Promises Made; Promises Kept

Introduction

This passage of Scripture is valuable to us and allows us to understand the Old Testament promise and how it transitioned to the New Testament death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It helps us bridge the gap in our own minds of why God worked the way that He did in the Old Testament.

The bottom line is that God was patiently preparing the world to receive the promise of Jesus Christ.

When we read the Old Testament, we need to understand that there are many spiritual blessings for us to find there, if we will simply look for Jesus! In every chapter and in every verse, we can find Jesus.

“In the Old Testament we have preparation for Christ; in the Gospels, the presentation of Christ; and in the Acts through Revelation, the appropriation of Christ.” -Warren Wiersby

This passage deals with the relationship between the promise that God made at the fall and again to Abraham, with the law that He gave to His people there on Sinai.

What was the promise?

The promise is that we would be saved by faith in a savior whose name was Jesus. and that He would be a blessing to the the nations of the earth.

What do we mean by law?

In the Old Testament, Moses goes up on the mountain and he receives God’s law.

“The law” is the exposition of God’s moral standard.

This means that the 10 Commandments are it’s base, and that everything else we read in Exodus-Deuteronomy flows from the principles of the 10 commandments.

Is the law important to the Christian?

That’s the question at hand!

The short answer is: yes.

The law of God serves a purpose in our lives!

Psalm 119:1 NKJV

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord!

Psalm 119:18 NKJV

Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.

The law of God is wonderful. The law of God is useful…but the law of God also has its purpose and its limitations.

What are its limitation?

The limitation of the law is that it can never accomplish through you what Jesus did for you. We might think that we have something when we are doing what the law says is right, but that’s nothing compared to what we have when are in Jesus Christ. When we are in Jesus Christ, all our sin is washed away, and we stand before God totally righteous and free from any condemnation.

Romans 8:1 NKJV

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

The Judiazers were arguing this, “If the law can’t save us then why do we have it?”

Here is the basic message:

The law of God was not the promise; The Lord Jesus was the promise.

What is the relationship between the promise of God and the law of God?

I. The Promise is Unchanged By the Law

A. The Issue

Galatians 3:15 NKJV

Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.

The argument from the opponents of grace was that the giving of the law added to the promise that God made to Abraham. Paul’s counter-argument is that if it was added to then it was annulled (Made of no effect).

This is the promise that God made to Abraham.

Genesis 12:1–3 NKJV

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The promise was that by the Seed of Abraham, God would bless all the families of the earth. The Seed of Abraham is Jesus our Lord.

This same promise was made just after the fall when God told satan that by the Seed of the woman he would be defeated.

Paul is using logic here.

He is saying that if two people were to make a contract with one another, then a third person can’t come along and change the contract by annulling it or adding to it.

They’re saying, “The law changed the promise.” Paul simply says, “How can that be true?”

B. The Response

Galatians 3:16–18 NKJV

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The promise that was made to Abraham was a promise that God made without any conditions.

God simply said to Abraham, by your Seed, the nations of the world will be blessed.

When we place conditions on a promise that we had nothing to do with, we are acting outside of our legal ability.

These men were invading the Galatian church, they were teaching the people that salvation comes by promise and by obeying the law, and Paul says that’s not true.

If we’re not careful, we can believe the same things.

One of the marks of a false teacher or an immature believer is that they put all kinds of conditions on salvation. These conditions always take the form of a behavior or action.

1. False Teachings

(1) We have to be baptized in water to be saved (if we don’t do the correct religious things, we aren’t saved).

-We don’t have to be baptized in water for salvation, only for obedience. Salvation comes by faith alone. Anything more than faith annuls the promise that God made.

(2) We can lose our salvation (if we don’t behave right, we can lose our salvation).

-I didn’t do anything to earn it…what makes people think I can do anything to lose it?

-How badly do I need to sin in order to lose it?

-Who gets to determine who does and who doesn’t lose their salvation based on their behavior.

(3) We have to speak in tongues to be saved.

-Again, a condition for salvation erases the point of salvation.

My salvation isn’t based on my behavior or my abilities, but is based on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Immature Christians

(1) I can work myself into the favor of God.

-“gave it to Abraham” (v. 18)

-That word gave means more than just simple giving…it means that God gave it freely with no strings attached and pre-requisites. Abraham didn’t earn the promise of God, but he received the promise of God.

-In your Christian walk, God gives to you freely. In fact, God has already given you all things.

Romans 8:32 NKJV

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

We don’t need to work ourselves into the favor of God as Christians because we’re already there. What we need to do is work in strength and dedication to God because we have the favor of God.

We can work for Him with confidence, know that He is perfecting us each and every day.

The Promise God made to Abraham wasn’t changed when the law came.

II. The Promise is Greater Than the Law

Paul has just addressed their complaint. He said that the promise of God cannot be added to because that would make it null and void. Now he is going to explain the purpose of the law and show why the promise is so much greater.

A. The Law Was Temporary

Galatians 3:19a NKJV

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made.

It was a temporary measure. It wasn’t something that God put in place to be a permanent fix because God knew that men could never keep the law.

God made a promise, and He was going to keep that promise, but in the meantime, He added it so the people would be able to stay free from sin.

“Transgression” literally means to “go beyond” or to be “out of bounds.” When we commit transgression, we have gone out of bounds and we deserve a penalty for that.

So, the law was temporary and was there to show us the boundaries of righteousness.

B. The Law Needed a Mediator

Galatians 3:19b NKJV

and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.

Exodus 20:19 NKJV

Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

Moses was the mediator of the law, and he worked between God and the people.

C. The Promise Was Neither

Galatians 3:20 NKJV

Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

The promise was not temporary, but it was permanent.

And we see now that God didn’t use a mediator for the promise. A mediator is a middle man and acts as a go between to ensure peace between the two parties.

The promise wasn’t given by mediation but was given directly to Abraham from God.

The Honor of a Personal Touch

Just today I was on the phone with the front desk of one our U.S. Representatives. She called me in response to some business that I was getting taken care of.

While I very much appreciated her phone call, it would have been a greater honor for the U.S. Representative to drive here, knock on the church door, and say, “Mr. Westbrook, I’ve come to meet with you about this matter!”

This is why a mediator makes the law inferior.

In all of these things, Paul is showing that the promise is greater than the law. (1) The law was a temporary arrangement. (2) The law required a mediator. (3) The promise is permanent and required no mediator. Therefore, the promise is greater than the law.

III. The Promise Works in Continuity With the Law

Still, the question remains, what is the purpose of the law?

A. Keeps us Expecting Grace

Galatians 3:21–23 NKJV

Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.

1. Righteousness is not by the Law

We’ve addressed this many times, but good behavior cannot save us.

When we go about witnessing, people will say, “I am going to heaven because I am a good person.”

But the law did not bring life, the law brought death. And by bringing death, it keeps us in a constant state of expecting and desiring grace.

When a man is finally ready to admit that he is a sinner, then he is finally ready to receive the grace of God.

2. Conviction Comes Through the Law

If we read, especially in Psalm 119, we will see that the Scripture and God’s law are synonymous.

The only way for us to convince and reveal to people that they need a savior is by showing them the Scripture that shows them their sin.

James 1:23–24 NKJV

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

Now, the Word of God is the mirror. The Word of God will do many things, and one of the chief things that it does is it reveals our sin.

3. Expectation Comes Through the Law

v. 23 says that we were “kept under guard”. That literally means to be locked up.

With that imprisonment, a wise person will consider any escape. When it all comes down to it, there is only one escape from the prison of the law…and that is God’s grace.

When those men in the Old Testament understood that, they looked forward to the savior. When those in our generation understand that, we look back to the savior.

Either way, the law of God is there so that we seek after God’s grace.

B. Matures us for Grace

Galatians 3:24 NKJV

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Underline tutor (schoolmaster).

This is not like a teacher in a classroom. This word in the Greek literally means, “a child conductor.”

The imagery is that the law was there to raise the children until the parent took over.

-The Jews were not born from the law, but they were raised by the law.

-God was their father, the law was their tutor. The law was the slave that reared God’s children.

-The law was never intended to give life, but was there to discipline and guard the children.

C. Releases us to Grace

Galatians 3:25–26 NKJV

But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Once faith comes, we are legally set free to return to right standing with our Father. The people of faith are the sons and daughters of God. While we were once disciplined and guarded by that mean and overbearing schoolmaster, we were finally released by faith to be with our loving and patient Father.

That’s what perfectionism is. It’s a horrendously brutal schoolmaster. It will not make anyone smile, there will be no laughter…but when we are finally released into the Father’s hand by an act of grace, we have joy everlasting!

IV. The Promise Overshadows the Law

Remembering the days when we were in sin and under the burden of the law of perfection might be painful, but when we enter into adulthood and walk into the grace of God, it overshadows anything else we experienced.

A. New Clothing

Galatians 3:27 NKJV

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

1. Baptized Into Christ

1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

That is, when we enter into grace through faith, we are baptized (immersed) in the Holy Spirit of God and we walk with Him in unity.

2. Have Put on Christ

This literally means that we have had a change of garments.

When a Roman citizen came of age, they took off their childhood garments and traded them in for adult garments.

When we were under the law, when we went to report to the schoolmaster (tutor), we had to be in uniform.

Our uniform was the filthy rags of sin and shame, and our tutor made sure we wore them.

But when we entered into grace, we “put on Christ”, and our garments were no longer filthy rags but they were as white as snow.

B. New Identity

Galatians 3:28 NKJV

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

This is not so much an earthly status, but this is our heavenly reality.

When I was saved by God, I was still a man! But God only saw me as His beloved. He desired that I be treated equally and that I treat others as equal.

This was a controversial statement to make and one that brought the Galatian church much joy.

The Pharisees would pray every day, “I thank God I am a Jew and not a Gentile; a man, and not a woman; a free man and not a slave.”

This was done because they believed they were superior in these ways, but in Christ, we are all equal and uniquely designed for God’s purposes.

C. New Expectation

While we were trapped in the prison of the law, we were hopefully expecting grace and forgiveness.

But when, by faith, we receive that grace, we get a new expectation.

Galatians 3:29 NKJV

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The thing that we are living in expectation of today is the inheritance of God’s spiritual blessings.

We are co-heirs with Christ.

He has empowered us to live this life, and He earnestly awaits our arrival in glory.