The Law Versus The Promise

Follow along as I read our passage in Galatians.

Galatians 3:15–22 NASB 2020

15 Brothers and sisters, 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. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. 17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 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. 19 Why the Law then? It was added on account of the violations, having been ordered through angels at the hand of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Far from it! For if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

If history proves anything, it is that we seldom learn what it teaches. For example, the history of the Roman Empire shows us that sexual promiscuity and other forms of self-indulgence lead to the internal decay and eventual downfall of nations. Yet we continue to allow immorality to spread like a cancerous growth, hoping against hope that it will simply go away on its own.

History also points out that political power never operates in a religious vacuum. If Christianity doesn’t fill the void, lawmakers and policy setters will find, or even create, another religion to take its place. This fact, however doesn’t seem to motivate many Christians to enter the political arena or base their civil decisions on their faith.

Similarly, the ruins of past civilizations stand as stark reminders that human beings are unable to perfect themselves regardless of their economic, political, educational, or religious achievements. And yet many people insist that their utopian dreams rest in their own hands.

During the first century, the Judaizers failed to consider accurately the historical record concerning the way man can become righteous before God. They looked at the Mosaic Law, misunderstood its function, and declared that obedience to its commands would bring salvation. They ignored the fact that everyone stood condemned, not justified, under the law’s perfect standard. They also disregarded the fact that prior to the law, God had made a promise to Abraham that was not dependent on his keeping a set of rules. Abraham was saved by believing in this promise, and we are saved by believing in God’s fulfillment of this promise.

Let’s avoid the mistakes the Judaizers made and focus our thoughts on Paul’s history lesson in Galatians 3:15-22. We will observe the solid, historical fact of justification by faith alone in contrast to the perilous fiction of justification by works.

I. The Historical Background

Before turning our attention to Galatians, we need to dig into the pages of history, beginning with the days of Abraham.

A. Abraham

Some two thousand years before the birth of Jesus, God appeared to Abraham and made a promise to him.

This promise is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3

Genesis 12:1–3 NASB 2020

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you into a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

On several occasions the Lord repeated his promise to Abraham such as this one in Genesis 22:17-18

Genesis 22:17–18 NASB 2020

17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

The English words “descendants” and “offspring” come from the Hebrew word for “seed.”

And the Hebrew word seed is singular, which is very important, as we shall see in a moment.

For now, the important point is that God’s promise to Abraham was unconditional. Abraham didn’t have to do anything to make it come about. By simply believing in God’s ability to fulfill his promise, Abraham was declared righteous by the Lord (see Genesis 15:1-6). And regardless of what Abraham thought or did, the promise was irrevocable. God made it, and he would bring it to pass.

B. Moses

Following Abraham’s death, the Lord continued to remind the patriarch’s descendants of his promise (see Genesis 26:3-4, 24; 28:13-15; 35:11-12).

Eventually, however, the Jewish people found themselves helplessly enslaved in Egypt. Having compassion on their plight, the Lord sent Moses to them and worked through him to deliver the people from oppression (see Exodus 1-15).

After the Exodus from Egypt, God revealed the law to Moses, demanding that the Jews make it their standard for living (20:1-31:18). Knowing they would not be able to keep it, the Lord included a system of sacrifices designed to point to the One who would grant forgiveness to those who used it by faith.

C. Christ

In his letter to the Galatian Christians, Paul argues that Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary set people free from the law’s condemnation.

When we place our faith in Christ, we are unshackled from the curse of the law and given a new lease on life.

This is the thrust of Paul’s argument in the preceding section in Galatians 3:10-14.

The Judaizers, as Chuck Swindoll says, “gagged on this gospel of grace.” They could stand fitting Christ and faith into the plan of salvation but they could not do it without also including obedience to the law. In their minds the demands of the law superseded the promise made to Abraham. Perhaps Abraham was saved by faith, they thought, but with the initiation of the law came a new way to be made right before God. From that point on, salvation included rule keeping.

II. An Expositional Analysis

Paul challenges the legalistic viewpoint in Galatians 3:15-22.

He maintains that the promise to Abraham was not annulled by the law; rather, the law demonstrated the need for a promise.

A. The Law Did Not Annul the Promise (3:15-18)

First, the law did not annul the promise.

Paul starts his argument with something drawn from everyday life, something everyone would be familiar with.

Galatians 3:15–18 NASB 2020

15 Brothers and sisters, 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. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. 17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 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.

He uses the idea of a last will and testament to demonstrate the covenant God made with Abraham.

Once a will and testament is written and it has gone through the legal system, through a probate attorney, it can’t be altered as long as the person is shown to have written the will in good faith and was of sound mind. It can be contested but not revised or overturned.

If a human’s will cannot be revised or revoked, how much more immutable or indestructible is a promise made by the eternal God?

The promise that Paul is referring to is the one spoken to Abraham concerning his seed. Paul points out that God said “seed” instead of “seeds”. God was referring to one seed in particular, one specific offspring. It is in Christ and Christ alone that God fulfills the promise made to Abraham about his seed.

It is through the one seed, Christ and no one else that the blessing to the whole earth comes. The blessing is salvation by faith in Christ alone. Through Him, anyone can become a spiritaul descendent of Abraham as Paul states in verse 29.

Galatians 3:29 NASB 2020

29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

Paul then pointed out the law came 430 years after the promise and thus does not set aside the earlier covenant. Paul is saying that God’s promise was unconditional; it came with no strings attached. So when the law was revealed and given to Israel, it did not annul or change the promise. Both covenants existed together.

B. The Law Made the Promise Essential (3:19-22)

Second, when the law was given and implemented, it made the promise essential.

Paul’s conclusion raises two questions: one regards the law’s purpose, and the other concerns the law’s possible conflict with the Abrahamic promise.

1. What, then, was the purpose of the law? (3:19-20)

The first question is in verse 19a, “Why the Law then?”

If the law doesn’t affect the promise then why do we need the law? Paul says it “was added on account of the violations.”

Before the law was given, it was our conscience that told us about sin, about what was right and wrong. For the Gentiles, who did not have the law, it was still their conscience who told them about sin.

Romans 2:14–15 NASB 2020

14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,

However, it is easy to sway our own conscience and make ourselves feel better. If it is up to us, we can justify just about any action or lack of action and make ourselves feel good.

Then God gave the Mosaic Law and that clearly defined what was moral and immoral, what was wrong and what was right, what was a sin and what wasn’t. It was a divinely established fact of right and wrong and no longer just the conscience. There was right and wrong and with this clearly defined line, everyone knew they were sinners. In other words, everyone knew they had a need for a Savior, for the promised seed.

The law was never meant to save anyone but to convince everyone of their need for salvation.

The last part of verse 19 and verse 20 can be a little confusing and difficult to translate.

Galatians 3:19–20 NASB 2020

19 Why the Law then? It was added on account of the violations, having been ordered through angels at the hand of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one.

Paul is telling us that the Mosaic Law came through angles at the hand of a mediator to Moses.

A mediator is someone who sits down with both parties, looks at the law and sees how to apply the law and then decides for one party or the other but that mediator isn’t for either party.

However, God is one. When the Law was given, it was passed down through the angles and the mediator. When the promise was given it was given straight from God to Abraham, no angles, mediator or anyone between God and Abraham.

Because of this alone, the promise is superior to the law.

2. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? (3:21-22)

The second question is in verse 21.

Galatians 3:21 NASB 2020

21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Far from it! For if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

Paul’s answer is “Far from it!” Other translations put it as “Absolutely not!”

The reason the law cannot oppose the promise of God is because the law cannot save. The law is not able to impart life. If the law could bring salvation then salvation would have been dependent upon people keeping the law. Instead of being able to keep the law, instead of being able to obey the law and have salvation, the law does something else.

Dr Lloyd-Jones said this about the law:

It does not save; it brings us to the Saviour. It is not the way of salvation; its purpose is to show us our need of salvation, and to give us some indication of how it is going to come.

The Law: Its Functions and Limits, 169

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)

Paul put it this way in verse 22:

Galatians 3:22 NASB 2020

22 But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The law shows us our sin and proves to us our need for a savior. The only way for salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone and that is from grace alone.

We have looked at the historical and theological argument of why the promise is superior to the law.

III. The Practical Significance

Now we going to look at the practical significance.

So how do we apply the significance of the promise from God?

A. The Promise of Grace Is Not Altered by the Demands of the Law

Grace is not altered by the law.

The law shouts that you are judged, found guilty and condemned.

Graces shouts even louder that there is a way for complete forgiveness and full reconciliation with God.

Apart from God you are a guilty and convicted sinner doomed to damnation with an eternity in hell.

There is no way to please God on your own. There is now way to earn salvation, no matter how well or how much of the law you think you are able to keep. As a matter of fact, you can only incite God’s wrath. This is what the law teaches us and even if we ignore the law or at least try to ignore the law.

Romans 2:12 NASB 2020

12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;

We are all guilty.

But God offers His grace. Because of God’s grace, we can be justified, or made right in the sight of God through faith in Christ. Not by works of the law but through faith alone in Christ alone.

B. The Greater the Demands of Condemnation, the Sweeter the Promise of Salvation

The greater the law condemns us then the sweeter is forgiveness and the promise of salvation.

I was riding my Harley from El Paso to here one winter. Going through Memphis at night, the temp had dropped to around 10 degrees but with the wind chill factor on the bike it was close to -17 degrees. I was cold. Before I left here to go back I had some heated gear, a heated jacket and gloves. Since that time I have come to appreciate having heated gear as well as a heated seat and heated handgrips on the bike.

But I didn’t really appreciate them until that one trip that I froze. It was because of that really cold time that I knew just how good heated gear was.

It is very much like this with the law. Because of the law we know we have sinned. We know what we have done or not done that is wrong. We do not have to guess. We also know that because we have sinned, because we sin and are sinners, we stand condemned to death.

But, because of the promise God made to Abraham, we know we have complete forgiveness and have the promise of salvation, that blessed promised assurance of where we will spend eternity, or rather who we will spend eternity with.

You will never fully appreciate the gospel of grace until you have seen yourself against the backdrop of the law.

Take some time this week to read the law.

Read the Ten Commandments (found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) or read any other part of God’s Moral Law (such as is found in the book of Deuteronomy). Pay particular attention to its emphasis on perfection, holiness, and total obedience. See how you stack up against God’s law.

Then, as the guilt and condemnation mounts, remember the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise: God’s richest blessings are available to you through Jesus Christ. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. Ask him to grant you pardon, forgiveness and eternal life. Tell him that you are abandoning your efforts at working your way to heaven by your own self-righteousness and that you are submitting yourself to him and to his perfect righteousness.

When you do that, you will discover that it is the promise and not the law which brings eternal life. Amen.

I can know who Jesus is; I can believe Jesus lived, died, I can even believe Jesus rose from the dead but not put my faith, my trust in Him and still go to hell; it isn’t about just knowing about Jesus or even just thinking Jesus did do what he said, it is about my faith being put in Him