Keeping A Resolution Series

Keeping A Resolution

Text: Gal. 3:15-22

Introduction

1. "I hereby resolve to:"

a. Actually work from home on my telecommuting days.

b. Get dressed before noon...or at the very least, before the video conferencing call with my boss.

c. Less e-mailing? Cancel at least a few of the 9 or 10 e-mail accounts I currently have.

d. Not talk on my cell phone while in the bathroom doing - - - (you finish this sentence).

e. Never pull away from the gasoline pump ... with the hose still in the tank (those stupid cell phone calls).

f. Try and drive at or under the speed limit ... at least when I'm not hungry, tired or late.

g. Keep my opinions to myself (yeah, right).

h. Play harder, work less ... who needs a paycheck anyway?

i. Wear something other than sweat pants to the grocery store

j. Stop repeating myself again, and again, and again.

k. Wear something other than sweat pants to the grocery store ... oops ... there I go again!

l. Stop procrastinating ... (I think I just might start next month).

m. Enjoy the sweeter side of life - M&Ms, Hershey kisses, candy corns, and cheesecake and ...

n. Read something this year ... other than the comics.

o. Drive myself to the fitness center when I feel like going from now on ... because walking there makes me perspire.

p. Stop leaving my dirty gym socks lying in the middle of the floor. I'll leave them on the kitchen table, where they're easier to reach.

q. Kick the caffeine habit - hey, why does my over-sized coffee mug smell like sweaty socks?

r. Read those books I bought 5 years ago on "how to improve my memory" ... I keep forgetting to read them.

s. Be more decisive ... I'll absolutely try to attempt to think about resolving to be more decisive, if I possibly can.

t. Quit making those SAME excuses ... I make the same excuses each year, why I'll do better next year, and it's getting pretty old - this year I resolve to come up with some new excuses instead.

2. If you want an example of how to keep a resolution just look at what God did...

a. He made a promise

b. He gave the purpose for the promise

c. He gave a plan on how to get there

3. Let's stand together as we read Gal. 3:15-22

Proposition: God made a resolution to save us from our sin, and kept the promise in sending His only Son.

Transition: First, God made a promise.

I. The Promise (15-18).

A. The Agreement God Made With Abraham

1. Paul has been trying to convince the Galatians that God's promise is superior to the law. In this first section he gives four reason why it is superior.

2. The first reason has to do with its confirmation. He says, "Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case."

a. The word translated here "irrevocable agreement" is generally translated covenant.

b. Diathēkē (covenant) is a general term for a binding agreement. It was often used to refer to wills or testaments, and in some Scripture passages the word is best translated with that meaning.

c. A last will and testament expresses the desires and intent of but one party and may or may not involve other specific parties.

d. A covenant, on the other hand, always involves two or more specific parties, although the terms may be stipulated and fulfilled by only one.

e. "Just as," Paul argued, "an irrevocable agreement, cannot be set aside or have conditions added to it, how much less can a covenant God makes with Himself be annulled or modified?

f. Even God's own covenant with Moses did not nullify or amend His covenant with Abraham, because God had made the former covenant permanent and unchangeable" (MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, 83).

g. Essentially Paul's argument is that the way a human covenant operates is certainly the same way as a divine covenant does.

h. Although scholars today are unsure about which particular legal institution Paul is using (Roman, Greek, Jewish), they are agreed that Paul's point is secure: when a covenant or testament or last will has been established—probably after the death of the testator — someone cannot come along and add to it or take away from it (Scot McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – Galatians, 166).

3. The second reason Paul gives is because the promise is Christ-centered. He says, "God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ."