Jesus is the Promise

We are in our sixth week in our series from the book of Galatians. This book was the first of the letters written by Paul to the churches in an area called Galatia. There were several churches in the area that Paul would have started in his travel through the area.

This letter takes a really strong tone with the Galatians as they have strayed from the centrality of the gospel, that is that our salvation is by faith and not works. A group Paul identifies as Judaizers that he called out in chapter 2 who were attempting to add a requirement of following the law in addition to salvation by grace. In particular, they were wanting the gentile folks joining the church to be circumcised.

Last week in the start of chapter 3, we saw where Paul was challenging the church to not add anything to our faith which is by grace. He used several arguments to show that Jesus fulfilled the law in order that the nations could receive the promise made to Abraham. Many were still trying to hold on to the Law as a way of justification and right standing with God, but that’s not possible.

Today, we’ll see where Paul continues breaking down this idea that was spreading that the law was necessary for people to be in right standing with God. We are going to divide today’s passage up into three parts. If you’re taking notes, here are those three parts:

The Promise precedes the law (vs 15-18)

The purpose of the law (vs 19-20)

Jesus is the Promise (vs 21-22)

We’ll read the entire passage and then we’ll talk through the three themes that Paul addresses here.

Galatians 3:15–22 ESV

15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Let’s take a look at the first paragraph that I’ve summarized with the title

The Promise precedes the law (vs 15-18)

One of the prevalent arguments was that since Jesus came after the law was given, then we should still be following and adhering to all aspects of the law. Paul argues that the promise made to Abraham came long before and Jesus is the answer to that promise. Last week we read in Genesis 15 where Abraham’s belief was credited to him as righteousness. There is another passage that include this promise made to Abraham. In Genesis 15, Abraham just believed the promise made that his descendants would be more numerous that the stars in the sky. Today I want to read the other passage in Genesis 22, where we see Abraham walk out that belief with action...let’s read it.

Genesis 22:1–18 ESV

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” 15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

This story is a foreshadowing of the sacrifice Jesus would make as the willing son offered as an atonement for us. Is verses 17 and 18, we see the reference to the offspring, singular, who would possess the gate of the enemy and through whom all nations would be blessed.

Paul references this story as a place where a promise was made through the faith of Abraham. Not through his following of the law, but through his faith in God to redeem and provide.

The inheritance promise here, all nations of the earth being blessed did not come through the law. It preceded the law by 430 years and was fulfilled in Jesus. The law being given did not nullify the promise, it did however have a purpose. That is the next two verses in Galatians 3...

The purpose of the law (vs 19-20)

Paul is anticipating the next question from those who support continuing to follow the law as a means to salvation and righteousness. Why then the law? It’s a fair question. If not given for right living and our right standing before God, then why?

Paul says that it was added because of transgression. What does that mean? Those six words have such a depth of meaning...

The law shows what transgression looks like in order to limit us. Let’s just take the ten commandments for this morning, as we look at them, we should see rules that are meant for our good. As a Christ follower, we should strive to follow them, not as our means of righteousness, but as a example of righteousness. Without them, we have no clear understanding of right and wrong. These commandments give us a starting point.

The law also shows what transgression looks like in order to render us guilty. When we examine the ten commandments more fully, we see that murder is not just killing someone physically, but it is also when we have hatred toward someone. Adultery is not just having physical sex with someone other than your spouse, it is also when we lust. It also says you shall have no other gods - that’s not just deity’s, we can make all kinds of things our god - government, family, job, money, power, stuff… What about the one that calls us to honor your father and mother...No matter how amazing you were as a child, I bet every single one of you have a memory of breaking this one. If you can’t remember, just ask...for some of us, there wasn’t just a single memory, there is an entire decade of it.

That’s just a few of them. The Bible says in James 2 that if we’ve broken one part of the law, we’ve broken it all. That makes us guitly.

The law also shows that our transgression deserves a punishment we can’t handle. Our transgression, our sin deserves death. It is an impossible debt to repay. Some people have this idea that perhaps they’ve sinned in ignorance and now that they understand, they’ll do better. And because they are going to do better, they are worthy of heaven. That is such dangerous thinking. Let’s use a modern idea of debt to play this out. Let’s say you’ve got a mortgage on your house and it’s getting to the point where it is difficult to pay - you’ve bought beyond your means. So you go to the bank and say to them - Mr. Bank, I am so sorry for my debt on my house. I didn’t realize all that would be needed to pay it and I can’t pay it. It’s just too much. But I have an idea...if you’ll forgive that debt I will make sure to never take on a debt this big again. That’s not how it works. You don’t pay your mortgage and they come foreclose on your house and take it.

It’s the same idea with our sin. No amount of doing good from here on out will save you from what your sin deserves. That is what the law tells us about our transgression.

Lastly, the law shows that our transgression requires a Savior. There have been a couple of times where we’ve had something bad happen to our house...mostly with water. When I fully saw the fullness of the damage, I knew I couldn’t do it alone and I needed a professional. We called one of those restoration companies and they came and took out all the wet stuff, dried it out and then came the guy who put it all back together. That’s the picture of Jesus when we think of our transgressions. They are too much for us to account for on our own. We need a professional and that man is Jesus. Only he is able to restore and put things back the way God designed it. We can’t do it on our own...we need a Savior. That Savior is Jesus.

Paul points out the the law was added because of transgression until the one would come...that is Jesus. Jesus is the promise and that is our final point.

Jesus is the Promise (vs 21-22)

The truth is that the Law made it impossible on our own to be free from sin and its consequences. The law reveals the prison of sin. There is no other way to look at it. The law does not bring life. It only shows us the lack of life because of our sin nature. Without Jesus we are a slave to our sin - a prisoner. Only one person was ever promised the key to open that prison door and that was the seed of Abraham - Jesus.

No matter how hard we try, there is no escaping the truth of our sin and the consequence of it.

I have heard from time to time people who justify themselves based on their “righteousness”. The might say:

I’m a good dad or mom

I’m a good worker and I help a lot of people in my job.

I pay my bills and I’m responsible

I am faithful to my spouse.

I pray for my food and before I go to bed and I come to church regularly

I love people and help

Based on all of that, I have a good chance at going to heaven. If that is you, you have a hope in the wrong things. There will come a day when the weight of you sin will be put before you for judgement. If there is even just one sin on the scale, you are out.

Our only hope is the offspring of Abraham who would be the blessing to the nations of the world - Jesus. Only Jesus could stand in our place and take our sin on himself. He has done that and offered us a gift.

This gift requires that we acknowledge we have nothing to add to our salvation. Jesus and only Jesus can save us. No amount of good deeds or law following will justify us - only Jesus can.

Invitation