Abraham is brought forth as God's EXAMPLE of FAITH, which
was ACCOUNTED to him as RIGHTEOUSNESS before God (Galatians 3:6;Romans 4:3 cf.Genesis 15:6):
This was a FAITH which COUNTED on GOD'S WORK and NOT on
MAN'S WORKS (Romans 4:4-5)
This was the SAME kind of FAITH which had been EXERCISED
by the Galatians, i.e. "the HEARING of FAITH" APART FROM "the WORKS of the LAW" (Galatians 3:2,5)
Therefore, THEY who "are OF FAITH ... are the CHILDREN
OF ABRAHAM" (Galatians 3:7):
This was a FAITH which RESTED in the GRACIOUS FULFILLMENT
of an UNCONDITIONAL DIVINE PROMISE (Romans 4:16)
Abraham knew that he and his wife were both PHYSICALLY
DEAD and WITHOUT STRENGTH to PRODUCE a PHYSICAL SEED - so he TRUSTED GOD to PERFORM His PROMISE of QUICKENING their
BODIES to PRODUCE a PHYSICAL SEED - and so for BELIEVING GOD he was COUNTED RIGHTEOUS in God's sight (Romans 4:19-22):
We are born SPIRITUALLY "DEAD in TRESPASSES and SINS"
(Ephesians 2:1) and, thus, are SPIRITUALLY "WITHOUT STRENGTH" (Romans 5:6)
to be "DELIVERED FROM the Law ... WHEREIN WE WERE HELD" (Romans 7:6)
Therefore, we need to BELIEVE that it was GOD Who "RAISED
UP JESUS OUR LORD FROM THE DEAD" and that it was "JESUS OUR LORD ... WHO WAS DELIVERED FOR OUR OFFENSES,
AND WAS RAISED AGAIN FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION" (Romans 4:24-25)
It is ONLY that FAITH ALONE which will allow us to "HAVE
PEACE WITH GOD" (Romans 5:1), who were "in TIME PAST... BY NATURE the CHILDREN OF WRATH, even
as others" (Ephesians 2:2-3)
The SCRIPTURE in "FORESEEING" that the GENTILES
would be JUSTIFIED BY FAITH - it "PREACHED BEFORE ... UNTO ABRAHAM" that "IN THEE shall ALL NATIONS
be BLESSED" (Galatians 3:8 cf.Genesis 12:3):
The "BLESSEDNESS" of an IMPUTED "RIGHTEOUSNESS
WITHOUT WORKS" (Romans 4:6) included "the UNCIRCUMCISION", i.e. the GENTILES" (Ephesians 2:11),
because ABRAHAM possessed that RIGHTEOUSNESS "BEING YET UNCIRCUMCISED" (Romans 4:9-12)
ABRAHAM RECEIVED "the SIGN of CIRCUMCISION"
(Romans 4:11), i.e "the SIGN of the COVENANT" between God and him (Genesis 17:11),
AFTER having been COUNTED RIGHTEOUS for BELIEVING the UNCONDITIONAL DIVINE PROMISE (Romans 4:1-3 cf.Genesis 15:4-6)
Thus, "THEY which be OF FAITH are BLESSED WITH FAITHFUL
ABRAHAM" (Galatians 3:9):
ABRAHAM very fittingly as God's GREAT EXAMPLE of FAITH
is, therefore, called "the FATHER OF ALL them THAT BELIEVE"(Romans 4:11)
It is EVIDENT that God did NOT intend the LAW to be the
MEANS OF JUSTIFICATION - FOR it is written that "the JUST shall LIVE BY FAITH" (Galatians 3:11 cf.Habakkuk 2:4):
The LAW "is NOT MADE FOR a RIGHTEOUS man, BUT FOR
the UNGODLY and ... SINNERS" (I Timothy 1:9)
Thus, the LAW was "the MINISTRATION of CONDEMNATION"
(II Corinthians 3:9) and, thereby, SERVED as a "WITNESS AGAINST" those who were
placed under its authority (Deuteronomy 31:26)
It is CHRIST Who "hath REDEEMED US FROM the CURSE
OF the LAW, being MADE a CURSE FOR US" (Galatians 3:13 cf.Deuteronomy 21:23):
CHRIST, "HIS OWN SELF BARE OUR SINS IN HIS OWN BODY
ON THE TREE" (I Peter 2:24)
The JUST ONE SUFFERED FOR the SINS OF the UNJUST ONES
"THAT HE MIGHT BRING" THEM "TO GOD" (I Peter 3:18)
The ABRAHAMIC BLESSING of an IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS is
BY FAITH - TO BOTH JEW AND GENTILE "THROUGH JESUS CHRIST" - UNTO the RECEIVING of "the PROMISE of
the SPIRIT" (Galatians 3:14 cf.Romans 4:4-5,16):
THEY WHO have "TRUSTED the WORD of TRUTH ... the
GOSPEL of ... SALVATION" have been "SEALED with that HOLY SPIRIT of PROMISE" (Ephesians 1:13 cf.I Corinthians 15:1-4) - UNTO "the REDEMPTION of the PURCHASED POSSESSION" (Ephesians 1:14),
i.e. "UNTO "the REDEMPTION of the BODY" (Romans 8:22-23)
Paul declares that a COVENANT (even one of MAN'S MAKING)
is CONSIDERED BINDING, i.e. it CANNOT BE DISANNULLED OR ALTERED (Galatians 3:15):
HOW MUCH MORE so is this TRUE CONCERNING GOD'S PROMISES
made to Abraham and his seed (Galatians 3:16)
Thus, the COVENANT of the LAW - CANNOT DISANNUL the DIVINE
PROMISE MADE EARLIER to Abraham (Galatians 3:17 cf.Exodus 12:40):
The COVENANT of the LAW was MADE 430 years AFTER the DIVINE
PROMISE concerning the INHERITANCE of the SEED (Galatians 3:17 cf.Genesis 12:7)
The COVENANT of the LAW was MADE 400 years AFTER the DIVINE
CERTIFICATION of the SEED (Acts 7:6 cf.Genesis 15:13),
i.e. from the time of Isaac's weaning WHEN the BONDWOMAN AND her SON were CAST OUT (Galatians 4:23,30-31 cf.Genesis 21:8-12)
The COVENANT of the LAW, which was CONDITIONAL (Exodus 19:5-6)
- CANNOT NEGATE the UNCONDITIONAL DIVINE PROMISE MADE EARLIER to Abraham (Galatians 3:18 cf.Genesis 12:7)
Paul's emphasis upon the DIVINE PROMISE having been MADE
TO SEED (SINGULAR) and NOT TO SEEDS (PLURAL) - warrants special consideration here (Galatians 3:16):
In the Hebrew OT and in the Greek NT - the term SEED is
used in BOTH the SINGULAR sense and in the PLURAL sense
The "COVENANTS of PROMISE" made to ISRAEL (Ephesians 2:12),
i.e. the ones made to ISRAEL'S FATHERS (Romans 9:4-5) - ALL CONCERNED the MULTIPLIED SEED (PLURAL):
DIVINE PROMISE of MULTIPLIED SEED made to ABRAHAM (Genesis 22:17-18)
DIVINE PROMISE of MULTIPLIED SEED made to ISAAC (Genesis 26:3-4)
IF God gave the INHERITANCE BY PROMISE (Galatians 3:18)
THEN the QUESTION naturally arises - "WHEREFORE then SERVETH the LAW?" (Galatians 3:19):
Paul ANSWERS this QUESTION by stating that "it was
ADDED BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSIONS" (Galatians 3:19)
Israel "TEMPTED" (i.e. TRIED or PROVED) the
LORD "TEN TIMES" in the wilderness BY HAVING "NOT HEARKENED"TO
HIS "VOICE" - AFTER HAVING WITNESSED the LORD'S GLORY VIA the MIRACULOUS SIGNS He performed upon Egypt
on their behalf (Numbers 14:21-24):
Israel FAILED TO RECOGNIZE that GOD IS HOLY and that THEY
ARE NOT - BY PROMISING, "ALL that the Lord hath spoken WILL WE DO" (Exodus 19:7-8) - DESPITE their FREQUENT "MURMURING" PRIOR TO the MAKING
of their PROMISE (Exodus 15:23-24;Exodus 16:2-3;Exodus 17:1-3)
The RESULT was that God HELD them TO THEIR PROMISE and
BOUND them TO the COVENANT OF the LAW (Exodus 19:5-6;Exodus 24:7-8)
The COVENANT OF the LAW (Deuteronomy 31:26) was ADDED "TILL the SEED should COME TO WHOM it has been PROMISED"
(Galatians 3:19):
IF a MEDIATOR is "NOT OF ONE" and YET "GOD
IS ONE" (Galatians 3:20) THEN the QUESTION naturally arises - "IS the LAW then AGAINST
the PROMISES of God?" (Galatians 3:21):
God caused a "DEEP SLEEP" to come UPON ABRAHAM
WHEN GIVING him the PROMISE OF REDEMPTION concerning HIS SEED (Genesis 15:12-14) - to serve as a VISUAL REMINDER that HE ALONE is THE REDEEMER (Psalms 19:14)
"IN THE SAME DAY" - God CONFIRMED AGAIN the
PROMISE TO ABRAHAM concerning the LAND INHERITANCE FOR HIS SEED (Genesis 15:18-21 cf.Genesis 12:7)
The LAW COVENANT CANNOT "FRUSTRATE the GRACE of God"
(Galatians 2:21) - the "PROMISE ... SURE to all the seed" was made "BY
GRACE" (Romans 4:16-17 cf.Genesis 17:5):
The LAW could NEVER "HAVE GIVEN LIFE" or "RIGHTEOUSNESS"
(Galatians 3:21)
The LAW was PLACED "IN the ARK (COFFIN)" (Deuteronomy 31:26 cp.Genesis 50:26) - the SAME HEBREW WORD ("AROWN") is RENDERED both as "ARK"
and "COFFIN" and, thus, the LAW was "a MINISTRATION OF DEATH" (II Corinthians 3:7)
Thus, "the SCRIPTURE hath CONCLUDED ALL UNDER SIN"
(Galatians 3:22) - "for there is NO DIFFERENCE: for ALL have SINNED" (Romans 3:22-23):
Thus, it is "that the PROMISE is BY THE FAITH OF
JESUS CHRIST might be GIVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE" (Galatians 3:22), i.e. it is "THROUGH THE FAITH OF CHRIST" that the BELIEVER
is GIVEN "THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD" (Philippians 3:8-9 cf.Romans 3:24-26)
"THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION" (II Corinthians 5:19)
declares that "He (God) HATH MADE Him (CHRIST) to be SIN FOR US ... THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE the RIGHTEOUSNESS
of God IN Him (CHRIST)" (II Corinthians 5:21)
Those who have "PUT ON CHRIST" - "have
been BAPTIZED (PLACED) INTO CHRIST" (Galatians 3:27):
They are those who "BY ONE SPIRIT are ... BAPTIZED
(PLACED) INTO ONE BODY" (I Corinthians 12:13) - in which "there is NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, there is NEITHER
BOND NOR FREE, there is NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE" (Galatians 3:28):