Galatians 3:15-22

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.

Strange Laws:

1. VERMONT BANNED BANNING CLOTHESLINES.

2. It is ilegal to pretend to be a religious figure in Alabama.

3. Bingo games can’t last more than 5hrs. in North Carolina.

4. In Rhode Island it is actually illegal to bit off someone’s arm.

5. In South Carolina it is Illegal to have a dance hall within a quarter mile of the cemetery.

6. In Washington state It is illegal to use X-Rays for shoe fittings.

7. In Georgia you can’t live on a boat for more than 30 days.

8. The good people of Southington Connecticut are serious about life as they have put a ban on Silly String.

9. In Enfield, New Hampshire you can’t hunt in a cemetery.

10. It is Illegal to Play Dominoes in Alabama on a Sunday.

Laws don’t create compliance.

How does the Law that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai relate to the promise that God made to Abraham when he said, “In you shall all the nations be blessed

More importantly, Paul clarifies the identity of the recipient of God’s promise to Abraham. Ultimately, he says, the recipient isn’t Israel, nor is it even the Church. According to this passage, the true recipient of God’s promise to Abraham is God’s single seed, Christ.

What is the purpose of the law?

Think about that. God gave the Law because of sin. So, too, societies write laws because of sin. Villages issue ordinances because of sin; parents make rules because of sin; teachers post classroom guidelines because of sin; employers have company policies because of sin.

How are we to understand the story of the Bible?

The framework of the story of the bible can be understood by two words.

Promise and Fulfillment

The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 1989-2011 The Law and the Promise

The blessing promised to Abraham for all the nations couldn’t possibly be farmland. It’s to get God.

The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive, 1989-2011 The Law and the Promise

But Paul says, “Is that all it could mean?” He says, “No, because every time God says, ‘I will bless all the nations of the earth through your seed,’ it’s a singular word.” It’s a singular word. One seed. One descendant. Paul says, “Don’t you see the promise to Abraham has a first fulfillment in the physical people, blessed with a physical land, but it also has an ultimate fulfillment? It has to. It has a more cosmic fulfillment. It has to.”

It has an ultimate fulfillment, not through a group of people, but through One … Christ. That inheritance is not just a physical one but a spiritual one. The blessing promised to Abraham for all the nations couldn’t possibly be farmland. It’s to get God. The promise of the Spirit in verse 14 is not just a little pick-me-up or something. The Spirit of God is God. It’s his lifeblood. We become partakers in the divine nature.

God’s promise wasn’t just a place.

God’s promise wasn’t just a people.

God’s promise was a person, Christ.

God’s promised blessing is about a relationship with Him.

The question that this text answers is how one arrives at a relationship with God.

You don’t receive a relationship through your performance.

You receive a relationship with God by trusting His promise.

The Law of God was never a means of salvation.

The law of God revealed our need to trust God’s promise.