The Fulfilled Promise; Galatians 3:1-26

Introduction

Paul has moved on from the defense of his record

that he was an apostle that was appointed by God

that the leadership in Jerusalem did not change the gospel that he proclaims

The fulfilled promise

Paul now moves on to promise of the gospel

this is not something new, meaning God did not change how people are saved when we get to the NT

he did not change the rules over and over, or move the goalposts

God’s promise was not changed with the law, was fulfilled in Christ and is available for all

Galatians 3:1–26 (CSB)

1 You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

2 I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?

3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?

4 Did you experience so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing?

5 So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law? Or is it by believing what you heard—

6 just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness?

7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons.

8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you.

9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.

11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.

12 But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them.

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

14 The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.

15 Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will.

16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ.

17 My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God and thus cancel the promise.

18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise.

19 Why, then, was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator.

20 Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one.

21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law.

22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.

23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.

24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.

25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.

PRAY!

Paul tears down the arguments that the Judaizers, those who came in and said that you must be Jewish before you could be saved.

you must be circumcised

what Paul does in Galatians 3 is use the septuagint, the greek translated OT, to show the Galatians that the Judaizers do not understand the OT properly, as God worked out his story

The Unprovoked Promise

Paul’s rhetorical questions

Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions to remind the Galatians to look back at their own testimony

did they obey the law to receive the spirit of God

no you received it by hearing the truth, and believing

did you receive a little spirit and then have to finish things off in the flesh to be truly Godly

of course not it was like Abraham, who believed in the promise of God

Galatians 3:1–9 (CSB)

1 You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

2 I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?

3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?

4 Did you experience so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing?

5 So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law? Or is it by believing what you heard—

6 just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness?

7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons.

8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you.

9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.

What was the promise given to Abraham Gen 12,

God tells Abram (later changed to Abraham) that he wants him to leave his country, the place where his family is from

a nation will come from you and the whole world will be blessed

Abraham obeyed God and left his father’s land

No indication that Abraham knew God prior to this

why did he obey this God that he did not know previously

he believed

Genesis 12:4 (CSB)

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

he was 75 years old, his wife Sarah was 65 and they had no children

yet he believed God and that a nation would come from him

The promise renewed about 10 years later

Gen 15, God restates the promise that he gave 10 years earlier

You will have a mighty nation come from you

Abram asks how, he did not have an heir

God takes him outside and says that you offspring will be more numerous than the stars in the sky

Genesis 15:6 (CSB)

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

notice there has been no circumcision, no law, nothing like that yet

Abraham was righteous because he believed

the righteousness was credited to him

The covenant was made, God walks through on his own, Abraham was asleep

explain the OT covenant

a sacrifice made, split and separated and two people walk down between as a covenant that this agreement is based on both of them

The covenant is reliant on God, not on man

Abraham believed the God and his covenant

he and all males were circumcised

he was willing to offer Isaac

We should rejoice in this promise

the promise has been God’s plan from the beginning

we can see that the promise had nothing to do with our efforts

The Revealing Law

Galatians 3:10–18 (CSB)

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.

11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.

12 But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them.

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

14 The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.

15 Brothers and sisters, I’m using a human illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to a validated human will.

16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ.

17 My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God and thus cancel the promise.

18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise; but God has graciously given it to Abraham through the promise.

What is the law

moral law - the ten commandments

ceremonial law - how you worship, what you can and cannot eat and what festivals to celebrate

civil laws - punishments for crimes like murder and adultery

The Israelites were told to obey the law or they would be removed from the land that God gave them

they were exiled

Babylon came and took over

they were allowed to go back eventually and build their temple

when Jesus walked the earth, it was the Romans that were in control of the land

but we all disobey the law

we are not under the same civil laws that they were, or the same ceremonial laws

but the moral law, the 10 commandments have not changed

our nation was founded on Judeo Christian values

we have laws based on the moral laws, do not steal, do not murder ext…

but our punishments are different

not under the civil law

We all violate the moral law of God, and are found to be sinners

that is what the law has done, it reveals the sin in us

Exalting Jesus in Galatians (We All Deserve the Wrath of God)

The principal point … of the law … is to make men not better but worse; that is to say, it sheweth unto them their sin, that by the knowledge thereof they may be humbled, terrified, bruised and broken, and by this means may be driven to seek grace.

the law does not save,

you cannot have a little law and a little Jesus

Galatians 3:10 (CSB)

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.

yet this is what we do, how we think

we know we are saved by grace yet we think that grace covers what we are lacking

you’ve seen little ones at a store, they bring their hand full of change to the register so they can buy candy with their own money and they do not have the tax, or are just a little shy of the amount, so the store owner covers what is left, that is good enough

Jesus doesn’t cover the amount you are short

the law reveals you to be a law breaker and deserving of the wrath of God

Jesus did not change this in the NT, in sermon on the mount he tells us we are to be perfect like our father in heaven is perfect

The law reveals in us who we are; sinful, unmoral enemies with God

the righteous then live by faith

not faith in the law

faith in the one, the seed of Abraham, that would come

We should rejoice in the knowledge of God’s plan

he is not reactionary

God is in control

and because law reveals how sinful we are, the promise reveals God’s plan for our salvation.

The Loving Messiah

Galatians 3:19–26 (CSB)

19 Why, then, was the law given? It was added for the sake of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise was made would come. The law was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator.

20 Now a mediator is not just for one person alone, but God is one.

21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law.

22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.

23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.

24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith.

25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

26 for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus.

The law must be fulfilled to receive righteousness, and Jesus fulfills the law and the prophets

Matthew 5:17–18 (CSB)

17 “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.

Jesus did not come and change the Law of moses

he did not take away the parts we had such a hard time with

they just cannot stop killing each other, lets take that part out

they just cannot stop committing adultery, lets drop it down to 8 commandments

if we start down this road, we see that we have to eliminate the law entirely, not just parts

we are completely morally bankrupt according to the law of God

But Jesus fulfilled the law

This does not mean that he simply obeyed the ceremonial laws

this does not me that he did all the hundreds of laws that the pharisees created and made so that they would not violate the law

he means that he fulfilled even what he tells his followers in Matthew 5,

that thinking of a woman with lust is adultery, that hatred in your heart is murder

that he lived a perfect life as the father in heaven is perfect

Jesus fulfilled the the promise to Abraham

this is what all OT heroes were looking forward to, how they were all saved

they to, were not saved by the law, but by looking forward to the one that would come and fulfill the law,

the one who would come that the entire world would be blessed through

Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise

Paul is telling the Galatians, it is not just the Jewish people that can be saved, but all of the world through faith in Jesus and his work on the cross

How do we receive this promise

the same way looking at the promised one, looking at Jesus and his death on the cross for you

understanding that his death allows us to rest from the work of the law and on the promise that God planned from the beginning

We take communion as a remembrance of what the Lord has done for us

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (CSB)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread,

24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Discussion Questions

Exalting Jesus in Galatians Reflect and Discuss

Why is it important for Christians to study the Old Testament? What are some of the dangers of ignoring the Old Testament?

2. How did God’s promise to Abraham highlight the need for faith?

3. What is the relationship between faith and obedience?

4. Read James 2:14–26. How do you reconcile Paul’s words about justification by faith with James’ words about faith and works?

5. How does the law help us see our sin? How does the law prepare us for grace?

6. What are some ways we look to the law to produce the obedience that only the gospel can bring about?

7. How does the Mosaic covenant complement the Abrahamic covenant?

8. In your own words, explain what it means that Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses.

9. How does God’s promise in the Abrahamic covenant to bless all nations relate to Jesus?

10. How might Jesus’ relationship to these covenants affect the way you read the Old Testament?