Last week we finished off with a reminder that it does not
matter how good of a person we or our friends are. It is not possible to donate enough
money or time to charities to get into heaven. You can’t avoid drugs and get
into heaven and you cannot help people enough to enter into the Glorious
Eternity. Being a good person is just as likely to get you into heaven as
following the Law will.
As we have worked our way through the Letter to the
Galatians we have seen a common theme. A person must have faith in the one and only
Jesus Christ to find your way to heaven. Faith alone saves you. Abraham had
faith, before the Law was written and it saved him. Moses had faith, and it saved
him even though he made one simple mistake. You and I are saved by having faith
in Jesus. Nothing more and nothing less saves you, it is Faith Alone that
brings salvation. Once you are saved it is your job to carry that message to
the ends of the earth.
Now Paul has taken a pretty solid stand on how we are saved
by faith. He must have been getting questioned about why was the law even
needed? If salvation was through faith and even Abraham had it, why did the
generations that followed need the law? So Paul took the time to explain how
the law fits into the overall plan.
Galatians 3:15-16
“15 Brothers, I’m using a human
illustration. No one sets aside or makes additions to even a human
covenant that has been ratified. 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.”
The Law crowd was saying that once the Law was issued
through Moses the path to salvation had been completely changed. Their response
to Paul’s previous claims about Abraham’s salvation by faith, was that all of
that faith stuff happened prior to the Law. Now that the Law was in place, it
brings salvation not faith. According to those cursed false teachers, the Law
brought salvation. That faith that Abraham had, while a good thing is not required.
Paul then starts talking about a contract, or more
specifically a person’s will. In Paul’s day a Roman covenant, contract, or will
could not be easily changed or voided. It was a legally binding agreement that
required some pretty extreme measures to override.
Today it seems people sue and settle their way out of
contracts. If someone feels they were short changed in the will of a family
member that died, they sue. We have seen it in the news a couple of times where
an old guy marries a young girl and then leaves her the vast majority of his
fortune. His children and other family members sue to try to get what they feel
is theirs.
Reality is, even today the courts tend to side with the will
unless it can be proven that someone did something seriously wrong. It tends to
require something pretty severe to break the will or contract. If the young
lady tricked her husband with dementia to change his will and cut out his
children, that might be looked at as grounds to break the contract. Most other
things would not give them grounds to change it.
Besides some outlandish manipulation, a will is pretty solid
and hard to dispute. In Roman times, it is believed that it was next to impossible
without going up the political ladder to get help. The will stood as written.
Changes were not made.
Paul is telling the Galatians that the promises spoken to
Abraham and his seed are absolute and cannot be changed. These promises cannot
be replaced by a set of rules. They must be fulfilled. If a human contract
takes a lot to break, a covenant from God is impossible to break. God made the
promises and they WILL be fulfilled.
The promises given by God to Abraham were not fulfilled
before the Law was given through Moses, so they are still valid. The reality is
that they finally found fulfillment in our Lord Jesus Christ and are
everlasting.
Genesis 15:6
“Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as
righteousness.”
Abraham believed and was saved. That very same blessing that
justified him through his faith is a permanent covenant which could never be
changed by the addition of the Law.
Genesis 12:7
“Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will
give this land to your offspring.” So he built an altar there to
the Lord who had appeared to him.’
Promises such as a great nation, land, divine blessing, and
sovereign protection were given by God and will be fulfilled. God asked for
only one thing. He wanted His children to have faith.
Now if you remember back a couple of verses we may not be
direct descendants of Abraham, but we still get to take part of God’s promises.
Galatians 3:6-9
“6 Just as Abraham believed
God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, 7 then
understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons. 8 Now
the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and
told the good news ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations
will be blessed through you. 9 So those who have
faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.”
If we have faith, we are part of Abraham’s family and all of
these promises from God apply to us.
Paul is also pointing out that the promises were given to
Abraham and to his seed. Singular not plural, which ties back to the Old
Testament scriptures. It is a reminder that those that believe have always
recognized that the blessings would ultimately come from a single person, the
Messiah. No Old Testament believing Jew would argue that point. They were
looking for the Messiah, they expected Him to come as a conquering King. One
who would free them from the Romans, One that would establish a permanent
kingdom for the Jews. They missed the fact that Jesus is that Messiah. A direct
descendant of Abraham, and Lord of All.
God’s promises will be fulfilled.
Galatians 3:17
“17 And I say this: The law, which
came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously
ratified by God and cancel the promise.”
Doing the math, we find that the 430 years ties to when God
gave the final confirmation of the covenant to Jacob.
Genesis 46:1-4
“46 Israel set out with all that he had and came
to Beer-sheba, and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father
Isaac. 2 That night God spoke to Israel in a
vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” He said. And Jacob replied, “Here I am.” 3 God
said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,
for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I
will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back. Joseph
will put his hands on your eyes.””
Paul’s point is that what could possibly alter a
430-year-old covenant, especially one that was confirmed to each of the
fore-fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God blessed these men and not because they followed some Law,
it was solely on their faith.
Was the law needed? Yes. It showed us what is required. It
showed us how high the bar is and how hard it would be to keep every aspect of
it. Today as we study it we are reminded that we cannot keep all of it, we will
fall short, we will drop the ball. That is why we need a Savior.
Galatians 3:18
“18 For if the inheritance is from
the law, it is no longer from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham
through the promise.”
It is impossible for us to be saved by a mixture of the Law
and the Promise. It is not through grace and works that one is justified.
Obedience to the Law does absolutely nothing. Our inheritance, our
justification, our salvation is tied to the Promise. The same Promise granted
to Abraham, the father of our faith. Believe and be saved.
God’s way of salvation has always been by a gift of grace
based on faith!
It is the gift that
was given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A gift that was given to Moses, David,
and Solomon. A gift that was given to the Matthew, Peter, and Paul and it is a gift
given to you. All you have to do is believe. Have faith in Jesus Christ and the
gift of grace is yours.
Same Promise, Same Gift!
The problem today is we do not believe it. Our tendency is
to trust in what we can see, touch, and accomplish on our own. We trust in our
ability to earn our position on a team as a kid. We trust in our ability to
earn our living as adults. Our trust in ourselves, our abilities, and our
accomplishments is ingrained into who we are.
Trusting something we cannot see or touch, that is a stretch
for many people. How about trusting a promise from God that was given thousands of years
ago to Abraham? Most of the people out in the world cannot even imagine the
idea of something like that. Many can’t bring themselves to trust in the words
of Jesus, and that was only 2,000 years ago. After all aren’t promises made to
be broken?
How do we move past this distrust? How can we trust that God
is going to fulfill His promises?
Hebrews 6:17-20
“17 Because God wanted to show His
unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He
guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that through two
unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled
for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before
us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for our
lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus
has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a
high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
God guaranteed His purpose with a promise. A promise that is
guaranteed by His character. A promise that is absolute, because it was made by
a Holy uncompromising God. He cannot break His promise. To break His promise
would be to lie. Which is something even the best of us have done, but Not God!
He cannot be around sin, which is the whole reason we need a
Savior to enter Glory. So if God cannot be around sin, He cannot commit a sin
Himself.
2 Chronicles 7:17-18
“17 As for you, if you walk before Me
as your father David walked, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you
keep My statutes and ordinances, 18 I will
establish your royal throne, as I promised your father David: You will never
fail to have a man ruling in Israel.”
God’s promises to David and Solomon had a condition. They
had to do their part.
God has promised you a lot of amazing things, but you need
to do your part.
You need to have faith.
You need to follow Jesus.
God’s promises are guarantees that you can count on.
God has promised to take care of all of your needs.
God has promised that His grace is sufficient to cover all
your sins.
God has promised that there will always be a way for you to
escape temptation.
God has promised that you will have victory over death.
God has promised that all things will work together for the
good of those how love Him.
God has promised that through faith in Jesus you are saved.
God has promised you eternal life, through faith.
God’s promises are unbreakable! You need to have faith and
trust that God will fulfill His promises!
Have faith in God. Have faith He will take care of you. Have
faith that He will help you to be His witnesses. Have faith and follow Jesus.
God Bless,
Robert
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