galatians 3:6-3:18

you foolish galatians...

the galatians seem to have ditched the idea that they were saved because of christ's sacrifice on their behalf.
instead, they have accepted the idea that they needed to follow the law of moses, and that by doing so, they would be 'good enough for god'.

paul has already given the 'church authority / apostolic' reasons why this is bogus

his teaching is from god
the apostles agreed on this teaching (paul went to jerusalem, they talked, they agreed)
peter may have given the wrong impression by eating with jews only. but i called him out, he agreed.
and the issue is big enough to be called out on.

that's pretty much chapters 1&2 right there.

hurley talked about how paul reminds them of their initial belief and experience.

paul reminds them of what they believed, how they got to be where they are.

now, we're going to argue from the old testament, rabbi style.

the rabbi-style thing isn't an exaggeration either.
paul is going to loosely string some verses together, roughly quoting stuff, whic is completely how rabbis talked.

this is, for the record, super relevant stuff for us.

the progress of redemption, a class hurley and i had in school that we teach regularly here, is most nicely summarized right here.
it's big - it's glue between the old and new testaments.

1. righteousness is through faith, and always has been

abraham

a long time ago, there was a dude in iraq named abraham.
abe's family up and moved to turkey, where his dad died.
then...god appeared to abraham, and said:

1. Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father's house,
To the land which I will show you;
2. And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3. And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

that's gen 12:1-3 for the curious.
abraham went along with this, believing that god meant what he said.

that belief is pretty key for abe...

so, a few years go by. abe has been doing what god wanted, living where he was supposed to be.
god appears to abraham again.
god tells abraham that he is going to have a kid.
abraham has some questions about this, given how old he is, but he is willing to trust god to do what he says.
on the basis of that trust, that abraham believes that god, god "recokoned it (his faith) to him as righteousness"
gen 15:6 there.

so...you see that in v6,7?

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.

so...what does that mean?

ok - paul is dropping this abraham thing pretty hard. what is going on?
well...we're talking about righteousness coming from the law.

the law was revealed through moses.
guess how much later that piece was revealed? 400 years.

that's pretty much a giant kick in the teeth to the idea that righteousness was from the law.
YOU GOT THAT????

mr paul follows that up with v8,9

8. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU ."
9. So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

when i was writing this part of the sermon, i was in the type of mood where it seemed extremely funny to say 'BOOOM' at this point.

he's really just tying stuff together here now. v8 is a quote from gen 12:3, which is basically repeated in 18:18
righteousness comes by faith, from the beginning. moses and the law fit into that system, not vice versa.
and what's more, the WHOLE WORLD (gentiles! like me!) are included back at the ground floor.
we are part of the plan.

this is killing the whole "you need to be come a jew and be under the law to be righteous" bit
BOOOM!

so summary time:

salvation has always been by faith
salvation was planned to be for gentiles from the beginning
they don't need the law - this was planned from the start

2. the law was never supposed to bring righteousness

10. For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM."
11. Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
12. However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM."
13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"--
14. in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

ok - if v6-9 assert the positive (where do we get righteousness), v10-14 hit the negative.
paul is going to show that such is not the law's purpose.

v10:

v10 is a quote from deut 27:26 (a section in which moses reviews the curses of the law)

10. For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM."

paul is quoting the section of deut where they are reviewing the curses associated with ignoring god's law.
basically, he's reminding the galatians that if you don't follow the law, you are in trouble.

all or nothing. part of the reason we need grace, right?

v11:

v11 is a quote from hab 2:4 (one of the key verses that show that faith was big in the OT.

Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

honestly, he could have gone back to abraham and reminded them that we already know where righteousness comes from, but it's way cooler to show some examples from after the law had come since he'd already done the first bit.

folks, there are rules. and we don't measure up.
that was true then, it's true now. god's grace is all over the old testament, and it's all over the new testament, and it should be all over our lives.
hang on to it.

v12

v12 is a quote from lev 18:5 (it's a section in which god is saying that the law must be kept. for real.)

However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM."

got it? the law, as a system, says you need to follow it.

v13,14

v13 is a quote from deut 21:23 (it's a section about what to do if you hang a criminals body on a tree, telling them to take it down and not leave it hanging there, because it's disgraceful before god).

13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"--
14. in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

so, 13 is kind of a loose quote.

deut is talking about how super bad criminals had their bodies hung out publically, and how you shouldn't leave them there to rot - because even if they're double evil, they were still made in the image of god and deserve some respect.
paul references the idea of the curse associated with publicly hanging on a tree, and reminds us that someone did publicly suffer and die for us, becoming our curse.
christ.

christs suffering was necessary for abrahams promise

progress of redemption!
the blessing of abraham, to all the nations...it's christ.

so. god makes a plan to bless the world by having christ be our curse.
and the galatians are screwing that up by misinterpreting the law.

no wonder he's upset.

3. the confusing bits: v15-21 (really, just 15-16 about abraham)

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.

this is a bit of an awkward place to stop.
i'm stopping here because we don't have time to finish the chapter, or even to finish the discussion on what the law's purpose actually is.
jeff will hit that next week for you.

v15 grrrclunk - gear change

so...we've been talking about the covenant in a 'rabbinic' sense.
we're gonna switch stuff up here, just for a verse. no rabbi here, just dude.

"brethren, i speak in human terms. even if you and i sign a contract, can we change it?"
no.

and how did abe get righteous? faith.
you want to change that now? OH BUMMER I'M SORRY YOU CAN'T DEAL WITH IT.

v16 - the last bit about abe. and it's a doozy.

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.

ok - seeds or seed.
well...this is tricky. in genesis, the word is a collective singular. it is a singular used of a plural.
people get kind of upset about this - he is making a bit deal about seed / seeds!, but it means lots. GAH!
specifically, i think we're quoting back to gen 22:18, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

so...paul is basically arguing that the intent of the original promise was the fulfillment brought by christ at the cross.
so...the genesis promise, given in a collective singular, has a collective and singular fulfillment.
many, because many are blessed by the nation of israel. singular, because it happens because of christ.
remember that the promise kind of works like this a bit...

ok. trivia time. how many kids did abraham have?
bunches! yes! bunches! there's isaac. and ishmael. you know them.
and "Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah."
and donner and blitzen and prancer and vixen.

so...descendent is already a bit of a singular/plural issue. and the folks arguing the OT would know that, even if we don't.

v17,18 - back to the part about not changing agreements.

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.

paul summarizes what he's gettin' at.
the law, which comes after the promise to abraham, doesn't undo what came before it.

for the record. if you like this sort of thing.
romans 4, he does it again, that time talking about how circumcision with abraham occured after god had declared abraham rightous.
that meant that circumcision wasn't a prerequisite...order is important.

v18 drives the point further, by reminding us what kind of deal god made with abraham.

did god give abraham a law? DID GOD GIVE ABRAHAM A LAW. say WHAT again.
NO.

abraham received a promise from god. not a law. god gave to abraham, and that is where salvation comes from.

OK - recap.

god made a promise to abraham that "all the nations would be blessed in you". the rest of the bible shows this playing out.
abraham believed that god would be able to do what he said he would do - he believed god in thought and action.
god considered him righteous because of this belief.

when the law came, the law talked about the curse associated with sin.
unless you keep the whole law, you are guilty.
but...abraham was rigtheous before the law. the promise to abraham that starts everything was before the law.
the law fits into the system (or covenant) of the promise to abraham, not vice versa.

this is not an application heavy week.

this isn't a passage that calls on you to 'do' anything.
here are a few thoughts though:

- the bible is extrordinarily consistent

the new testament is not bolted on to the old testament.
the whole thing grows consistently, in a way that is at once unexpected and connected.
read it that way.
if you're like me, and ever wonder about whether it's all true or not, factor that into your thoughts.

- god has planned to give righteousness to the world from the start; that's the story of the bible.

christ's sacrifice was not a sudden addition, a change of plans, or anything else.

that's basically what paul is trying to show here.
it started that way (before the law), it finishes that way...it's always been that way.

that says some things about god and how he works. think about that a bit.

- finally...an easy one.

you aren't good enough
you can't be.
god knows this.
god loves you and has made a way to give you the rightousness you need.

to close, i'll read romans 4:1-8

1. What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
2. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
3. For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."
4. Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
5. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
6. just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7. "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN,
AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.
8. "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."

the law (HUH). what is it good for?
or, all about how the law shows us our need for justification by faith.

22. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
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, so that we may be justified by faith.

i'd like to teach, the world to sing...
or, the promise fulfilled: unity and rejoicing

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 descendants, heirs according to promise.

intro: remember what we're talking about