Verses for the Day – Galatians 3:23-29

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

I think my daily reading of Galatians has been bogged down through trying to study the heavy verses on law. It surely must be a picture of how the law actually does burden us and weigh us down…

But grace sets us free!

I left off last time looking at what the law is not and what it doesn’t do, saying we’d see then today what the law does do.

This takes us to Galatians 3:23-29:

“But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

These verses tell us what the law does. It was a tutor to bring us to Christ so that we could be justified by faith. Once we have faith, we no longer have need for the tutor. A tutor teaches us something. The law shows us that we are sinners, that we cannot keep the demands of the law perfectly, that we are in need of a Savior. It brings us to Christ, to our Savior, that through faith, we might know Christ and be saved. This is a gift of grace, not by works (law) or anything we have done.

This is how we become a child of God – through faith in Jesus Christ. We are baptized into Christ, we put on Christ. Then, as we have already seen, we are Abraham’s seed, his spiritual descendants. We become heirs according to the promise.

We heard a sermon at church last week on Romans 3:22, that there is no distinction. We are either saved by faith in Christ, or we are not. And here we see that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek (imagine how that sounded to their ears at that time when there was such a distinction among them!), neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, but we are all one in Christ. Isn’t that a beautiful picture of Christian unity? My Bible notes there are no racial, gender, or social distinctions to keep us from Christ – all can come to Him by faith.

We live in a world that is always making distinctions. What is your level of education? What sport are you involved in? What kind of leadership do you do? Where do you serve? What school do you go to? Are you skinny or fat, short or tall? This may not be intended to classify us, but it’s just natural. We see people who are “different” or don’t seem to fit in. We can find ourselves wondering what is my place? Do I belong? Do I fit? It happens at work and school and in community. We can be striving and working to matter.

But God tells us who we are. We are his! We are made in his image, and in Christ, by faith, we find our true identity as a child of God, a child of the King, and heirs according to the promise. Once an enemy of Christ, now adopted by Him as His own child.

This is the only one thing that matters. Do we know Christ? Do we have that relationship with Him by faith? Are we trusting Him for the forgiveness of our sins? There should be no other distinction. We are one with other believers in Christ. We can be for them, support them, love them.

We also live in a world where so many want to work their way to heaven – if they can only be good enough, if their good deeds can outweigh their bad ones. They live by law. But this is not what the Bible teaches us. The law and works can only show us that we can’t do it. We can’t earn anything from God because our sin is too deep and keeps us separated from Him. The law points us to Jesus. And when we have Him, we have everything. And we want to live for Him. We live lives of joyful obedience and faithfulness to Him because we love Him as He has first loved us.

We are not bound by law, we are free in Christ. We are freed by the gospel Paul has been writing about earlier in Galatians. Live in this freedom!

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for the law that leads us to you. How could we ever thank you enough for your sacrifice of your very life for our sins so that we could be saved! And for the many blessings accompany our salvation. Thank you that by faith through grace we can know you, we can be forgiven, we can walk in freedom, we can live an abundant life. Give us great joy as we seek and follow you each day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 3:19-22

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

Summer is officially over for our family. We’ve had the annual back-to-school picnic, the faculty in-service dinner for my husband, I started back to work this week, and my children are headed back to school.

I studied 1 and 2 Thessalonians this summer in a home Bible study with various women, many of whom I had never met, but who heard about the study and joined us. It’s amazing to see how God’s Word draws people together. One evening after the study, I was struck by the reality of what God can do when you are willing just to open the door to your home and invite people in.

After a wonderful summer of a slower pace, fascinating travel, and having time away from work and school, we return to routine and more structure to our days. We welcome this. My Galatians study had been put aside, but now I hope to daily study and complete this goal!

Today I pick back up with Galatians 3:19-22:

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. 20 Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Paul has been talking about the law and faith. What is the law? You know, the law given to Moses in the Old Testament? 

We had been looking at what it is not.

The law does not justify (make us right) before God. (3:11). (This happens by faith.)

The works of the law did not give them (or us) the Holy Spirit or accomplish the working of miracles among them (3:2, 5). (Again, this happens by the hearing of faith.)

In fact, the law actually brings a curse (3:10).

The law is not God’s covenant with Abraham and does not annul the covenant. God gave his covenant to Abraham by promise, not law (3:17).

The law is also not contrary to the promises of God (3:21), as we see in today’s text.

The law cannot give life, and righteousness does not come by the law. (3:21).

So let’s see two things, one today and one tomorrow, about what the law is:

  • Why then was the law given? (our question for today)
  • And what does the law do? (our question for tomorrow)

So why then was the law given? The law “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.” (3:19-20).

Basically, because of the sin of God’s people, the law was given through a mediator (Moses) until the Seed (Jesus) should come. The law then showed them clearly how they were to live – and how they were not able to keep this standard perfectly – and what therefore to do when they sinned. (Remember the sacrifices they made in the Old Testament?)

Ultimately, in this way, the law will then really lead them to God, to their need for a Savior because of their sin. Jesus, the Seed, would come and be the once for all sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 10:1-18). At his coming, the Mosaic law no longer would have the same force. More on this tomorrow.

PRAYER:Heavenly Father, thank you for a new day and a new school year. We look forward with anticipation to what you have for us in the coming year. We rejoice that you are a God who loves us and gave your Son for us so that we might know you. You have purposes and plans for our lives, even this year, even this day. We are not just meaninglessly existing. Let us live to follow you and bring you glory. Teach us this year your ways, that we might walk in your path and rely on your faithfulness. Give us undivided hearts to fear your name. Let us praise you with all of our hearts and glorify your name forever, for great is your love toward us (Psalm 86:11-13). In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 3:15-18

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

To summarize what we have studied so far, we have seen that Paul was writing to the churches of Galatia (1:1-2) to remind them of the gospel and to clarify what the true gospel of grace is (1:3-5). This was because the gospel was being distorted by false teachers who were preaching a different gospel and perverting the gospel of truth (1:6-9), causing the Galatians to turn away from God to a different gospel (1:6) and to be bewitched (3:1).

Paul describes his own conversion (a stunning and clear act of grace!) and call to be an apostle (1:10-24), and then begins to define and defend the gospel truth. Many were wanting to add to the gospel by works of the law (i.e., circumcision), but Paul maintains and declares the gospel of grace: that we are not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ (2:16, 3:11).

In chapter 3, Paul has been describing this justification (being made right with God) by faith. We are saved by faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross, not by the works of the law or the things that we do. Our salvation is a gift of grace.

He begins to clarify for them then what the law is and is not. If the law doesn’t save us, what does it do? What is it? In Galatians 3:10-14, we saw that the law brings a curse, but that Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us.

Today we pick up with Galatians 3:15-18, again seeing what the law is not:

15 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. 16 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. 17 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. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. (NKJV)

Paul introduces the word “covenant” here. In Genesis 12:1-3, God called Abraham out of his country and family to go to a land that He would show him. God promised to make Abraham a great nation and bless him, to make his name great, and that he would be a blessing. In the Abrahamic “covenant” God promised to bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse him and that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed.

The passage today references back to this covenant with Abraham. The law was given 430 after the covenant, after the Israelites had been freed from slavery in Egypt, to teach them how to live. The law is not the covenant and cannot annul the covenant, which was confirmed by God and which was given to Abraham by promise.

This passage also points out that the promises were made to Abraham and his Seed, who is Christ. All of these promises are ultimately fulfilled in Christ. My Bible notes say, “Christ is the final focus of God’s promises, the ultimate Seed.” And as we have already seen in Galatians 3:7, those of faith are the sons of Abraham, the spiritual descendants.

So the law brings a curse (Gal. 3:10), and it cannot annul the covenant and the promise that was confirmed before by God in Christ (3:17). What then is the purpose of the law? We will see that tomorrow in the coming verses.

PRAYER: Thank you, God, that you are a God who keeps your word and your promises. You made a covenant with Abraham, and you fulfill your promises in Christ. Praise you that we today who are believers by faith in Christ are blessed to be Abraham’s spiritual descendants and heirs of this promise. Thank you also that you are a God who brings freedom. You led the Israelites out of Egypt, out of bondage by a great and mighty hand. In the same way, you lead us out of our sin and bondage into life and freedom in you, through Christ, the ultimate Seed. This is by faith, not by works or law. Help us to live by faith in you. We praise you and bless your great name, In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Carolyn

Why should we read the Bible every day, with regularity? Because it is God’s Word and has power to change our lives by the power of His Spirit. It’s that simple.

Life becomes much more complex when we go after it on our own, when we don’t seek God daily. We can give it our best effort, then get discouraged when we fail, all apart from spending time with God. Then we are deceived by thinking it’s harder than it is, that God isn’t our help, when God has so much for us. But we must stay in the way of truth so He can lead us in the way to go.

This, of course, does not mean we will never struggle. Part of the Christian walk, as we see in the life of Paul, is the struggle of what our flesh wants and desires against what we desire to do as those who know Christ (Romans 7:14-25). There is a war within us it seems at times! As Jesus said when he found his disciples sleeping instead of praying, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” – Matthew 26:41.

But we begin to have victory when we know God’s Word, the Bible. Jesus gives us a solution in that same verse, Matthew 26:41, for when our flesh is weak: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” And Romans 8 tells us how to be free from this sin by not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit and setting our minds on things of the Spirit. We find these truths in God’s Word.

When we spend time in God’s Word, we find out about ourselves and our weaknesses, but we also find out about God who is our strength and gives us strength! We can be encouraged through our time in the Bible as we come to understand these things and how to live in a way that pleases God and blesses us for our joy and good!

When we don’t know the Bible, then when the world comes with its different messages – and it does! – those things can look and sound so appealing, and we may not be able to discern what the difference is, what the big deal is, why it matters, and how it is actually against God and his ways. This is not to be judgmental of the world – God will do that – but to be aware and alert and awake and sober and able to understand spiritual things. The temporary thrill of the world will not last, but sets people on a path to destruction. Don’t let the world or Satan rob and steal by believing these lies.

Remember that lies will always look and sound good – otherwise, how could they deceive us? Lies will also be subtle and not direct – because of their very nature as a lie, not as truth! Satan didn’t come right out and tell Eve to take and eat of the fruit so it could condemn all mankind and break her fellowship with God, right? Because if it’s obvious and direct, you will turn and run from it. Satan offered the subtle suggestion with this question, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'” So sin starts to creep in when we begin to question what God has said.

Then Satan lied with telling Eve something that sounded really wonderful: “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And the Bible records the result. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” And we’ve been living in the devastating consequences ever since.

But when you are in the Word, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

So I encourage everyone I can to read the Bible every day. Even if it initially seems dry or boring, make it your practice, pray and ask God for help, and give it time. As I heard a lady (Nancy Guthrie) recently say, “Day by day, as I was in the Word, the Word did a work in me.” Our spiritual growth happens little by little as we continue in the Word. We grow more and more as we come to the table for this daily bread and eat of the food God has prepared for us in His Word. You will not be disappointed to spend time with the living God in His living Word each day. You will be rewarded.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 3:10-14

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

My son and I sometimes watch the “Amazing Race.” It’s a great study in human behavior and opens up some good conversations. We enjoy learning about places all over the world, and it has inspired my son to want to be a world traveler.

In the “Amazing Race,” one man and his wife made a mistake by booking their airline tickets before they got to the airport. When they realized the error, he said it was half his fault. He was prepared to take part of the blame. He was measuring out who was responsible and justifying himself for part of his actions.

In contrast, another man, a Christian snowboarder, was irritable, jealous that he did not get to participate in one of the more thrilling tasks of speed racing a car. He acknowledged his sin, asked the Lord for forgiveness, and allowed the Lord take his anger and jealousy over the situation, and he became free. He depended on God’s grace.

This contrast is a picture of what we see in the verses for today from Galatians 3:10–14:

“10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ 12 But the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’ 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’ – 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

Paul is quoting from Old Testament Scriptures (Deuteronomy 27:26 in verse 10; Habakkuk 2:4 in verse 11; Leviticus 18:5 in verse 12; and Deuteronomy 21:23 in verse 13).

Paul points out that if we are under the works of the law, we are under the curse, because the Scriptures (Deut. 27:26) teach us that everyone who does not continue in all things written in the law is cursed. As human beings who sin and make mistakes, we could never fully carry out the law and its requirements and demands. In this failure, we would come under a curse.

But Paul goes on to tell us the incredible news that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Deut. 21:23). Christ a curse for you and me so that we are not cursed. Ponder that amazing truth!

How then do we live? Not by the law, but by faith. Verse 12 tells us that the law is not of faith. They are not the same. The righteous shall live by faith and receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

This is what the snowboarder seemed to understand. He was walking by faith and dependence on Christ for his forgiveness and justification. The first man was living by law, accepting some of his mistakes and doling out the appropriate blame for others to carry. He was living dependent on himself.

The law brings a curse, and Paul will explain its role in further detail later in Galatians. For now, delight in the truth that Jesus saves us by grace through faith, not of ourselves or any works or keeping of the law that we could do because that would never be enough. Christ alone is sufficient to save us. Praise Him!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that you would stoop to reach us. Thank you that you humbled yourself to death on a cross to take our curse and shame and guilt and sin, and give us your righteousness by faith in you. Let this glorious truth sink deeply within our hearts and take root so that we might not live in our own strength but by yours and in the power of your Spirit. Free us by this truth to not live legalistic lives, but ones of faith in you, praising you for all you have done. In Jesus name, Amen.