Introduction
I. Our base verse this week is found in Galatians 3:16.
A. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, And to your seed,” that is, Christ
B. The motivation for the writing of these words does not seem to be unusual concerning churches in the 1st Century.
1. The Galatians, as is no different from every Christian before and after them had been made recipients of God’s blessing based on their faith in Jesus Christ.
2. And just like many churches before and after them, faith in Christ was being added to by those professing salvation through works of the flesh.
II. To this day, some well meaning churches, will on occasion make “works” some sort of test for a true believer.
A. “I know they are a Christian because....” or
B. “If you want to see heaven you must....”
C. I have even had occasion at funeral services to hear something along the lines of, “We know they are with God in heaven; because...”
III. The true gospel is that “We are saved by faith and faith alone.”
IV. A perversion of the gospel often includes,
A. “We are saved by faith but you also must..” or
B. “You are saved by faith in Christ, but if you want to keep your salvation you must.”
V. The Galatians were saved by faith,
A. But somehow they were being tempted to add to faith, adherence to the law.
B. The Galatians were abandoning the true gospel for a perversion.
VI. For Paul, the very idea that anything other than faith in Jesus Christ could secure salvation, or maintain salvation was a simply foolish concept. Listen as I read Galatians chapter 3, beginning with verse one, -
A. “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publically portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfect by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain – if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
B. In other words, how could you start out so right, and yet be so easily led into a lie?
C. Have you really forgotten what the true gospel is?
D. Just in case, let me remind you.
VII. In Galatians chapter three, Paul makes three assertions as to the content of the true gospel.
A. One - Righteousness is credited to us, just as it was to Father Abraham, through faith in God. (verses 6-9)
B. Two - Righteousness is credited to us, based on the unbreakable promise of God himself. (Verses 15-18)
C. Three - Righteousness; once credited to us makes us heirs with Abraham. (Verses 23-29)
Righteousness is Credited By Faith (vs. 6-9)
6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you.”
9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
I. The great dilemma for the believer in Galatia.
A. Man is saved by faith in Jesus Christ,
B. Man maintains his salvation through adherence to the will, or in another word, Law of God.
II. For many, that debate has not been settled yet.
A. O, most of us say, and even believe that we are saved by faith in Christ alone, but also
B. Many of us act as if our continued salvation is dependent on our keeping some form of external set of requirements.
III. I had a very good friend, and a definite believer in Jesus Christ that asked me to pray for the salvation of his brother.
A. I was somewhat surprised because this gentlemen had always told me how he had been raised in a Christian home, and that all his brothers and sisters had come to faith in Christ very early in life.
B. When I asked him about this he stated, “At one time my brother was a very committed Christian, but then he walked about from God, and had lost his salvation.”
C. Before his death, we had many talks about the fact that if one has truly accepted Christ as savior, they cannot then lose their salvation, even though they may stop living as a Christian.
1. The question is not one of salvation.
2. If they had in fact accepted Christ as savior, the question lies in why they have stopped living in light of God’s promise.
IV. The Galatian church had believed in Christ and were saved by faith.
A. Now someone was bewitching them into believing that for their salvation to be real, they must add to it keeping God’s law.
B. Paul takes these believers, and us back to Abraham.
V. Why Abraham?
A. Because for the Jew, Abraham was the progenitor of Israel.
B. The assertion of the Jew was that by
1. Whatever means Abraham received righteousness, eternal life, so also would anyone else.
2. Since Abraham was declared righteous on the basis of keeping God’s command, anyone else that wanted to be declared righteous must be obedient to God’s commands, call it law or works of the flesh, or LEGALISM.
C. Paul’s assertion is that you are exactly right, in this much; in whatever means that Abraham was declared righteous, so also is everyone else.
VI. But, righteousness, salvation, eternal life is not gained through obedience, but rather through faith.
A. Paul takes the Galatians back to what we have as Genesis chapter 15.
1. Abram, later to be called Abraham had been set apart by God to be a blessing to all nations.
2. God called Abram to leave his country, his family and all that he knew and travel to new land and begin a new life.
3. Abraham was obedient and did just as God asked, but that was not the basis for his righteousness.
4. God declared Abraham righteous in Genesis 15, and verse 6 - “Then he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and He (the Lord) reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
a. Do you see the hinge word in this verse?
b. It is “believed”
c. Abraham believed God, and God credited his belief as righteousness.
5. Abraham was obedient, but that obedience was not the instrument of his salvation; belief, faith was.
VII. For these Jewish believers, anyone could be saved; after all God had said in Genesis 12, verse 3, “And in you (Abraham) all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” but once saved you must join with the people of God’s favor, Israel, and to join Israel you must become obedient to God’s law.
VIII. Paul is going to say a little later,
A. External obedience is not the factor, for
B. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
IX. Righteousness, a right relationship with God is not based on externals of any type, but just as in the case of Abraham, righteousness is based on faith. Righteousness is Based On The Unbreakable Promise of God (vs. 15-18)
15 Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.
18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.
I. Jewish Rabbinic tradition stated that Abraham had been blessed because he had been obedient to the Law of God, even to the smallest of detail.
A. For them, Abraham was obedient, and God blessed.
B. In the same way, the children of Abraham, Israel must be obedient to God in order to receive a blessing.
C. Paul states that there is only one problem with that line of reasoning.
1. The Law did not come until 430 years after Abraham.
2. Abraham could not be obedient to that which he had no knowledge.
D. Abraham had not been declared righteous based on obedience, but rather on the promise of God.
II. We might say that God’s promise
A. Was made in Genesis, chapter 12, when God said, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
III. it was ratified in Genesis, chapter 15, when God alone passed through the instruments of the covenant while Abraham was place in a sleep.
A. And then God restated it in Genesis chapter 22, when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.
1. Genesis 22, verses 17 and 18 read “indeed I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
2. Now understand, Abraham’s obedience did bring forth a blessing, but it did not bring about his salvation.
IV. Israel had always seen themselves as the fulfillment of God’s promise.
V. Paul’s assertion is that for all these many years, Israel has had it wrong.
A. They are not the fulfillment of a promise, for they are not alone the seed of Abraham.
B. God made the promise to Abraham, but it’s fulfillment came a few thousand years later in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
VI. From the beginning, until now, and even until the return of Jesus Christ, man has always been declared righteous in the same manner, and that being by faith in the promise of God.
A. The Old Testament looked forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise.
B. The New Testament tells of the fulfillment of God’s promise.
C. The Law was given not to bring about righteousness, but to demonstrate that man could never attain righteousness through his own means, regardless of how intent his efforts might be.
1. If attaining righteousness was dependent on our keeping God’s rules, righteousness would always be beyond our grasp.
2. If maintaining my righteousness were dependent on my keeping God’s rules, I would surely have lost it a long time ago.
VII. God’s promise of salvation by faith alone is unbreakable.
A. It is the promise of God that affords you and I liberty and freedom.
B. Not that we are free to live as we please, but rather that we are free to realize just how much we need Christ.
C. God’s promise of salvation by faith is unbreakable, and if that doesn’t cause you to rejoice, nothing can.
D. God’s promise makes us heirs with Abraham.
Righteousness Makes Us Heirs With Abraham
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.
24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.
25 But now that 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 all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
I. I received my theological training at Philadelphia Biblical University, which teaches the theological point of view called Dispensationalism.
A. Dispensationalism has been defined as “a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God.” (Scofield Reference Bible, p.5)
B. The basic idea is that God had dealt with man through different expectations, at different points throughout history.
C. I am not even going to try and explain them except to say that basic despensatinalism see’s 7 various “testings”.
II. Paul’s basic assertion in this passage of scripture is that God has always dealt with man, at least from Abraham until now based on only one test,
A. “Do you believe in the promise I have made?”
B. For us, “Do you believe in the promise that has been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ?”
III. God spoke to Abraham; Abraham believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
IV. God did not give the law in order to bring us to righteousness,
A. The law was given as a tutor,
1. The law led to death, because anything less that the perfection of God ends in eternal death.
2. The law taught us that we need Jesus Christ.
B. Human attempts to please God leave us short of the glory of God.
C. Faith in Jesus Christ brings about justification and righteousness, which we do not deserve, but God knew that long ago.
V. Abraham believed God; it was credited to him and righteousness, and he became an heir of eternal life.
VI. Still today, God’s demand is that we believe Him, at which time we are credited with righteousness, and just like Abraham, we become heirs and recipients of eternal life.
Conclusion:
I. I conclude with this,
A. “Have you been credited with righteousness?”
B. Have you ever come to the place of understanding that
1. You can not receive the blessing of God through your own power.
2. You can not keep God’s blessing through your own power.
II. What you can do is believe God, that only through faith in Jesus Christ can you be declared righteous.
