Monthly Archive for February, 2000

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Galatians 3:20

Published on February 19, 2000 in Galatians. 0 Comments
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“Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one”
 
Paul now closely connects verse 20 to the end of verse 19.
 
Now a mediator does not mediate for one only,
A “mediator” is one who stands in the middle to intervene between two parties. A “mediator” stands between them and tries to work out a solution. The mediator does not simply represent one party but both parties. A mediator involves a contract between two parties as in the Mosaic law. The law needs a mediator because it involves two parties.
but God is one
In the Abrahamic covenant, only one party signed the contract. God unilaterally signed it in grace. Grace does not operate by a mediator between two parties. Grace acts alone because it is unconditional and unilateral. There are no strings attached to God’s provision of grace.
Principle:
God gives His grace unilaterally and unconditionally without strings attached.
Application:
God’s grace to us is unconditional. He puts no strings on His offer of salvation or sanctification. He performs all the requirements to fulfill His side of the bargain. Salvation is all from God.
“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19 ).
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Galatians 3:19

Published on February 18, 2000 in Galatians. 1 Comment
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“What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator”
 
What purpose then does the law serve?
 
Paul now turns to the purpose of the law (3:19-25).
It was added because of transgressions,
God gave the law to identify when man crosses the line of God’s standards. The law shows God’s character. A “transgression” is stepping across a line, disobeying a clear command. The purpose of the law is to show us that we more than simply missed the mark of God’s holiness but that we stepped across a very clear line in doing so. We crossed a line into prohibited territory.
Sin was always sin but a law made it a transgression. Murder was always sin but it did not become a transgression until God put it into the Ten Commandments. It would be impossible to play a football game without lines marking certain boundaries.
God never designed the law to annul His promise. God annexed the law to serve grace. It never added anything to grace. It serves grace by showing us that we cannot earn or deserve any merit before God for we have already crossed God’s standards.
“Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more…” (Romans 5:20).
till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made;
The law temporarily served the purpose of showing our transgressions until the Messiah came [the Seed]. Our failure to keep the law shows our need for a Savior.
and it was appointed through angels
The word “appointed” denotes the ideas of to arrange, set in order, prescribe. The law has two mediators: angels and Moses. First, the angels gave Moses the law; then Moses gave Israel the law. Both brought precise descriptions of sin to Israel.
by the hand of a mediator
The mediator is “Moses.” God gave the Abrahamic covenant without a mediator because that covenant was a unilateral contract. God was the only person establishing the provisions of grace. The Mosaic law required mediators because it is bilateral (Deuteronomy 5:33)–mankind had a part and God had a part. Mankind’s part was to obey and God’s part was to bless. The kink in the armor was mankind couldn’t keep it’s part of the bargain.
Principle:
The purpose of the law is to show us our desperate need for the Savior.
Application:
The purpose of the law is to show us our desperate need for a Savior, our need for grace. The law cannot give us what grace can give us. The law cannot save our soul.
God gave the law to show sin in its true light. It shows violation of God’s laws and thus of God’s character. The law does not make people sinners but transgressors.
It is important to know why God gave the law so that we do not misuse or abuse it. If you know the purpose of iodine, you will not drink it! The law will curse us if we misuse it. If we use the law to get ourselves to heaven, it will land us in hell. If we depend on ourselves for salvation, God will prosecute us to the full extent of the law. The law puts the skull and crossbones on the bottle of poison.
The law is like a mirror that reveals our dirty face so that we can wash it in the blood of Christ. We do not wash our face with the mirror. That is not the purpose of a mirror. The purpose of the law is to show us that we are bankrupt morally; therefore, we need a Savior.
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Galatians 3:18

Published on February 17, 2000 in Galatians. 0 Comments
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“For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise”
 
For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise;
 
The promise would no longer be unilateral but bilateral if it depended on us in some way. If God’s blessing depends on us as well as Him, it negates God’s grace. This would wipe out the very nature of a promise. The two ideas of law and grace are mutually exclusive. There is no intermediate position between them.
 
but God gave it to Abraham by promise
The word “gave” is a term of grace. The root for “gave” is the same as the word for “grace” meaning to give graciously and generously, with the implication of good will on the part of the giver–to grant, to bestow. The Greek tense shows that God’s grace stands permanent (perfect).
Grace is free. God gives with no strings attached. His character is at stake. We cannot measure up to God’s perfection.
Principle:
Grace and law exclude each other.
Application:
Man cannot improve on God’s promise. We do not earn or deserve the right to receive God’s grace. We cannot combine grace and law because there is no middle ground. If law changes grace at all, it renders it void.
“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Galatians 2:21).
Salvation and sanctification must rest on grace or law but not both. They are two opposing principles. God glorifies Himself by what He does. His glory does not depend on us. God glorifies Himself by giving something.
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Galatians 3:17

Published on February 16, 2000 in Galatians. 0 Comments
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“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”
 
And this I say,
 
Paul now explains verse fifteen [verse 16 was a parenthesis].
that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later,
Moses received the law 430 years after the ratification of the Abrahamic covenant, when Israel (Jacob) went to Egypt (Genesis 46:1-4); (Exodus 12:40). The law came 645 years after the initial promise to Abraham.
cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ,
The words “confirmed before” means ratified before. God ratified His promise to Abraham on a number of occasions (to Abraham, Genesis 15; by vision, Genesis 15; by birth of Isaac, Genesis 21; by oath, Genesis 22). God confirmed this 430 years before He gave the law. He did this permanently (perfect tense).
that it should make the promise of no effect
God ratified the Abrahamic covenant before he gave the law to Moses, so the law could not annul the Abrahamic covenant. The coming of the law did not invalidate God’s promise of grace to Abraham because God gave him a unilateral promise [unconditional contract or covenant].
Principle:
Law cannot abrogate grace.
Application:
God ratified grace permanently before He gave the law. The law was not an addition to grace. Once God signed the contract of grace, He would not go back on it.
Many people today throw out grace for law despite God’s promise to bless us no matter what. There are no conditions to His blessing, no strings attached.
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Galatians 3:16

Published on February 15, 2000 in Galatians. 0 Comments
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“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”
 
Paul gives another reason why the Mosaic law cannot abrogate the Abrahamic covenant. After giving the law, God fulfilled the promises of the Abrahamic covenant in the person and work of Christ. This shows the ongoing validity and permanence of grace in the Abrahamic covenant. This strikes at the core of legalism.
 
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made.
God made the “promises” of the Abrahamic covenant to Abraham and his lineage (Genesis 12:3,7; 13:16; 15:5; 17:7). When God makes a covenant, it amounts to a promise. No one can abrogate the Abrahamic covenant, even if Abraham or any of his seed fails, because it is an unconditional covenant. An unconditional covenant depends entirely on God’s promise in grace.
He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one,
Fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant does not depend on the nation of Israel but on the person of Christ.
“And to your Seed,” who is Christ
The blessing of the Abrahamic covenant comes through the Messiah. God blesses through one seed only, Jesus Christ. Paul alludes to Genesis 12:7 and 22:16-18. The law did not abrogate the Abrahamic covenant because Jesus Christ fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant after the Mosaic law.
The blessing of Abraham did not come to the Jews of the first century because they were Abraham’s seed. It came because Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah. This demolishes the argument that God justifies people by anything other than by grace. The law cannot save sinners for grace is as old as the Abrahamic covenant. God never intended the Mosaic law to save sinners. It never abrogated the Abrahamic covenant.
Salvation is always a gift from God (3:18). God’s gift of grace is His par excellence Seed, Jesus Christ, the Savior. This was God’s design from eternity. The Mosaic law did not change that plan.
Principle:
Salvation is always a gift originating in God’s grace.
Application:
God’s salvation is always through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Legalism is lethal because it undermines that finished work, making it unfinished. Legalism implies we must finish the work by pleasing God through what we do. It is an attempt to gain God’s favor by works, undermining the fact Jesus already won God’s favor.
God’s promise of salvation stands eternally ours if we claim it by faith. It is not an issue of measuring up to God for that is impossible. That is why we need the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, God’s gift of grace.
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Galatians 3:15

Published on February 14, 2000 in Galatians. 1 Comment
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“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”
 
Paul now takes up an argument from the way humans make contracts with one another. This is an argument from human illustration.
 
Brethren,
Paul reaches out to the Galatians by the term “brethren.” Although Paul rebuked the Galatians, he still has them in his heart.
I speak in the manner of men:
Using a human argument, Paul assumes for the moment that when God gave the law to Moses, it ended His covenant with Abraham. This would mean the people could be saved by the law.Paul knew this was a false assumption because even under the Mosaic law, God saved people by faith, just as He does today. The Mosaic law could not save; it could only curse. For God to break His covenant with Abraham would be inconsistent with His character. He did not destroy salvation by faith when He gave Moses the law.
It was the Mosaic law that was temporary, not the Abrahamic covenant. The Mosaic law came after the Abrahamic covenant and ended immediately after the resurrection of Christ.
Though it is only a man’s covenant,
A “covenant” is a voluntary disposition of property. This is another way of saying “promise” although a covenant is a more solemn agreement. It is a verbal agreement.
yet if it is confirmed,
The word “confirmed” means to make valid, ratify, impart authority or influence. If God unilaterally ratifies His contract, then certain obligations follow for Him. He cannot set aside a validated covenant. His character demands He not change it. He will not change or revoke salvation by grace.
no one annuls
There are two ways you can change a contract: 1) annul it and 2) add to it. The word “annuls” means to put to no value, the idea is to render it void. If we unilaterally cancel a contract as human beings, we are not true to our word. Even human contracts, once we confirm them, cannot change until they run out.
or adds to it
“Adds to” means to ordain besides, to add something to what has been ordained. It is not right to add a codicil to God’s covenant. Once God ratifies an unconditional covenant, we cannot change it and even He cannot change it. A contract is a contract.
If we agree with a contractor to build a house for so many dollars, we cannot demand that the contractor add another room without changing the price. Neither can the contractor charge you more than what’s set out in the contract. The Contractor would never do this.
Although the Mosaic law is newer than the Abrahamic covenant, that does not make the Mosaic law better. The newer Mosaic law does not abrogate the older Abrahamic contract that God made for salvation. God does not breach faith with His promises.
God’s contract with Abraham was unconditional. It did not depend on Abraham’s belief; it depended entirely on God’s promise in grace. God made a no-strings attached contract. If Abraham believed, God would justify him. It was all about grace.
Principle:
God will never change justification by faith because His character never changes.
Application:
People market new ideas today as if their ideas are the latest and greatest. Newer is not necessarily better. God is always consistent with His promises made many years ago. He will never go back on His Word.
Man may change a contract but God will always be true to His promises. God made a promise that we will have eternal life by grace through faith. He will never go back on that. To claim that God goes back on His Word would charge Him with a breach of faith. God’s commitment to us is still in force because He is always true to Himself.
If the business world does not alter a contract without permission, then a righteous God surely would not do it. He is immutable. God will never add anything to faith for salvation. He will never welch on His Word.
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Galatians 3:14

Published on February 13, 2000 in Galatians. 0 Comments
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“…that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”
 
This verse presents two purposes for Christ’s work on the cross as a curse for us (3:13): 1) the blessing of Abraham comes on the Gentiles by faith, and 2)we receive the Holy Spirit through faith.
 
that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus,
God extended His blessing of faith that He gave to Abraham to the Gentiles as well. People who operate on faith like Abraham receive the blessing of Abraham. That blessing is justification by faith. The principle of justification by faith is the center of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 15:6). The Gentiles do not receive eternal salvation by Jewish circumcision. They receive it the same way the first Jew [Abraham] received it–by faith.
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith
“Promise” comes from two words: upon and to announce. God makes announcements of His grace based on His character. We cannot accumulate merit before God because we cannot gain enough quality or quantity to match the standard of God’s righteousness. Only God’s grace can give us that. This is true with receiving the Holy Spirit as well. The moment a person believes in Christ he receives the Holy Spirit. This is simultaneous with salvation, not consequent to salvation.
Principle:
God always operates according to the standard of Himself.
Application:
Nothing less than perfection is the standard for one’s acceptance with God. No one can attain to that perfection. Therefore, we must throw ourselves on the forgiveness of the grace of the cross.
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Galatians 3:13

Published on February 12, 2000 in Galatians. 4 Comments
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“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)…”
 
Paul now turns to our hope. Our hope is in the death of Christ to take our curse for us. Our hope is not in keeping the law.
 
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law,
The word “redeem” means to buy up. The Greek word here means to buy a slave out of the marketplace. Roman citizens bought slaves out of the slave market by paying a ransom. It cost them something. The price they paid liberated the slave. Jesus’ death liberated us from the curse that the law put on us by paying a sufficient price for our sin–His death on the cross.
The word “redeemed” is an intense word in the Greek. It means to purchase out of the slave market never to be put up for sale again. “Redeem” comes from two words: to buy and out. Jesus bought us out of the slave market permanently.
having become a curse
Christ became something He was not before–a curse. God placed our curse on Him. He took our hell that we might have His heaven. Jesus stood as a curse between us and the law. If Jesus could not escape the curse of God, how can we expect to escape God’s curse by our works?
When Jesus cried on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” God was making Him a curse.
for us
Jesus stood as a curse in our place. The word “for” is a substitutionary word. Jesus became the substitute for taking us, the penalty for our sin.
(for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’),
This is a quotation from Deuteronomy 21:23. In the Old Testament, they had the custom of taking the dead body of a criminal stoned to death and hanging it on a tree. This is a picture of a cursed individual. Jesus’ death on the cross represents a public death of a cursed person. What a picture of the spotless Son of God!
“…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Christ did not remain a curse in God’s eyes. He was a curse only while He died on the cross.
Principle:
Jesus took our hell that we might have His heaven.
Application:
Our way out from the curse of the law is through accepting God’s curse on Jesus Christ through the cross. God demands righteousness from us that is equivalent to His own righteousness. None of us can live up to that standard. Jesus paid for every sin that we ever committed on the cross and gave us His righteousness. That is why we love Him.
“…being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 3:24).
“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
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Galatians 3:12

Published on February 11, 2000 in Galatians. 0 Comments
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“Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them’”
 
Yet the law is not of faith,
 
Law does not find its origin in faith but in works because the very nature of law is the opposite of faith. Law and faith are mutually exclusive ways to salvation. They are contradictory systems.
 
but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5 to prove that only perfect obedience of the law is acceptable to God. The law demands that we live up to its directions perfectly. God’s standards are perfect. Any failure collects a curse.
If we choose to live under the law, then we must live by their perfect norms. That is why we cannot combine the two systems. If we cannot comply with the law, then we must go to grace and completely rely on the cross of Christ. God does not care whether I believe the law is right when it comes to salvation. He wants to know whether I comply with it.
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, ‘The man who does those things shall live by them‘” (Romans 10:3-5).
Since no one can keep the law perfectly, God puts all those who try under the curse, based on their own premise. If they fail on any point, they fall under condemnation.
Principle:
Law and faith are diametrically opposed ways of salvation.
Application:
The law cannot save a sinner or set up the standard for the Christian life. The law is a works system for salvation. We cannot work at the law enough because it would not be of sufficient quality or quantity to satisfy the absolute standard of God. God cannot tolerate sin in the slightest degree. It is a religious fairy tale to think that a person can measure up to God’s standards. God does not hold out this expectation for us.
If we commit one sin, that precludes us from fellowship with God. He must be consistent with His own standards. If we follow the law but do not keep it, how can it save or sanctify us?
We may get off to a good start in keeping the law but somewhere along the line, we incur an infraction. The person with a score of 40% is no worse off in God’s eyes than a person who gets 99.9% [which is impossible]. If you miss the plane by one minute or one hour, it makes no difference, you missed the plane. All of us come short of the absolute standard of God (Romans 3:10,23).
If we choose the law as a system of salvation, then we will stand before an absolutely perfect God on the basis of the law. The law will curse us before an absolute Being. After trying to keep the law all your life, what do you have in the end? A curse.
Note the logic of verses 10 through 12.
Major premise–The just shall live by faith.
Minor premise–The law is not of faith but works
Conclusion–No justification by law.
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Galatians 3:11

Published on February 10, 2000 in Galatians. 0 Comments
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“But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith’”
 
Paul argues from another Scripture in this verse (Habakkuk 2:4). Hypothetically, if a man in his own estimation should “continue in all things to do them” (3:10), he would not escape God’s curse on that account.
 
But that no one is justified by the law
God puts “no one” right in His eyes by the law. The law cannot make the guilty guiltless because the individual has committed sin already. The law cannot undo what is done.
God does not show any leniency toward those who try to justify themselves by keeping the law – “no one.” There are no exceptions. The exclusive way people come to God is by faith. The law can reveal sin but it cannot relieve it. The law exposes sin but it does not save us from its penalty.
in the sight of God is evident,
The word “evident” conveys the idea of clear or manifest. It is plain to everyone who reads the Bible that no one can go to heaven by works. We must look at salvation how God looks at it. We must view it from His viewpoint.
Paul does not care about the critical opinion of man but the estimation of God on this matter. Only God’s judgment counts here. Paul states God’s judgment in a quotation from Habakkuk 2:4 – the just live eternally by faith. What people think of themselves or others in such matters is of no moment; it is the judgment of God that counts.
The place of justification is in the sight of God. The judgment of our neighbors is incidental when it comes to salvation. God is the only one who can let us into His presence.
for “the just shall live by faith”
This phrase is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4. The previous quote from Deuteronomy proved God does not justify people by the law (3:10); the quote of this verse shows how God does justify – by faith. Faith is the single condition for justification. The New Testament also quotes Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17 and Hebrews 10:38.
The “just” here are those who stand legally right in God’s eyes. “Shall live” is eternal life. “By” means out of — we receive eternal life out of the source of faith.
Principle:
Law and faith as means of salvation are mutually exclusive.
Application:
Keeping the law is an attempt at gaining God’s approval by good works. Exercising faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross is a response to God’s provision in grace. There is no middle ground. We must choose one method of salvation or the other.
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