jesus came. Until that time that Christ came, we were kept captive under the law. Paul says one of the most insightful comments about the purpose of the law in vs 24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor [to lead us] to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
That’s the purpose of the law, to teach us that we need a Savior. It’s to show us our sinfulness, to reveal our hopelessness, so that we might come to Christ who is our satisfaction of the requirement of the law. And by believing in Him, we are justified by faith. We believe in who He is, in what He has done on the cross, and by believing, our sin is transferred to Christ, and His righteousness is transferred to me.
Vs25 “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” The illustration Paul is using there of a tutor is someone who was given responsibility for the proper upbringing of a young person. He was a school teacher, but even more than that, he was responsible for training and development. A lot of times in that culture he would have been a slave, but a very educated slave. However, in Paul’s simile, when the boy becomes a man, the need for a tutor is done away with. When the perfect comes, the partial is done away with. When salvation through faith in Christ is realized, then there is no longer any need for the tutor.
When Paul says you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, he is establishing two important distinctives of our faith. One is our standing before God. To be considered the sons of God means that we have a special relationship with God as a loving Father. Our standing with God is a place of intimacy, a place of affection, a place of special care and attention.
And the second thing Paul establishes is the method of becoming sons of God. It is by faith. To become a son of God through faith in Christ Jesus means much more than believing that He existed, but in who He is, what He accomplished for us on the cross, and trusting in Him for life now and for eternity.
Then in closing, Paul tells us what it means to be considered “in Christ.” He says in vs27 “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Notice that Paul doesn’t say we were baptized into water, but baptized into Christ. Just as in water baptism a person is immersed in water, so when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, we are immersed in Jesus. We put on Jesus. We are in Jesus, just as when you put on clothes you are in your clothes. That’s the analogy that he is making, as evidenced by the phrase, “have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
It’s like the song we sing, the Solid Rock, where it says, “dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.” So when we were saved by faith, we received the righteousness of Christ, so that we are in effect baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ. That’s what it means to be in Christ. When God looks at us, He sees us dressed in Christ’s righteousness.
Then Paul addresses the blessings of being in Christ. He gives the first benefit in vs 28” There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” We all belong, irregardless of race, of sex, of social status or heritage. All of us who have confessed faith in Jesus Christ are one in Christ. We are all equal. No distinctions. No one is less a possessor of the promise because they are not a Jew by birth.
Vs29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.” Paul comes full circle, back to Abraham, the father of the faith. Those who have come to Christ by faith, belong to Christ, and we all can claim Abraham as our father. And as spiritual descendants of Abraham, we are heirs according to the promise.
Paul describes this in Romans chapter 4:13, 16-17 saying, “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. ... 16 For this reason [it is] by faith, in order that [it may be] in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is written, "A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU") in the presence of Him whom he believed, [even] God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
The crux of the argument then is whether or not you are in Christ. This is the issue. The issue is not “Are you keeping the law?” The issue is not “Are you a Jew or a Gentile?” The only issue is if you are in Christ. Do you belong to Him? Have you accepted Him by faith as your Savior? Are you clothed in His righteousness? If so then you receive the promise of blessing that God gave to Abraham and to His seed. You receive eternal life. You receive forgiveness of your sins. And you become a child of God, an heir of God. You receive an eternal inheritance. Trust Jesus today that you might be found “In Christ.”
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