Galatians 3:15-18

V15-18 – ¹⁵Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. ¹⁶The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed’ [Genesis 12:7; 13:15; 24:7], meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in His grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Paul has made it clear that Abraham was justified by faith and not by works of law, through the Spirit and not by the flesh. But one objection to this conceded truth might be that, since the law was given after the time of Abraham, the law may actually override the previous means of being declared righteous by God. Thus, to point out in this section that the law later given to Moses did not nullify the covenant promise God made to Abraham and his seed, Paul uses “an example from everyday life,” that of a permanently established grant or declaration (opposed to an agreement or bargain), perhaps akin to a last will and testament, through which an inheritance is left to a beneficiary. And that’s the comparison Paul makes to God’s covenant promise. And that’s the picture we see in Genesis when God ratified His covenant with Abraham. Now Paul knows that the word “seed” or “offspring” may be collective even in the singular, like our more common word, “family,” but his point is clear (v29; Romans 4:18), that Christ is the offspring to whom we must be united to receive the inherited promise made to Abraham.

In v17, Paul tries to clarify his remarks by saying that just as “no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case” (v15). It’s an argument from the lesser to the greater; if a human contract is considered binding (rendered effectual), how much more binding is a divine contract? The law, though given much later than the promise, “does not set aside” or “do away with” the covenant promise. (Paul uses 430 years, from Exodus 12:40, and this number from the Septuagint includes the stay of the patriarchs in Canaan; That he uses 430 does not mean that he used the Septuagint; Kim Riddlebarger acknowledges that “Paul here is using the standard rabbinic reckoning of the years counted between Moses and Abraham.”) Despite the fact that a long time passed between the promise and the law, works of law do not override grace through faith, according to the promise (Romans 4:14-16). Vincent Cheung says, “The inheritance was given to Abraham by promise – by God’s sovereign declaration of what He would perform – and ratified in blood. And as we have seen, the promised blessing is applied through faith to those whom God has chosen to believe. The law, which came after, does not affect this, whether we are referring to the promised inheritance or the means by which it is applied (v18). Therefore, the principle of justification by faith is preserved despite the formal institution of the law.”

Galatians 3:10-14

V10-14 – ¹⁰All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law’ [Deuteronomy 27:26]. ¹¹Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith’ [Habakkuk 2:4]. ¹²The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them’ [Leviticus 18:5]. ¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’ [Deuteronomy 21:23]. ¹⁴He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Paul, not finished giving Old Testament (Scriptural) evidence that what he is teaching is true and has always been true, quotes Deuteronomy 27:26, proving that no one keeps the law perfectly in its entirety (except Jesus). Paul has given the positive illustration of Abraham, and now he gives the negative illustration of the law itself – not that the law is a problem; rather sin is the problem (see also Romans 7). Most Jews would have seen this statement as Paul rubbing it in their faces, since Deuteronomy 27 is speaking of the curses that would befall Israel for breaking the law – most of which had already happened to them, proving their sinfulness.

V11 reminds again of the point of this epistle, which we noted in Galatians 2:15-16. Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4, but there is an alternate translation (RSV) that seems to fit better with the message Paul is preaching, that “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” This is not a short-term solution to a temporary setback, but a life-long way of survival amidst a truly and otherwise overwhelming condition, that of sinfulness. Calvin says, “By ‘faith,’ he evidently means the exercise of a calm, steady conscience, relying on God alone.” And this faith is the means by which we persevere and overcome in this life.

In v12, we see that the law is God’s requirement for all apart from His covenant promise (Leviticus 26:14-38; 40-45). The promise is still good, despite the broken law. Vincent Cheung helps by saying, “A person who attempts to become justified by law must rely on his own works – this way is not based on faith, and it cannot be supplemented by faith. The man is ‘stuck’ with law, and the two ways of justification exclude each other. It is impossible to rely on both faith and law, that is, on both Christ and oneself… Note that faith and law in themselves do not exclude each other – God instituted both of them. Rather, we are saying that the two ways of justification exclude each other. If one relies on observing the law for justification, then there is no place for faith; if one relies on faith for justification, then there is no place for reliance on observing the law. Now since those who rely on the works of law must ‘live by them,’ and since they can never achieve perfect obedience to the law, all those who seek justification in this matter are doomed to eternal condemnation. Since the way of faith is the way of reliance on Christ for salvation, those who rely on observing the law instead are cut off from faith, and cut off from Christ (Galatians 5:4).”

In v13 Paul turns this discussion of justification by faith to the object of faith – Christ. He declares who did what and how it was done – Jesus redeemed us by bearing the law’s curse in our place, taking the condemnation from God – which we deserved for breaking our part of the covenant by violating the law of God – and giving us reconciliation and peace with God (Romans 3:21-26; 4:25; 5:1-8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:13-15; cf. Mark 10:45; John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24). And as Vincent Cheung says, “Paul connects this understanding of the work of Christ with the manner of His death, citing Deuteronomy 21:23 as confirmation that He bore the curse as He hung on the cross. And Calvin adds, “It was not unknown to God what death His own Son would die, when He pronounced the law, ‘He that is hanged is accursed of God’ (Deuteronomy 21:23).” This leaves no question, then, as to the nature of the work of Christ, and the purpose of the crucifixion. His work was that of a substitutionary atonement – He died for sinners to save them from divine condemnation. The prophet proclaimed of the suffering servant, “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). This idea is also taught in the law, for example, in the instructions regarding the scapegoat in Leviticus 16.” Calvin concludes, “This is the foolishness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18), and the admiration of angels (1 Peter 1:12), which not only exceeds, but swallows up, all the wisdom of the world.

Lastly, and crucially, in v14, we learn that the Holy Spirit is the blessing promised to the justified, Abraham and his offspring - even the Gentiles - fulfilling the promise (Genesis 12:3) that "all peoples would be blessed." Justification and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other (Romans 8:9). A spiritual blessing is not received according to the flesh, but by faith. And so we can rejoice that justification by faith has come through the Holy Spirit. One scholar says, "[The] gift of the Spirit (who is the substance of the promise) is to be received 'through faith,' literally 'through the faith' - the faith spoken of in v7-9,11. In the original promise to Abraham there was no mention of the Spirit but only the blessing of justification by faith, and yet here Paul conceives of the fulfillment of that promise as constituted above all in the bestowal of the Spirit upon those who have faith. It is manifest that in Paul's thinking the blessing of justification is almost synonymous (it is certainly contemporaneous) with the reception of the Spirit." But the objection may remain that even though Abraham was justified by faith, the law came later and may therefore override justification by faith. Paul will pick up there next in Galatians 3.

Galatians 3:6-9

⁶Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’ [Genesis 15:6]. ⁷Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. ⁸The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you’ [Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18]. ⁹So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

In v6, Paul notes that Abraham was justified by faith, just as he later elaborates in Romans 4:1-3, 9-24. It is not a requirement but certainly helps when a theological assertion is given historical narrative support from Scripture. Paul did not have to bring Abraham into this discussion, for facts related to experience are adequate in value, but it positively helps that he does. In fact, it is likely that the Judaizers – and if not them, then certainly Jewish Rabbis – used Abraham to attempt to prove works righteousness, even as if to say that his faith was the meritorious work that brought him favor with God. But Paul refutes that concept using the very text his opponents preferred. Kim Riddlebarger says, “Abraham’s right standing before God is given to him…through the means of faith, not because of faith.” Therefore, Abraham serves as additional proof for upholding Paul’s claim that justification is by faith, through the imputed righteousness of Christ. As Paul will say in v14, “By faith we…receive the promise of the Spirit.”

Paul also uses Abraham here to negatively reverse the charge that he was undercutting the covenant God made with Abraham, which is actually what the Judaizers were doing by trying to enforce Jewishness on Gentile converts to Christianity. Paul is saying that the true heirs of God’s covenant promise to Abraham are his offspring, not by ancestry or by works of circumcision, but by faith, those who share belief in Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides (in Christ), in hope against all hope, as Paul notes in Romans 4. It’s not that circumcision was unimportant; rather, it was to serve, as baptism now does, as a sign and a seal of the covenant promise that comes by faith. Calvin ponders faith here:

“But why does faith receive such honor as to be entitled a cause of our justification? First, we must observe, that it is merely an instrumental cause; for, strictly speaking, our righteousness is nothing else than God’s free acceptance of us, on which our salvation is founded. But as the Lord testifies his love and grace in the gospel, by offering to us that righteousness of which I have spoken, so we receive it by faith. And thus, when we ascribe to faith a man’s justification, we are not treating of the principal cause, but merely pointing out the way in which men arrive at true righteousness. For this righteousness is not a quality which exists in men, but is the mere gift of God, and is enjoyed by faith only; and not even as a reward justly due to faith, but because we receive by faith what God freely gives. All such expressions as the following are of similar import: We are “justified freely by his grace” (Romans 3:24). Christ is our righteousness. The mercy of God is the cause of our righteousness. By the death and resurrection of Christ, righteousness has been procured for us. Righteousness is bestowed on us through the gospel. We obtain righteousness by faith.”

The Judaizers certainly taught that one had to become a child of Abraham in order to be a child of God. And Paul doesn’t disagree with that assertion, but he qualifies it by explaining how one becomes a child of Abraham. It’s not through circumcision, but through faith. As Paul says in v9, “Those who have faith [in Christ, in the gospel] are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” And “In this context,” says Cheung, “The blessing relates to how God justified Abraham through faith, and that since the principle is extended through Abraham to all nations, that ‘God would justify the Gentiles by faith’ as well… Therefore, God has always intended to save the Gentiles since the beginning, and faith has always been the only way [see Hebrews 11]. Paul even calls God’s promise to Abraham ‘the gospel’ in v8.”

Lastly, and quite an amazing point to mention, in v8 we see Scripture personified as God Himself (see Romans 9:17). Vincent Cheung concludes, “This carries great significance for both the doctrine of biblical inspiration and inerrancy, and the doctrine of justification by faith. Of course, the Scripture, as in the Bible or the book, is not identified with God in the ontological sense. But when the intellectual contents of the Scripture is considered, then there is no difference between what it says and what God says, since the Scripture is what God says (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)… The implication for the doctrine of justification by faith is straightforward. Because this doctrine is what the Scripture teaches, and because what Scripture says is what God says, it follows that God is the one who insists on the doctrine of justification by faith. It is taught and supported by God’s own authority and wisdom, and cannot be faulted. Anyone who affirms or teaches something different becomes an enemy, not only of Paul, but of God. Naturally, such a person would be eternally condemned (Galatians 1:6-9). The same verdict is pronounced against anyone who opposes the doctrine today.”

DC 301 - Week 10

We're nearing the end of the 301 Discipleship Curriculum. This week's workload might look like this:

Monday - Read Joshua 13-24
Tuesday - Read Psalms 45-48
Wednesday - Prepare a couple mini-lessons based on the Old Testament reading
Thursday - Review memory verses, such as 1 Timothy 6:10, Proverbs 3:9, and 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Friday - Continue working on your lesson for the Ten Commandments series