Culver Community Church

Pastor Chris Sweeney

Sermon Notes

September 1, 2019

Galatians 3:10-29 – The Righteous Will Live by Faith! (Part 2)

{vs 15-18} Having made his points by scripture and reason . . . the Apostle Paul now follows Jesus’ example and gives an example to reinforce the point.  Both the promise made to Abraham and the Law given at Sinai were covenants.  A covenant is a binding promise, treaty or contract – as in a last will and testament, a covenant marriage (people today add the word covenant to try to make an unbreakable vow more unbreakable!)  That is the key to the concept of covenant – the binding, unalterable, unbreakable nature of the promise.  In fact, back in that day … a covenant was made by getting costly animals, sacrificing them, splitting them in two and passing through the middle of the halves (gross!)  Much more than having a deal duly notarized and recorded with the courts, this type of blood covenant communicated a self-maledictory oath.  The parties involved walked the path between the slaughtered animals to say, “May this [the death and grotesque splitting] be done to me if I do not keep my oath.”

This kind of contract or agreement helps to give us something that we can be assured of, because unlike God – our word is not our bond.  Every word of God is always true, He cannot lie and this is just one of the many ways we are unlike Him!  Promises, swearing, contracts and covenants – they are all a human invention to make up for the fact that we fail to keep our word and yes, we lie!  We want Aunt Ida’s will to be set in stone (if it has something for us) and we want our marital partners to be true - - - sadly, it always seems that we want other people to keep or be bound to their word, while we find ways to wiggle out of our own!  This is a common teaching tool, showing that if an idea is true for a lessor then it is certainly true for the greater (Greatest!)  Paul teaches this to show that if a human covenant, contract or vow has consequences and cannot be altered once it is a ‘done deal’ – then how much more a God covenant?

Now God has made multiple covenants with mankind and Israel in specific, Some of these are with: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and of course the New Covenant promised by the prophets and enacted by Jesus!  However, not all of God’s covenants are equal!  Some are one-sided and others are between two parties.  For example, Adam (and Eve) as our representatives covenanted with God in the Garden of Eden for all of us, and of course we broke that covenant.  God’s covenant to Noah (and all living creatures) was unconditional – He promises to never again destroy the Earth with a world-wide flood (next time it will be with fire).  Abraham was promised, unconditionally, the Promised Land; descendants (a great nation); and the whole Earth would be blessed (Redemption to come by his Seed).  (skip Moses) The Davidic covenant reaffirms the Promise of Land; and the forever King or Messiah that would come from his line.

I skipped over the Mosaic covenant which includes ‘the Law’.  This was different in that it was mediated by Moses (for Israel) and by angels (on behalf of God, from Mount Sinai, among all the special effects).  This was also conditional – the people were required to obey.  If they did, God would bring a multitude of blessings on them, but if they failed there was also a long list of curses (see Deuteronomy 27-29)!  The covenants given to Noah, Abraham, David and the one enacted by Jesus were universal and unconditional – God promised to do His part and there is no requirements to maintain the covenant from the human side!  In other words, God’s promises to Abraham could not be voided based upon his behavior or that of his descendants.  We see this in the making of that covenant (Genesis 15) – Abraham gets the animals ready, but then God causes a deep sleep to fall on Abraham and only the Spirit of God moves through the middle of those slaughtered animals - - - in our day, this would be the equivalent of God alone signing on the dotted line! (Not an incomplete contract, but a one-Party contract or promise).  This covenant of promise begins and ends with God!  And since God is eternal and unchanging – so is His covenant!  The addition of the Law or Mosaic covenant some 430 years later does not alter or void the covenant of promise made to Abraham.  The Mosaic Law (covenant) is not an amendment – it serves a different purpose entirely, which we’ll look at in the next verses.  If you are wondering, Exodus 12:40 tells us it was 430 years – (I believe that is from God’s affirmation of the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob until the Exodus.)

Paul puts in one more thought about covenants while we’re here – these unconditional, eternal covenants to Abraham, David and of course the New Covenant – they all find their fulfillment in Jesus!

“…The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his Seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your Seed," meaning one person, who is Christ…”

Jesus is the promised Seed that would come (He is the Seed of the Woman and the Child born of a virgin)!  Jesus is also the Messiah, the Son of David who will sit on the his throne forever.  Jesus came to fulfill the Law and all of the promises of God -

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. - 2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

We cannot rely on both promise and Law - the two are incompatible (when it comes to justification). 

“…For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in His grace gave it to Abraham through a promise…”

If it is by promise, then it is a gift given by God’s favor – (the word ‘gave’ used in the Greek is actually related to Charis – meaning grace-given!)  However, if it is based upon Law (performance) then it is a reward or wage!  This is true for Abraham, for those born before the Law and yes, those born after the Law!

{vs 19} As we have said – the Law was not given for salvation but rather because of transgressions (sin!)  God gave the Law to restrain sin - He does not want us to destroy ourselves in rampant uncontrolled evil (before Messiah came)!  While it does this in part, the Law also excites or makes alive the sin in us.  It excites man's rebellious nature through revealing a standard, showing us more clearly what sin is and our great need for salvation in Jesus (Romans 7:5-8).  We would not have know what coveting was, except that God said “Thou Shalt not!”

Come on now, we know this instinctively – the moment someone tells us “Don’t look down!” - - - What do we do?  Or how about “Wet Paint, don’t touch signs?” – it is natural (sin natural) to lightly tap the surface - - - just to see if it really is wet.  By having the rules – we are all tempted to break them!

The Mosaic Law (covenant) was given as a temporary measure – to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, the Seed – the fulfillment of the promises!  Even today, we must come by way of the Law to realize our sin – to prepare us for repentance!  Just as the Law did not replace the promise - it wasn’t replaced when Jesus came (Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law, not destroy it - Matthew 5:17). 

{vs 20} This verse is hard to get a clear idea of Paul’s argument - - - many have found differing meaning here.  However, the general idea is that the covenant of Moses needed mediators and involved us (the very unreliable and sure to fail party in the bargain).  The promise however involves only God, it depends on Him alone – God is one and there is no one else to muck up the deal!

God is forever faithful, He will do all that He has promised to do!  The promise to Abraham is simple – those who believe God will be credited with righteousness!