Galatians 3:1-29
Galatians 3:1 and 2:
3:1Oh unmindful Galatians,
who fascinated you, to whom according to (your) eyes
it was written-beforehand: Jesus Christ having been crucified2?
.2This only I intend to learn from you: did you receive
the spirit from works of law or from (the) thing-heard of
belief?
Paul specifically addresses the Galatian
holy-people (sanctified-people, Christians, saints, children of God)
expressing his deep emotion as he rhetorically asks: Oh Galatians not
applying your minds and therefore are unlearned or unintelligent, who
fascinated you (who prated, idly spoke long using devilish magic-arts,
charming you into evil with their evil eye), you to whom it was
previously written (plainly portrayed) and seen with your eyes that
Jesus Christ is the one who was crucified (emphasizing Jesus Christ’s
obedience and service to God on a horizontal level to benefit people)
and this truth, which incorporates all that he accomplished by this, has
not changed with the passing of time?
This alone I intend to learn (the answer to the following two-part
question I will to become informed of intellectually) from you
Galatians:
- did
you receive (did you take what was given to you, which is) the spirit
out-from works of law (originating from the law's deeds, the actions
stipulated by the law which God gave to Moses for Israel to adhere to,
the things wrought or produced by adherence with the law) –
- or,
did you receive the spirit out-from the thing-heard of belief
(originating from the belief's heard report; the hearing, that-which is
heard, what was spoken to be heard by you containing, consisting-of and
which-is the belief, faith, trust which God has given you to believe and
adhere to)?
God's belief regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, has
been spoken and heard by people. All holy-people received holy
spirit-life when we first believed the belief that God has given all of
mankind to believe since Jesus’ resurrection, 40 days later his
ascension into heaven to God’s right-hand side, and then 10 days later
the gift of holy spirit was first made
available on the day of Pentecost.
This thing-heard of belief (Romans 10:8-17) was not available during the
law because Jesus Christ, the redeemer, the savior, had not even been
born yet. The people who lived during those times could believe God's
belief which He spoke to them and was heard by them regarding all that
the Christ would accomplish at a future time to them (Luke 24:25-27).
[Reference: Acts 2:1-4, 29-39, 16:6, 18:23; Romans 10:8-17; I Corinthians
1:21-24; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 1:13.]
Verses 3-5:
.3Thus you are unmindful, having begun-in
spirit are you now being fully-completed (in) flesh? .4Did
you yieldingly suffer so-many-things – if indeed even yieldingly?
.5Therefore the (One) fully-supplying to you the
spirit and in-working abilities in you, (does He do this)
from works of law or from (the) thing-heard of belief?
Paul continues teaching while asking questions helping them to think
correctly: it is in this manner that you Galatian
holy-people are unmindful:
- is
it your thinking that since you have already begun (made a beginning,
the first part, initiated) within the sphere of action of spirit (holy
spirit-life), are you at the present time being caused or causing
yourselves to be fully-completed (come to your ultimate ending-issue)
within the sphere of action of flesh?
- Did
you yieldingly suffer so many things (did you experience, were you
affected by such an amount of things in a relinquishing manner,
without-purpose) – if indeed even yieldingly?
The Galatian holy-people had already been
saved having previously been taught the truth of the good-message and
they believed it and they received holy spirit
by means of the Lord Jesus Christ – but did they experience so many
things without any purpose if it truly was and is now emphatically
experienced in a relinquishing manner, without purpose? Is there
definitely no purpose to having begun-in spirit? This is stated in such
a manner as to encourage them to immediately retort, "Oh, we didn't
yieldingly suffer so many things; yes, there is definitely a purpose!"
Logically following on from this, let me ask: the One (God) Who is
presently and actively fully-supplying the spirit to you (the words
"fully-supplying" are used as though God is fully leading a chorus of
dancers and singers and so is joyful as He supplies everything involved
with holy spirit-life, He is further-supplying, super-adding,
furnishing-upon, fully-furnishing everything needed, the necessary costs
and provisions, regarding your holy spirit-life) and the One (God) Who
is presently and actively in-working abilities in you (doing work
within, producing effects by being in work, energizing abilities,
able-powers, capabilities) in, within and among you holy-people – does
God do this…
a)
out-from works of law (originating out from the law's deeds, the actions
stipulated by the law which God gave to Moses for Israel to adhere to,
the things wrought or produced by adherence with the law),
or
b) out-from the thing-heard of belief (originating out
from the belief's heard report; the hearing, that-which is heard, what
was spoken to be heard by you containing, consisting-of and which-is the
belief, faith, trust which God has given you to believe and adhere to)?
God has not reverted back to the law, has He? Definitely not! God is the
One fully-supplying to you the spirit and in-working abilities in you
out-from the same belief which He gave you to believe – you heard it and
you believed it and you were graciously given the free gift of holy
spirit and God continues to work within each one of you.
[Reference: Acts 11:15-18; Romans 10:17, and 13:4; I Corinthians 12:4-14;
II Corinthians 9:10; Philippians 2:13; I Thessalonians 4:8.]
Verses 6 and 7:
.6According as Abraham "believed God, and it
was calculated to him into righteousness," .7consequently
you must know that the (people) from belief these-people are
sons of Abraham;
According as Abraham believed God, he had faith in, trusted what God gave
him to believe, and Abraham's belief of what God said to him was
calculated (reckoned, counted, computed) to him into, for, resulting-in
righteousness (justness)…. Abraham was being and doing what is
just/right from God's point of view. Paul is referring to what has
previously been written in the Book of Genesis chapter 15:
Genesis 15:1-6:
After these things the word of the Lord came unto
Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram:
And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me,
seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this
Eliezer of Damascus?
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no
seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto
him, saying, This [Eliezer] shall
not be thine heir; but he that shall
come forth out of thine own bowels shall
be thine heir.
And he [God] brought him [Abraham]
forth abroad, and said, Look now toward
heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he
said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And he believed in the Lord; and he [God]
counted it to him [Abraham] for righteousness.
God told Abraham that his steward/servant would not be his heir, but
Abraham would have seed of his own, and God continues to tell Abraham
that his seed would inherit land. It is also interesting to note in
Genesis 15:17 that God confirmed this covenant which He made with
Abraham while Abraham was in a sleep state and therefore it was
unconditional from God's point of view - God would definitely bring it
to pass!
In Galatians, Paul wrote: according as Abraham "believed God, and it was
calculated to him into righteousness," in correspondence to that you
holy-people must personally know that the people out-from belief (every
person who believes God's belief which is what God says regarding
Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ) these-people are sons of
Abraham. Abraham believed what God told him and the people today who
also believe what God says are Abraham's
sons. All holy-people are part of the fulfillment of the covenant that
God made with Abraham. As Paul continues in this letter he explains
exactly how all holy-people are sons of Abraham.
[Reference: Romans 1:16, 17, 3:26, and chapter 4.]
Galatians 3:8 and 9:
.8but the writing, having seen-beforehand that
God makes the Gentiles righteous from belief,
good-messaged-beforehand to Abraham that "all the nations will be
in-blessed in you," .9so-that the (people)
from belief are blessed together with the believing Abraham;
The writing (written-thing, the words that God previously revealed and
were written-down)…
- which foresaw (perceived, knew in advance, even before the law was
given) that God justifies the Gentiles out-from belief (sets people
belonging to nations other than Israel/Judah forth as being righteous
from their belief of His belief, causes them to become righteous, sets
them forth by a judicial act making them righteous, justified out-from
belief),
…previously good-messaged to Abraham (gospelized,
evangelized in advance, before the fulfillment of this promise and
before the law was given, these words being addressed to Abraham) that
all the nations will be in-blessed (blessed-within, well-spoken-of by
God and what God says comes to pass and so the recipients will receive
the blessing within and among them, what is spoken by God will happen to
the recipients which will be good for them) in or within the sphere of
action of you.
Let us read some of what is written in the Book of Genesis:
Genesis 12:1-3:
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto
a land that I will shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will
bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou
shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse
them that curseth thee: and in thee
shall families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 22:18:
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed; because thou [Abraham] hast obeyed my voice.
At the time when God spoke with Abraham there was no such division as
“Israeli/Judean” and “Gentile/belonging to a nation other-than Israel” –
and so the word translated “nation” referred to all people, all nations
including the nation that later became known as Israel.
In the letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote by revelation that the
writing, having seen-beforehand that God makes the Gentiles righteous
from belief, good-messaged-beforehand to Abraham that "all the nations
will be in-blessed in you," and the result or consequence of what
God said, which was afterwards written-down, is that the people out-from
belief (those people who believe what God says in the good-message
regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, just like Abraham
believed God's belief to him) are blessed in conjunction with the
believing Abraham (faithful, trusting, Abraham, a believer relative-to
God).
Abraham is described adjectively as believing – Abraham was believing,
faithful, trusting, because he believed the words that God spoke to him
regarding the Christ (the Anointed-one, Messiah, the redeemer, the
savior, God's promised seed of Genesis 3:15) whom God promised would
descend from him. It is only by means of the Christ that anyone can
truly be made-righteous and be spiritually blessed by God. All the
people out-from belief are blessed together
with believing Abraham.
How gracious and loving God was to tell Abraham this even before any of
it had come to pass at that time, and then later-on God asked that it be
written down so that people could read it and remember what God had
foretold Abraham.
[Reference: Genesis 18:18; Luke 1:72-75; Acts 3:25 and 26; Romans 1:1-4,
chapter 4, and 9:17; Ephesians 1:3 and 4.]
Galatians 3:10:
.10for as-many-as are from works of law they
are under a curse, for it was written2 that, "Cursed-upon
(is) every-person who does not remain-in all the-things
having been written2 in the book of the law to do them";
Paul continues his teaching regarding the difference between the works of
law and the thing-heard of belief. He writes: for as much people as are
out-from works of law (endeavoring to obtain God's righteousness by
adhering to the law's deeds), these people are under a curse (legally
subject or in-submission to a curse).
A ‘curse’ refers to what is spoken against another that would be harmful
to the recipient if/when it would come to pass. It can be a judgment
pronounced by God down against a person, thing, or situation who/which
would violate what He says – or for men, an imprecation made against
another, prayer or supplication for something to come to pass against
some person, thing, or situation, invoking something against another
that would be harmful to the recipient if/when it would happen.
(Refer to Genesis 3:14-19, and 12:3; Numbers 22:12, 23:8, 24:9;
Deuteronomy 11:26-28, and 30:19; Matthew 25:41; Luke 6:28; Romans
12:14.)
As many as are from works of law they are under a curse. Why? It was
written and is still written that all, every person who does NOT stay or
continue within all the things which have been written and are still
written in the book of the law (the entire contents of the law of Moses)
to do/perform them is a cursed-upon person (one upon whom a curse
rests)! God said what He said about people who would not remain-in all
the-things having been written and continuing written in the book of the
law to do them. God had warned His people about this. Paul references
what is written in the Book of Deuteronomy and the Book of Jeremiah.
Deuteronomy 27:26:
Cursed be he that
confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.…
Jeremiah 11:1-4:
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
saying,
Hear ye the words of this
covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem;
And say thou unto them, Thus
saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed
be the man that obeyeth not the
words of this covenant,
Which I commanded your fathers in the day that
I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron
furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which
I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God….
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only man who fully heard/listened-to and
believed and obeyed the law, completing its entire works. He also took
our sins upon himself, the sin offering, and therefore he became cursed
on behalf of us; he was crucified, died, and was buried for 72 hours in
accordance with the law thus completing that part of the law too. But
then God raised him from among the dead-people giving him his spiritual
body and made him to sit at His right-hand side having completed
everything that was required for redemption, making salvation available
to mankind.
[Reference: Deuteronomy chapters 27-30; Jeremiah
7:22-28; Malachi 4:4; Matthew 5:17 and 18; Romans 10:4.]
Returning to the Book of Galatians, Paul
continues:
Galatians 3:11 and 12:
.11but that in law not-one-person is
made-righteous with God (it is) clear because "the
righteous-person from belief will live," .12but the law
is not from belief but "the (person) having done them
will live in them."
It is clear (evident, plain to see) that within the sphere of action, the
realm of law no-one is caused to become righteous (nobody is set-forth
by a judicial act making him/her righteous, justified) at rest beside,
at, with God – why not? – because it has already been revealed by God
and written-down that the righteous-person (the person who is in a
just-state, justified from God's point of view) out-from belief, what
God gives us to believe, God's belief, will live.
In the Book of Romans chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, Paul wrote: .16for
I am not ashamed-of the good-message, for it is (the) ability of
God into salvation to every-person believing, both to (the)
Judean firstly and to (the) Greek, .17for (the)
righteousness of God in it is revealed from belief into belief,
according as it was written2, "But the righteous-person from
belief will live." (Refer to also Hebrews 10:38.)
Paul references what is written in the Book of Habakkuk (2:4) showing his
readers that this information was not kept a secret but that it was
there to be read by people; it had previously been revealed by God.
In Galatians 3:11 Paul is focusing on the belief. The righteous person
lives now originating from belief, having received holy spirit-life, and
he will live in the future when Christ will give him a new spiritual
body. This is available by reason of the belief that God is able to give
us during our time-period because the Lord Jesus Christ has already
accomplished what God asked him to do regarding redemption and salvation
(refer to Acts chapter 2; and Romans 10:8-17).
Let us re-read Galatians 3:11 and 12:
Galatians 3:11 and 12:
.11but that in law not-one-person is
made-righteous with God (it is) clear because "the
righteous-person from belief will live," .12but the law
is not from belief but "the (person) having done them
will live in them."
In law not-one-person is made-righteous with God it is clear because "the
righteous-person from belief will live," but the law is not from
belief…. The law is not out-from belief (it does not originate from
faith)! Contrary to belief, it has already been revealed by God and
written-down that the person who has done (performed) all the
works, the precepts of the law, that person
will live in/within them. We have already learned that the only
human-being who did the whole law was and is the Lord Jesus Christ. The
scripture to which Paul refers is in the Book of Leviticus chapter 18
(also referenced in Romans 10:5):
Leviticus 18:1-5:
And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto
them, I am the Lord your God.
After the doings of the land
of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye
not do: and after the doings of the land
of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall
ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances,
to walk therein: I am the Lord your God.
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my
judgments: which if a man do, he shall
live in them: I am the Lord.
Paul is making it clear that righteousness from law is obtained only by
merit on the part of each individual.
God's people who lived during the old covenant times (which includes the
time when Jesus Christ physically-lived on earth carrying out God's plan
of redemption and salvation) were to live their lives believing and
obeying God's words to them. This allowed them to live their everyday
lives in fellowship with God. For those people who honestly endeavored
to believe and obey, even though they may have made mistakes from
time-to-time, they will in the future be resurrected from the dead and
judged according to their works and they will receive their new
spiritual bodies. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only human-being who
fully and completely believed and did all the things that God required
of man to do in accordance with that law of Moses.
[For further information regarding resurrection, you may read my studies
on I Thessalonians, II Thessalonians, and
chapter 15 of I Corinthians; plus Revelation 20:12-15.]
Galatians 3:13 and 14:
.13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law
having become a curse on our behalf – because it was written2,
"Cursed-upon (is) every-person, the (person) having
hung on a wooden-stake" – .14in order that the blessing
of Abraham may come-to-pass in Christ Jesus into the nations, in
order that we may receive the promise of the spirit by means of the
belief.
Christ has redeemed us (fully bought or purchased us, as a person buys in
a market-place and pays the correct price of the item, he purchased us
outright) out-from the curse of the law because Jesus Christ became a
curse on behalf of us, because it is written that all/every person who
has hung on a wooden-stake is a cursed-upon person (one upon whom a
curse rests). Jesus Christ was crucified on a wooden-stake (a dead tree
post) and he hung (was suspended) on this until he died and he was taken
down from it and buried. Jesus Christ gave himself concerning our sins
(Galatians 1:4) and hung on a wooden-stake in our place.
Paul references what is written in the Book of Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 21:22 and 23:
And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death,
and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
His body shall not remain all night upon the tree,
but thou shalt in any wise bury him that
day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of
God;) that thy land be not defiled, which
the Lord thy God giveth thee for
an inheritance.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse on
our behalf, for the purpose and result that the blessing of Abraham
(God's well-spoken words to and pertaining-to Abraham, encompassing all
the words that God spoke to Abraham that were and still are well, good
for the recipient when God brings what He said to pass) may come-to-pass
in Christ Jesus (would become, come into being within the sphere of
action of Christ Jesus, where he is the instrumental cause of this
coming to pass) into, directed-to the nations (the same word which can
also be translated "Gentiles") for the purpose and result that we may
receive (all people of both Judean/Israeli and Gentile backgrounds would
take what is given to us from another, which is) the promise of the
spirit by means of the belief (through the faith, what God has given us
to believe regarding the Lord Jesus Christ).
The blessing of Abraham is available at the present time for all nations
in the world, including Israel, to receive because God made the promise
to Abraham before there was any distinction between the nation of Israel
and the rest of the nations which were referred to as Gentiles by
Israel. [Some texts have the phrase "blessing of the spirit" instead of
"promise of the spirit" – both blessing and promise refer to
holy spirit].
What is "the promise of the spirit"? The word "promise" means a
proclamation or the declaration of the message of one's own intention.
God's declared message of His own intention contained information
regarding holy spirit and all that is
associated with that holy spirit-life which is eternal life, the
inheritance, which would be made available to mankind as a result of the
accomplishments of the Christ. God gave the resurrected Christ the
promise of the spirit and he poured it out to mankind on the day of
Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 32-36). Today, all who believe what God says
regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, receive
holy spirit life, and in the future we who
believe will receive everything associated with it having become sons of
God.
[Reference: Genesis 11:27-25:10; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4, 5, 2:1-4, 32-36,
5:30-32, 10:39-46, 13:29; Romans 10:4, 8-10; I Corinthians 6:20, 7:23;
II Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:3-14; Philippians 3:21.]
Galatians 3:15 and 16:
.15Brothers, I say (this) according to
man: not-one-person rejects or throughly-arranges-upon-for-himself a
covenant even-yet having been confirmed2 of man; .16but
the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed; He does not say
"and to the seeds" as on many (seeds) but as on one
(seed), "and to your seed" who is Christ;
Brothers – again Paul calls the Galatian
holy-people "brothers" thereby reminding them that they are all brothers
in Christ, they all have the same holy spirit-life within them whether
they were of a Judean background or of a Gentile background! All
holy-people are brothers in Christ.
The word translated "covenant" refers to a binding agreement. It is used
for the Hebrew word that basically means "to cut" because living animals
were killed and sometimes cut in two shedding their blood in preparation
of and showing agreement with making the covenant – either conditionally
between two parties whereby both parties would walk between the killed
victims confirming the covenant and demonstrating that each party bound
himself to complete his commitments and that he was worthy of death if
he did not keep his side of the covenant; or unconditionally as by God
with Abraham recorded in Genesis 15, the obligation being on God to
fulfill this covenant. See also Genesis chapter 17; Jeremiah 34:18-20;
Acts 3:25; and Hebrews 6:13-15, 9:22, and 12:24. A covenant
does not always involve a sacrifice but may be demonstrated by a sign,
e.g. Genesis 9:9-17.
Paul writes: brothers, what I am laying before you here is manly or on
human terms to help you understand what I am teaching you:…
- no-one presently rejects a covenant (displaces it, un-puts it, actively
puts it from being enforceable)
-
nor does anyone arrange through and through on top of a covenant already
there to profit himself (nobody puts a covenant fully in order for
himself by adding something else to it, nobody arranges an addition on
top of a covenant)…
…when that covenant is still confirmed of/by the
man/men who made it. It is still in existence and enforceable having been validated by the
man/men who made it. It is still authentic. The man/men who made the
covenant have removed any doubts by their own lordly/masterly
authoritative action; it has been ratified and nobody can change it.
The parties involved in the covenant are obligated to fulfill the
covenant. If the man himself or someone else were to reject or add
something else on top of the covenant in force – then that man or the
other person would be breaking the covenant!
But the promises (God's proclamations or declarations of the messages of
His own intentions) were spoken by definite words being uttered by God
to Abraham and also to the seed of Abraham. God did not say "and to the
seeds" as then the promises would have been upon many seeds, but on the
contrary, the promises were upon one seed of Abraham. God said "and to
your seed" (singular form addressed to Abraham). Who is Abraham's seed?
Who is the seed sown by Abraham, his offspring? Christ, the
Anointed-one, the Messiah! God spoke His promises to and
for Abraham and his seed, not to/for anyone else.
The promises were to/for Abraham and his seed – this omits those who
lived time-wise in-between Abraham and the Lord Jesus Christ plus those
who presently reject the belief even though it is currently available,
all who are currently rejecting the Christ whether of the Israeli/Judean
background or of the Gentile/other nation background.
God had promised Abraham a son, and Abraham and Sarah had this son named
Isaac – it was via the lineage of Isaac that God's promised seed
(Genesis 3:15, the Christ) was born. Isaac was not the Christ. God told
Abraham that the Christ would be his seed, and this came to pass. When
God raised Jesus from among the rest of the dead-people and 40 days
later caused him to be brought up into heaven and seated at God’s
right-hand side, God gave the Lord Jesus Christ the promise of the
spirit – this is what God promised Abraham. The Lord Jesus Christ shed
forth this holy spirit-life on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) making
it available to all who believe. That is why anyone today who receives
God's gift of holy spirit by means of the
Lord Jesus Christ is also the seed of Abraham. God is still obligated to
the covenant that He made with Abraham; the promises contained in that
covenant are still to/for Abraham and to/for his seed. We holy-people
have the spirit of Christ in us and are sharers-in-common of these
promises. As we read on we will see how Paul explains this in detail.
[Reference: Genesis 3:15, 13:15, 17:6-8, 22:16-18, 24:7; Acts 3:25;
Romans chapter 4.]
Galatians 3:17 and 18:
.17but this I say: (the) covenant having
been confirmed-beforehand2 by God, the law, having
come-to-pass2 after four-hundred and thirty years, does
not unconfirm (the covenant)
with-a-view to render the promise ineffective, .18for if
by means of law the inheritance (comes, then it is) no-longer
from promise – but God graced2 to Abraham by means of
promise.
I lay this before you: regarding the covenant which was previously
confirmed (validated, authenticated, any doubts removed by a
lordly/masterly authoritative action, ratified) and it is still
confirmed by the power of God (God is the efficient and
instrumental agent of confirming this covenant which contains the
promise to Abraham of the coming of the promised seed, the Christ), the
law which came into being 430 years afterwards time-wise does not
unconfirm the covenant for the purpose of
rendering the promise ineffective (inactive, inoperative, useless).
God's covenant (which contains the promise) with Abraham still stands! It
has not changed nor was it done away with even though the law came in
beside it! The law came to pass when the children of Israel departed out
of Egypt which was 430 years after God's second call (not the first call
in Ur of the Chaldees, see Acts 7:2-4) when
He made the promise to Abraham, recorded in the Book of Genesis 12:3,
and Abraham departed out of Haran. This
430-year period is the time from the "promise" to the "law." It covers
the whole period from Genesis 12:1-4, after Abraham's father died, to
Exodus 12:40. Let us read some verses from the Books of Genesis and
Exodus.
Genesis 12:1-4:
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto
a land that I will shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will
bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou
shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him
that curseth thee: and in thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed.
So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him;
and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years
old when he departed out of Haran.
Exodus 12:40 and 41:
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, (who
dwelt in Egypt,) was four hundred and thirty years [this
counting of the duration of the sojourning of these people includes
their ancestors' sojourning which began with Abraham himself leaving
Haran in accordance with God's promise
and instructions after his father died].
And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred
and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all
the hosts of the Lord went out-from the land
of Egypt.
In Galatians, Paul wrote that the law, which came to pass four-hundred
and thirty years after the covenant which was confirmed-beforehand by
God, does not unconfirm the covenant
with-a-view to render the promise ineffective – for if the inheritance
(the assigned-lot, the heir's portion) comes by means of law (through
law, as though the law of Moses was the determining factor, the action
or agency by way of which the initiated progress passes-through in order
to reach the accomplishment of the inheritance coming), then the
inheritance no-longer is out-from promise! But God graced to Abraham,
and this grace is still in effect, by means of promise.
Grace is what is freely bestowed without any merit on the recipient's
part; it includes reference to the attitude and quality of the one
giving something favorable to another. Grace is not bestowed because
somebody deserves a wage that is owed for something they said or did,
nor because they begged so hard, nor because they forced the giver to
give! Grace is bestowed because the giver wants to give by his own
freedom of will to the recipient - it is completely unmerited favor from
the giver to the recipient. God graced what He graced to Abraham through
promise, not through law.
[Reference: Romans 4:13-16; Ephesians 2:5-9.]
Galatians 3:19 and 20:
.19Therefore why (did) the law of the
practices (come)? (The law came) continuously-until
where the seed may come to whom it was promised2; (the
law) having been throughly-arranged by means of angels in
(the) hand of a mediator; .20but the mediator is not
of one (party) – but God is one (party).
Paul asks a logical question which may arise in our minds having read
what he has written so far in this letter: therefore why was there
instituted such a thing as the law consisting of practices (doings to be
habitually done in the process of accomplishing something)? The law was
given to God's people so that they would practice it for the whole
duration up-to the certain time-period when the seed of Abraham would
come, the seed to whom God had made the
promise which He had spoken to Abraham. God was doing what was necessary
for Him to keep the covenant (binding agreement) that He made
unconditionally with Abraham by ensuring that Abraham's seed would come.
This law of the practices had been arranged through and through (put
fully in order) by means of (through) God's angels (an angel is a
spirit-being whose office and character is one of a messenger) in the
hand of a mediator (a go-between, one who goes in the middle between two
parties, one who mediates for peace and unity between differing
parties). Let us read some scriptures concerning this.
Acts 7:51-53:
.51Hard-necked-people and
not-circumcised-people with (your) hearts and with (your)
ears! You always fall-against the Spirit, the Holy
(Spirit), as your fathers also you. .52Who of the
prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed the
(people) having messaged-beforehand concerning the coming of the
righteous-person of-whom now you became betrayers and
murderers, .53the-people-who received the law into
(the) arrangement of the angels and you did not keep-watch!
Deuteronomy 5:1-5:
And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them,
Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your
ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep,
and do them.
The Lord our God made a covenant with us in
Horeb.
The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers,
but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive
this day.
The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount
out of the midst of the fire,
(I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to
shew you the word of the Lord: for ye
were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the
mount;)…
Leviticus 26:46:
These (are) the statutes and judgments and
laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in
mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
Paul wrote that the law came continuously-until where the seed would come
to whom it was promised and continues promised. The law had been
throughly arranged by means of angels in the hand of a mediator. Then he
explains: "but the mediator is not of one (party) – but God is
one (party)."
Moses was the mediator relative to the law. He mediated between God (via
His angels) and the children of Israel. The law came continuously-until
where the seed would come to whom it was promised and continues
promised. The seed came – God has fulfilled His covenant with Abraham
and it remains fulfilled and it cannot become unfulfilled! There was no
mediator involved between God and Abraham in order to fulfill this
covenant.
There cannot be a mediator when there is only one party involved in the
fulfilling of a covenant. There must be two parties involved in the
fulfilling of a covenant in order for a mediator to be able to come
in-between them. But God is one. God made the
covenant with Abraham by Himself without Abraham having to walk between
the dead animals (Abraham did kill and cut the animals and laid them and
birds out in preparation of and showing agreement with the making the
covenant). God is the one who authorized and confirmed it all by Himself
towards Abraham; there was no mediator between them. He manifested His
presence symbolically by a “smoking furnace and a burning lamp.” God
sealed this covenant which He made with Abraham while Abraham was in a
sleep state and therefore it is unconditional from God's point of view -
God will bring it to pass; He will do what He said He will do. God
carried-out His commitments!
Let us read a few verses from the Book of Genesis chapter 15 where this
event is recorded.
Genesis 15:17 and 18:
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down,
and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that
passed between those pieces.
In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram,
saying, Unto thy seed have I given this
land…
God Himself performed this covenant ceremony towards Abraham making sure
that nothing or nobody could ever come between God Himself and the
fulfillment of His covenant agreement with Abraham. The covenant
containing the promise to Abraham and his seed was unconditional!
Abraham's seed is the Christ to whom the promise of the spirit was made,
and there is no mediator between God and Christ (refer to verses 14 and
16 above).
[Reference: Exodus chapters 19-34; Deuteronomy 33:1-5; Psalm 68:17;
Romans 3:30; Hebrews 1:13-2:16.]
Now let us continue with Paul's letter.
Galatians 3:21 and 22:
.21Therefore (is) the law against the
promises? – may it not become! – for if law was given, the (law)
being able to make-alive, (then) the righteousness was ever
really-being in law! .22But the writing
shut-together all-things under sin in order that the promise may be
given, from belief of Jesus Christ, to the (people)
believing.
Paul continues by asking: logically following on from
this, is the law of Moses in a downward motion against the
promises (against God's own proclamations of His own intentions which He
previously declared)? May it not become! No, of course not!
The thought of such a thing being so repulsive to Paul is conveyed in
his expression of may it not become, may it not come into being that
such a thing could happen! The law is not against the promises.
For if there was a law given by God that would presently be able to
make-alive (have able-power, capability to give life), then God's true
righteousness, justness would actually have been continuing present
within the sphere of action of that law! The "life" Paul is
referring to is not physical existence with soul/breath life, but
this "life" is God's holy spirit-life which the law did not have the
ability to give to those people who adhered to the law.
But contrary to the law giving God's spirit life to people, the writing
(the written-thing, the words that God previously revealed and were
written-down, here referring to the law of Moses) shut all-things
together (shut-up, enclosed, concluded, closed or hemmed everything in
together) legally subject or in-submission to sin! Why? The long-term
purpose and result of this was that the promise would be given to the
people who are believing, who are presently and actively having faith,
trusting what God says regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. The only way that this promise can be given to the people
believing is out-from belief of Jesus Christ (originating-from faith,
trust pertaining-to, regarding, consisting-of Jesus Christ, emphasizing
his obedience and service towards God).
The promised blessings, including inheritance, of the promise made to
Abraham and to his seed, who is Christ, are
given to all who believe what God says regarding Jesus Christ, which
necessitates that the people believing must believe what God says about
Himself too. And, all holy-people/Christians therefore receive the
fullness of the promise God made to Abraham and his seed, because all
who believe are given holy spirit-life, which is spirit of Christ,
Christ being God's promised seed.
[Reference: Genesis 3:15; John 6:63, 10:10(b); Romans 3:9-31, 4:14-16,
11:32.]
Verses 23-27:
.23But before the coming of the belief we
used-to-be guarded under law being shut-together with-a-view-to the
belief being about to be revealed, .24so-that the law
became a training-instructor of us with-a-view-to Christ in order
that we may be made-righteous from belief; .25but the
belief having come we are no-longer under a training-instructor,
.26for you are all sons of God by means of belief of
Christ Jesus, .27for as-many (of) you were
baptized into Christ you clothed-yourselves-with Christ;
Paul continues to teach and explain: but before (prior to, in front of
time-wise) the belief came – what belief? The belief pertaining-to,
regarding, consisting-of Jesus Christ – the belief that God has given
mankind to believe: "if-ever you may express-agreement in your
mouth (regarding the) Lord Jesus Christ and you may
believe in your heart that God raised him up out-from dead-people
you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). This belief could not have been
given by God to be believed by anyone before the Lord Jesus Christ
carried-out his ministry which resulted in his crucifixion, death,
burial, and he was raised up by God, 40 days later he ascended into
heaven and was made to sit at the right-hand side of God. Christ was
given the promise of the spirit and he poured it out on the day of
Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
But previous-to the time when this belief came, we (God's people before
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ) were continually guarded (as
with powerful military authority) legally subject or in-submission to
the law of Moses being shut-together (shut-up, enclosed, concluded,
closed or hemmed in together) into, with a view to, directed to the
belief which was at that time being about to be revealed (it was on the
point of being uncovered and made-known, as though removing a veil to
expose what was previously hidden – it could not be revealed until it
had first come to pass).
The result and consequence was that the law of
Moses had come to be a training-instructor of us during that time. The
word "training-instructor" refers to a trustworthy servant who leads his
master's children by strict attention wherever these children need to be
taken, giving knowledge and providing authoritative information or
advice endeavoring to give the children in their charge structure in the
walk/behavior category, keeping them in line with what the master's will
is.
The law became our training-instructor into, with a view to, directed to
Christ for the purpose and result that we would be made-righteous
out-from belief (justified out-from faith/trust, that we would be set
forth as being righteous from faith, cause us to become righteous, set
us forth by a judicial act making us righteous from belief, not from the
works of law).
Christ believed all that God gave him to believe (Hebrews 12:2) and thus
he accomplished what God asked him to accomplish. Since the day of
Pentecost God has made known to mankind the belief that we must believe
in order to become God's children receiving the gift of holy spirit
thereby becoming righteous (Romans 10:8-10) – previous to Jesus Christ
accomplishing redemption and salvation for mankind it was not available
to believe regarding what he did because he had not done it yet. All who
believe what God has given all to believe regarding Himself and the Lord
Jesus Christ receive holy spirit-life. All of us who are holy-people
have the spirit of Christ within us and therefore spiritually we have
Christ's belief within us – now it is up to our freedom of will to
listen attentively to our holy spirit-life and behave accordingly.
Today, because the belief has come (the fullness of it was first made
available on the day of Pentecost; refer to Acts chapter 2), we who are
God's people, having believed the belief regarding the Lord Jesus Christ
and have thus received God's gift of holy spirit, are not any longer
legally subject or in-submission to a training-instructor (the law of
Moses). Why not? In truth, you holy-people (both of the Judean/Israeli
background and of the Gentile/other-nation background) presently and
actively are all God's sons by means of belief of Christ Jesus, for as
many of you were baptized into Christ you clothed yourselves with
Christ.
You were baptized into Christ, not into physical water (H20). This
baptism is the baptism in holy spirit which is not 'with' nor is it 'by'
anything like the water baptism which is only temporary because once a
person comes out of the water and the water dries off of him/her then
the water is gone. But the baptism in holy spirit
is a complete immersion and surrounding whereby once holy spirit is "in"
or "within" a person it never leaves that person, it can never "dry
off"! This baptism in holy spirit is
permanent. It gives you holy spirit-life within you, which is the spirit
of Christ in you, and you are now limbs of the one spiritual body of
Christ, similar to arms or legs or lungs, etc, being in the physical
body.
You are all sons of God by means of (through) belief of Christ Jesus, for
as many of you have already been baptized into Christ you have already
clothed yourselves with Christ (put-on the spirit of Christ as a garment
by going inside of it, enveloped yourselves with Christ). You have the
same sonship as the Lord Jesus Christ
because you have received the spirit of Christ in you – Christ who is
God's promised seed. All holy-people and the Lord Jesus Christ are
brothers and God is our Father in the spirit category.
[Reference: Matthew 5:17, 18; Acts 1:4, 5, 2:1-4, 32, 33, 38, 39; Romans
4:13-25, 6:14, 8:14-17, 10:4, 8-13, 11:32; I Corinthians 12:12, 13;
Colossians 1:27; I John 3:1, 2.]
Verses 28 and 29:
.28there is not in (you) a Judean nor a
Greek, there is not in (you) a slave nor a freeman, there is
not in (you) a male and a female, for you all are of
Christ Jesus, .29but since you (are) of Christ
consequently you are seed of Abraham, inheritors according to
promise.
Because you holy-people are all sons of God by means
of belief of Christ Jesus for as many of you were baptized into Christ
you clothed yourselves with Christ –
- there is not within you a Judean person nor is there within you a Greek
person (a Gentile),
- there is not within you a slave (a person who is in bondage or servitude
to other men) nor is there within you a freeman (a person who is at
liberty from bondage or service to other men),
-
there is not within you a male and a female (a person of the male sex and a
person of the female sex).
In truth, emphatically you all presently and actively are of Christ
Jesus.
All of you holy-people belong to the resurrected Christ Jesus. You are
limbs of his body. There cannot be any separation between you and Christ
or between one-another. The gift of holy spirit which all holy-people
have received is not Judean nor Greek, not a slave nor a freeman, not a
male and a female (there is no sexual differentiation, no diversity
because it is spirit, one spirit, the spirit of Christ). Christ Jesus'
line of descent is also your line of descent – you do not have your own
race, family, tribe, class, status, sex! Christ Jesus is your spiritual
brother and your Lord. You holy-people are to
view yourselves as God views you – you are His sons because you have the
spirit of Christ within you.
But since it is true that you are of Christ then (in correspondence to
that) you are seed of Abraham and being seed of Abraham you are
inheritors (heirs, people who have the inheritance, the assigned-lot) in
accordance with promise (God's proclamation or declaration of the
message of His own intention to Abraham and Abraham's seed).
Since all holy-people have the spirit of Christ within us, then all of us
are seed of Abraham - viewed as one seed because it is the one and the
same seed: Christ, who is within each and every holy-person (every true
Christian). There is no difference from one to the other spiritually
from God's point of view! With the spirit of Christ in us all, we
therefore are people who are receiving the inheritance according to
God's promise that He originally made to Abraham and to his seed many,
many years ago!
We are not all Christs, but we are all God's
sons because we have God's gift of holy spirit
within us which is the spirit of Christ in us. Therefore Christ and all
the holy-people are brothers, sons of God. Christ Jesus himself has
already received his spiritual body. We holy-people are limbs of the one
spiritual body of Christ, and we all have the same holy spirit-life
within us (I Corinthians 12:12-14), and in the future we too will
receive our spiritual bodies.
[Reference: Romans 4:13-18, 8:17, 12:4 and 5; I
Corinthians 10:17, 12:12-27, and 15:51-57; Ephesians 3:6; Philippians
3:21; Colossians 3:11; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; Revelation chapters 21
and 22. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2) immediately
following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in
the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]
