The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 15

Paul Further Elaborates on the Galatians Sonship through Christ

Galatians 4:1-7 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. KJV

Paul again reiterates what he has said earlier in the last Chapter about the Galatians and our “sonship” through “faith in Christ Jesus”, but he now explains his concept by comparing a child in a wealthy family with one of the servants of that same family. Paul’s explanation here in this first verse can be better understood by looking at Prince George of England born to Prince William and his wife Kate just a few years ago, however, right now he is no different than the Nanny that is hired by the family to care for him daily. As long as he is still a toddler or minor child, he cannot share in his Father’s wealth, even though it is his legal right as heir to his Father, he is still excluded from all of the Father’s wealth and the knowledge of it until he comes of age and therefore, Prince George be the Master of nothing at all now. As a child Prince George (though he be an heir), is under the governing rule of his Father’s family and house rules of conduct and behavior as is the case in any family who truly love their children they are restrained by these rules of conduct and behavior, not for their punishment, but because of love in order for their protection.

Paul declares that likewise the Jewish Nation was tied to the Mosaic Law as a restraint for them until the appointed time when the Messiah would come and fulfill every one of those meticulous (i.e. marked by precise accordance with details) Ceremonial Laws given to them by Moses and passed downed or handed down to every Generation that would follow. The observance of the Mosaic Law was bondage for the Jewish Nation and they could never live up to its requirements and this is why they began to add-on their own man made traditions as our Lord Jesus protested in opposition to them doing so in Mark 7:1-13. Paul wants the Galatians and us to understand that those Jews now who still see the need to add the “Law” to “faith in Jesus Christ” are misguided not realizing that before Christ came the Jews were loaded down with all of these meticulous laws to teach or instruct them and prepare them for the “One” who these Ceremonies pictured and pointed to who would fulfill them all in Himself as Paul said in Colossians 2:9-23.

Paul wants the Galatians and us to understand that the Old Testament Jews were “servants” of God and not “sons” being commanded and obligated to carry out all of those Ceremonial rites without even fully understanding why they were required, but as for the Galatians and us today, we are no longer looked upon as mere “servants”, but Christ Jesus our Lord has procured for us the right to adoption as full grown adult “sons of God” and the Galatians and us know His will through the Holy Spirit “in us” and the Word of God given to us in the manner our Lord Jesus declared to the first Apostles with these words, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.” (John 15:12-17).

These words would have been foreign to the Old Testament Jew and this is one of the reasons why they rejected our Lord Jesus Christ as being their long awaited Messiah, because they could not understand this speech from Him, it was hidden from their understanding as they were expecting their Messiah to come in as a conquering King to destroy the Gentile Roman dogs and then sit on the Throne of David ruling over the entire world with them as loyal subjects. The idea that God would look upon every individual Jew as His son was not what the Jews anticipated. Paul (being a Jew) once believed in the same manner, and therefore, he wants the Galatians and us today to see the great contrast between the Gospel of Grace verses the Law of Moses.

Our Lord Jesus was born through a woman just like every other baby, with the exception of God providing the “Seed” being His Father (Luke 1:35). Our Lord Jesus was born a Jew under the Mosaic Law being like every other Jew subject to it as we see when Mary and Joseph brought Him to the Temple to be circumcised the 8^th day as every Jewish boy was, “And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’ (Luke 2:21-24).

Our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled every jot and tittle of God’s Law in His Perfect Life and His Sin bearing death as He declared with these words, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18). Paul wants these Galatians and us to see that no Old Testament Jew (not even Moses) kept every part of God’s Law down to the smallest jot or tittle and that is why it is futile for them to add the “Law” to “faith in Christ”, when “in Christ” all of God’s Law is fully, completely, and finally fulfilled in Him only. Henceforth, He (Christ) alone could redeem the Galatians and us or buy us back from the sure penalty of death (physical, spiritual, and eternal death) that God’s Law demands for all of its transgressors (Ephesians 1:7-14).

It is solely and only through regeneration and the new birth that these Galatians and us today are adopted as sons and daughters of God and become privileged as heirs to all that is in the Father’s House. Therefore, it is God the Father (upon seeing the Galatians and us “in Christ”) who sends forth the “promise” Paul talked about we have as “sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7) which is God the Holy Spirit in our hearts or inner man producing in us the desire to pray or commune with our Heavenly Daddy as any earthly child wants to talk long and often with his or her earthly daddy. For the Spirit of adoption is the Spirit of Prayer with God the Father as we just documented our Lord Jesus saying in John 15:16 above and it is only by the Holy Spirit that we declare Jesus Christ Lord of our lives as Paul wrote in this manner to the Corinthians, “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3).

My own Personal Note: It is not the desire of a full grown son to please his Father by observing and keeping rules or laws, but because the son loves his Father, he wants to do everything to please him and when he does anything that he knows will displease or grieve the heart of his Father, he immediately ask for forgiveness in order that there be no broken fellowship with the Father he loves so dearly. This is the true and only picture of all those who have received the Spirit of Adoption (through regeneration and new birth) crying out in prayer “Daddy”, Father!

“The Apostle often uses the word elements or “rudiments,” Galatians 4:3; Galatians 4:9; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:20. High and holy as was the Mosaic legislation in itself, yet when it was imposed upon inquiring minds as necessary to salvation, Paul spoke of it as belonging to an age that had passed away and to a system that was already antiquated. The whole purpose of God in sending forth His Son was to redeem us from under the Law, that we might enjoy the liberty and joy of the Father’s home. We are no longer infants under age, or servants, but sons, and if sons, then heirs of God. There is often a slavishness among professing Christians that is sadly out of keeping with their rightful position in Christ. Do not be scrupulous or over-anxious. Do not be punctilious. Live in your Father’s house in constant freedom of heart. Remember that you are under the same roof as Christ, and are therefore allowed to avail yourself of all His grace and help. Refuse no task, however irksome, that God sets before you; and do not worry about irksome rules or petty vexations.” F. B. Meyer

“The son obeys out of love, while the servant obeys out of fear. The Spirit works in the heart of the believer to quicken and increase his love for God. ‘The fruit of the Spirit is love’ (Galatians 5:22). ‘The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 5:5). The Judaizers told the Galatians that they would become better Christians by submitting to the law, but the law can never produce obedience. Only love can do that. ‘If ye love Me, keep My commandments’ (John 14:15). Warren Wiersbe

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 14

Paul Declares the Galatians Sons of God and Heirs of God

Galatians 3:26-29 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. KJV

Paul concludes this portion of his letter with the glorious result of the “Laws” purpose and work of ushering every sinner to the foot of the Cross of Christ and in so doing these Galatians are now children of God by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The “Law” never made anyone children of God. In the Old Testament God never referred to the people of Israel as His children, but rather my people as He spoke in this manner, “Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:12-14). Paul wants the Galatians and us today to see the complete contrast between what the Jewish people experienced with God through the “Law of Moses” verses “faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” as we declared in the last study the outward manifestation of God’s Law to the Jewish Nation, but the inward manifestation of God’s Law to all He gives the right to become His adopted children (John 1:12-13). The Prophet Jeremiah prophesied of this reality coming to fruition as we documented in the last study in Jeremiah 31:33-34.

Prior to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s birth as a Man and His Perfect, Sinless Life lived, and then His death for man’s sin, the Galatians and every other Gentile person were alienated from the One True God and all the blessing that are derived from Him as Paul wrote to the Ephesian Gentiles in Ephesians 2:11-22. However, now Paul wants these Galatians and us to see ourselves as we really are sons and daughters of God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul declares them God’s children by virtue of being “baptized into Christ” and this baptism is twofold in nature; 1) They and we were baptized into Christ Body “The Church” by God the Holy Spirit at our regeneration and new birth as Paul declared in this manner to the Corinthian believers, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks (Gentiles), whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13). 2) They and we acknowledge our receiving the Lord Jesus Christ by being baptized in water picturing our death to sin and resurrection to new life “in Christ” as Paul wrote to the Roman believers in this manner, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:3-7).

Paul means with the English phrase “having put on” that they and we are united or joined with Christ into a single entity. The Greek word is enduo which means to sink into a garment. Paul declared this meaning in several places in his letters, but what he wrote this way to the Corinthians best characterizes what he means here, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, ‘The two shall become one flesh.’ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” ( 1 Corinthians 6:15-20). Paul wants them and us to see that we are no longer tied to or governed by some “external laws”, but they and we are now members of Christ Body (literally) by virtue of His Spirit residing or living in us, therefore, what in the world would they or we want to add anything to this truth and reality for salvation or to get us closer to God.

The mistake Paul wants these Galatians and us to see that proceeded forth from those Jews who wanted others to add observance of the “Law of Moses” to “Faith in Christ Jesus” was their skewed thinking that the “Law” would be done away with if it were not added on, but Paul in writing to the Roman believers showed with these words how “in Christ” the “Law” is not abolished but fulfilled, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. DO WE THEN NULLIFY THE LAW THROUGH FAITH? MAY IT NEVER BE! ON THE CONTRARY, WE ESTABLISH THE LAW.” (Romans 3:21-31).

Finally, Paul declares everyone equal “in Christ” and no one above another by virtue of race, class, or even sex. Paul wanted all those during that time to understand that all of the Jewish societal hierarchy and the Gentile hierarchy were done away with for the children of God and that all Gentile converts to Christ were likewise the “seed” of Abraham, not in the physical sense, but spiritually through “faith in Jesus Christ” the “Seed” of Abraham. Therefore, these Galatians and us today are “heirs of God” according to the “promise” and an heir of God the Father shares in or is partaker of all that He is and has which is far beyond our human comprehension as the Apostle John wrote in this manner when he said, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1 John 3:1-2) and also as Paul wrote in this manner, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) and again as Paul wrote in this manner, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:15-17).

My own Personal Note: If we stoop so low as to add anything to “faith in our Lord Jesus Christ”, then we are saying to Him that He is not enough and His ability to keep us from sin and Satan is without efficacy, i.e. (the capacity or power to produce the desired effect of our complete salvation), but our Lord Jesus tells us this in His Word, “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:23-25).

“It is faith in Christ then which constitutes its sons of God. This principle is the foundation-stone of the Christian life. In the Old Testament the sonship of believers lay in shadow. Jehovah was ‘the King, the Lord of Hosts,’ the ‘Shepherd of Israel.’ They are ‘His people, the sheep of His pasture’-‘My servant Jacob,’ He says, ‘Israel whom I have chosen.’ If He is named Father, it is of the collective Israel, not the individual; otherwise the title occurs only in figure and apostrophe. The promise of this blessedness had never been explicitly given under the Covenant of Moses. The assurance quoted in 2 Corinthians 6:18 is pieced together from scattered hints of prophecy. Old-Testament faith hardly dared to dream of such a privilege as this. It is not ascribed even to Abraham. Only to the kingly ‘Son of David’ is it said, ‘I will be a Father unto him; and he shall be to me for a son.’ (2 Samuel 7:14).” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 13

Paul Declares the Laws Purpose Part 4

Galatians 3:24-25 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. KJV

Paul is now coming to the close of his declaration of God’s purpose for giving man His Law. We saw in the last study that the “Law” guarded man as a garrison of military troops would guard any military installation. However, now the Apostle Paul concludes by telling these Galatians and us that God’s Law was given by Him to serve as a “schoolmaster” for the Jewish people. The English word “schoolmaster” is the closes word in the English language to describe what Paul meant here. The Greek word it is derived from is paidagogos which means a boy leader, that is, a servant, whose office it was to take the children to school; by implication or figuratively a tutor or Greek word paedagogue or an instructor. Paul here is making reference to what the readers of his letter back then would understand, but for us today this is foreign. Here is perhaps the best description I have found that clearly, coherently, and completely explains what the responsibilities entailed, “The ‘paedagogue’ was a sort of nursery governor, a confidential servant in the Greek household, commonly a slave, who had charge of the boy from his infancy, and was responsible for his oversight. In his food, his clothes, his home-lessons, his play, his walks-at every point the paedagogue was required to wait upon his young charge, and to control his movements. Amongst other offices, his tutor might have to conduct the boy to school.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary.

Therefore, Paul’s purpose in making this reference to the “paedagogue” is to parallel God’s Law to man in the exact same office, with the same responsibilities to train man up for faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews were distorting the “Laws” purpose and trying to make it the means or access by which one is justified before God. Paul disputed those claims when he wrote to Brother Timothy with these words, “For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.” (1 Timothy 6-11). The “Law” was never meant to convert man, but instead to expose or uncover man’s sin in order that the sinner would be led to our Lord Jesus Christ to be washed from sin in His blood and made new by Him. Our Lord Jesus met with this hardened religious zeal void of knowledge by the Jews during His 31/2 year earthly ministry as documented by these words He spoke to them, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40).

Therefore, Paul’s conclusion is that God’s Law (Moral and Ceremonial) is not to be added to faith in our Lord Jesus, but Christ by His Perfect obedient life, then His death as sin’s sacrifice, and His Resurrection from the dead fulfilled all of the Moral Law and the Ceremonial Law. Paul said it very clearly here in this manner to the Roman believers when he wrote, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4). We must remember that Paul’s whole desire here in this letter is to squash the Juadizers teaching that “faith in Christ” is not enough and that the “Law of Moses” with all of its ceremonies must still be observed in order for a sinner to be justified before God. Paul wants to show them that the “Law of Moses” never took away the sin of the Jews, but it only regulated their lives. The writer of Hebrews captures this very point perfectly when he writes, “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:1-4).

Not only didn’t the Jews ever have the burden or the heavy load or the weight of their sins lifted from their heart and soul, but their conscious constantly and continually reminded them of their guilt before God and likewise they never knew release from sins gripping power in their heart and souls. Freedom from sins power was never satisfied by the blood of bulls or goats, but “in Christ”, that is true faith “in Christ” through His atoning blood we find what the “Law of God” was trying to covey to us all along. Our “High Priest” Jesus Christ has procured for us a far better covenant as the writer of Hebrews puts in this way, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6). Under the Mosaic dispensation, the “moral law of God” was written on tablets of stone, but under the Gospel dispensation, when we turn to Christ and are born again by Him, He then writes His Moral Law upon our hearts or inner man (Jeremiah 31:33). In these two verses Paul gives his final answer or declaration of God’s purpose for given His Law to man through Moses as he so eloquently declared it with these words on his first missionary journey, “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him (Jesus Christ) everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.” (Acts 13:38-39).

My own Personal Note: God the Father knew exactly what He was doing when He introduced the “Law” into humanity, because He knew that the Jews lives needed regulation or an authoritative rule that governed their behavior not change it. He also knew that His Law would lead His “elect” sons and daughters to our Lord Jesus Christ to receive what the governing “Law” could never give us and that is new spiritual life on the inside or in our inner man and woman as the writer of Hebrews says with these words, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God,  And they shall be My people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more. When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” (Hebrews 8:10-13).

“When Christ was manifested in the flesh, and the Gospel was preached, we were no longer under the paedagogue; we came to Christ, learned of Him, became wise unto salvation, had our fruit unto holiness, and the end eternal life.” Adam Clarke

“The great fault and folly of the Jews, in mistaking the design of the law, and abusing it to a very different purpose from that which God intended in the giving of it; for they expected to be justified by the works of it, whereas it was never designed to be the rule of their justification, but only a means of convincing them of their guilt and of their need of a Savior, and of directing them to Christ, and faith in Him, as the only way of obtaining this privilege.” Matthew Henry

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 12

Paul Declares the Laws Purpose Part 3

Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. KJV

Paul now becomes very specific in what God’s purpose was for giving His “Law” to man. It was that man would be “kept” by His “Law”. This English phrase “we were kept” is translated from the Greek word phroureo which means to mount guard or guard from loss or injury, properly by keeping the eye upon or figuratively to hem in, attend to, and to protect as with a garrison/fortified military troops protecting classified military equipment and personnel. God’s “Law” was not only given by Him to reveal to us the exceeding sinfulness of our sin, but also to protect man from the consequences or built in spiritual and physical fruit of entering into sinful behavior or lifestyles. Paul is going to paint this picture in clearer terms in Chapter 6 of this same letter when he writes, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8).

The Law of God cannot be broken by man without receiving the “just” reward or fruit in so doing. Paul has already earlier declared that there is a “curse” (Galatians 3:10) attached to every human being still “under the law”, but the Law of God is not cursed it is perfect and good as Paul declares to the Romans in this manner, “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Romans 7:12). The problem is not with the Law of God, but instead it is with the heart of man or the inner man or the real man. Paul declares these Galatians and us “shut up” under the law or the Greek word for this phrase sugkleio which means or denotes being in union with the law or that is by association possession and companionship with the law; figuratively to embrace in a common subjection or to be enclosed into the law, i.e. surrounded completely (1 Corinthians 15:56).

Literally every human being born of woman has the “curse of God’s Law” enclosed inside their human nature inherited from our Parents Adam and Eve. Paul writes this to the Roman believers, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). “The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:23 that every human being (i.e., all humanity) born into this world after Adam’s fall holds sin as a possession, a condition, and a relation. We are united to sin by the result of our fallen nature. We are, therefore, incapable in this spiritual state and condition to praise, worship, honor, and glorify God (which is what we were created to do).” Excerpt from My Book entitled “Silent Assassins of the Soul: Finding Freedom from Sexual Impurity through the Lord Jesus Christ, A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs”.

Paul writes this very theory to the Roman believers again with these words, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” (Romans 7:14). “I want to examine three key words in Romans 7:14 to shed some light on our number one enemy (man’s fallen nature). At first glance, you might think that the Apostle Paul is distinguishing himself and all men as fleshly and living in a body. When we examine the three words “spiritual,” “carnal,” and “sold” in this verse and learn their proper meanings, however, we discover something completely and entirely different. The first word, spiritual, comes from the Greek word pneumatikos, which means divinely supernatural and regenerate. The second word, carnal, comes from the Greek word sarkikos, which means unregenerate. The third word, sold, comes from the Greek word pipraskoprao, which means to traffic, that is, to dispose of as merchandise or into slavery. Now when we amplify this verse of scripture it reads as follows: Romans 7:14 (AMP): For we know that the law is spiritual (divinely supernatural and regenerate): but I am carnal (unregenerate), sold (into slavery) under sin.” Excerpt from My Book entitled “Silent Assassins of the Soul: Finding Freedom from Sexual Impurity through the Lord Jesus Christ, A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs”.

We see that God’s Law does nothing to cure man’s sin, but instead it even exacerbates or worsens man’s sinfulness until our Lord Jesus Christ was born of a woman, born under the law, and died for our sins, resurrected from the dead to release us from the curse of the law and the dominion or dominating power sin has over unregenerate man by virtue of legal attachment as Paul declared to the Romans with these words, “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21). Unregenerate man is kept or phroureo and shut up or sugkleio “under the law” until faith be revealed or apokalupto which means when faith is uncovered or disclosed and this happened when Christ Jesus our Lord came to earth as the God-Man.

However, now for those Galatians and us who are “in Christ” by way of “faith”, we are no longer “under the law” as Paul wrote in this manner to the Roman believers, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:14-18).

My own Personal Note: God’s Law is like a boundary line that if crossed, then sure and certain consequences (harsh in nature) in crossing that line will be the result. God’s Laws are not suggested to man for his approval or disapproval, but it was given to man to accept like it or not and came from Mount Saini with associated lightning and thunder as we documented in our last study. The Law of God was meant to guard man and enclose him into a place of confinement that he could not break out of until “faith” was uncovered in the Person of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. There is no fulfillment of God’s Law apart from “faith in Jesus Christ” and when His Love is shed abroad in our hearts, then and only then is the Law of God fulfilled (Romans 5:5-8), also as Paul wrote here to the Roman believers, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10).

“Enclosed by the Law with reference to the full and glorious revelation of a system of salvation by faith. The design and tendency of the Law was to shut us up to that as the only method of salvation. All other means failed. The Law condemned every other mode, and the Law condemned all who attempted to be justified in any other way. Man, therefore, was shut up to that as his last hope; and could look only to that for any possible prospect of salvation. The word which in this verse is rendered “were kept” usually means to guard or watch, as in a castle, or as prisoners are guarded; and though the word should not be pressed too far in the interpretation, yet it implies that there was a rigid scrutiny observed; that the Law guarded them; that there was no way of escape; and that they were shut up. as prisoners under sentence of death, to the only hope, which was that of pardons. That was the only hope. The Law condemned them, and offered no hope of escape. Their only hope was in that system which was to be revealed through the Messiah, the system which extended forgiveness on the ground of faith in His atoning blood.” Albert Barnes

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 11

Paul Declares the Laws Purpose Part 2

Galatians 3:21-22 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. KJV

As we saw at the close of Part 1 confirmed by the Scripture, Moses (the mediator or mesites of God’s Law to Israel) knew that this Law was not meant to change the people, but only to hold them accountable for their transgressions. Paul takes the Galatians to task immediately with this very point by asking and answering the question of “God’s Law” verses “His Promise” and wants to bring back to their hearts and minds the method by which they received their salvation, unless they believed in vain (Galatians 3:4) and our Lord Jesus Christ death was in vain (Galatians 2:21). Paul’s purpose here is to continue to enlighten them so they can now clearly see the reason why God the Father gave His Law through Moses in the first place to Israel.

Therefore, Paul now expounds further on the limitations of the “Law” to man. The “Law” was external and it came down from the Mountain with lightning and thunder and the people of Israel were terrified and did not want to approach God because of that fear as Moses documented with these words, “All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.’” (Exodus 20:18-20). We see that at the reception of God’s Law to Israel the people were not motivated by the Law of God to draw near to Him, but instead they “stood at a distance”.

However, God’s Law was and is Holy and Perfect, but there was not and is not now any “life” in the Law of God. The English word “life” Paul uses here is from the Greek word zoopoieo which means to vitalize or re-vitalize literally or figuratively to make alive, give life, or quicken. Paul (under inspiration of God the Holy Spirit) understood both the goodness/purity of the Law of God at the same time the incompetence/ineffectual capacity of the Law of God to impart the supernatural “life” of God to its hearers. Paul confirmed this theological truth when he wrote in this manner to the believers in Rome, “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:4-7).

It is solely and only by virtue of having “God’s Life” freely given to the sinner (upon believing God, “faith in Jesus Christ”) that he or she is made righteous before God. Paul declares that God’s Word has placed every person under sin or in an inferior position before Him because of their inherited “sin nature” from Adam and Eve, as we declared and documented in the previous study in Part 1. Therefore, since we have documented (through the Apostle Paul’s writings) that despite the Law of God’s goodness/purity that it has no power at all to impart, transmit, or provide the quality and character to the sinner that would make them acceptable to God, then the only conclusion for these Galatians and for us is to give up or renounce the usage of the Moral Law or the Jewish Ceremonial Law for any purpose of justification before God. What the “Law” could not do, God did by sending His Son our Lord Jesus Christ to take on Himself man’s sin and then die for those sins (Romans 8:3). The “life” or zoopoieo that Paul refers to here is then freely given to the true believer in Jesus Christ as he wrote in this manner to the Ephesian believers, “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1).

Here Paul meant to be made alive spiritually to God having the veil (that which obscures or conceals) over the continuously sinful heart removed by the “covenant of promise” to Abraham’s “Seed” and that is “faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” as Paul wrote so wonderfully to the Corinthian believers with these words, “But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory. Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the Old Covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2 Corinthians 3:7-16).

My own Personal Note: God never intended for His Law to be so misused and misappropriated as the children of Israel had done. When God came to this earth “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19), our Lord Jesus demonstrated His disdain for the way the Jewish Scribes and Pharisees had so despicably perverted His Law for profit with absolutely zero regard for spiritual truth and the spiritual well-being of the people of Israel (just read Matthew 23), but likewise we see His Heart broken at the end of that same chapter (Matthew 23:37-39) because of their spiritual blindness. 

“Is the law (which involves a mediator) against the promises of God (which are without a mediator, and rest on God alone and immediately)? God forbid.” life — The law, as an externally prescribed rule, can never internally impart spiritual life to men naturally dead in sin, and change the disposition. If the law had been a law capable of giving life, “verily (in very reality, and not in the mere fancy of legalists) righteousness would have been by the law (for where life is, there righteousness, its condition, must also be).” But the law does not pretend to give life, and therefore not righteousness; so there is no opposition between the law and the promise. Righteousness can only come through the promise to Abraham, and through its fulfillment in the Gospel of grace.” JFB Commentary

“Law shows the sinner his guilt, and grace shows him the forgiveness, he can have in Christ. The law is ‘holy, and just, and good’ (Romans 7:12), but we are unholy, unjust, and bad. The law does not make us sinners; it reveals to us that we already are sinners (see Romans 3:20). The law is a mirror that helps us see our ‘dirty faces’ (James 1:22-25), but you do not wash your face with the mirror! It is grace that provides the through the blood of Jesus Christ (see 1 John 1:7).” Warren W. Wiersbe

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 10

Paul Declares the Laws Purpose Part 1

Galatians 3:19-20 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. KJV

Paul now answers the question that he knew surely would come from his Jewish detractors concerning the Law of Moses and that is why did God even give Moses His Law if it did not have a purpose? This question coming from Jews would not only refer to the Ten Commandments, but also the many ceremonial laws Moses was given through the ministration of angels (Psalms 68:17 & Acts 7:53) as we find detailed in the Book of Exodus and the Book of Leviticus. Paul writes that Moses was God’s mediator of His Law to the people of Israel. The English word mediator is translated by the Greek word mesites which means a go between or intercessor as Moses wrote concerning The LORD (YAHWEH), himself, and the people of Israel when he said, “Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: ‘Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully. The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. The LORD spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, while I was standing between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said, ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’” (Deuteronomy 5:1-6).

Paul declares however, that a mediator or mesites must have two parties to serve as did Moses above with God and Israel concerning God’s Law, but as concerning the promise of God made by covenant with Abraham, no mediator or mesites is applicable because Abraham is not here to serve as the second party with God the Father. Also, Moses was not even alive when God made this “covenant of promise” with Abraham, therefore, Moses has no part at all with the “promise”, but solely and only with the “Law” of God. Moses declares and testifies of his separation from the “promise” when he warned the nation Israel from following after the evil practices of the nation’s (Deuteronomy 18:9-14) God would drive out of the land and give to Israel as He promised them through Abraham, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to Him (the Lord Jesus Christ).” (Deuteronomy 18:15). Moses knew that his ministration of the “Law of God” to the people of Israel was not meant to supplant God’s “covenant of promise” to Abraham’s “Seed” our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ opposed the Jews ignorance of this truth and their putting all their hope in Moses and the Law as He told them that Moses would stand as judge against them and their ignorance (John 5:39-47).

Despite the fact that the “Law” was not given to man until Moses, man still bore testimony of the “Law” in their consciences even during the days before God gave His “Law” to man. Paul wrote that very idea when he said this to the Romans, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 2:14-16). The “Law” was given on the stone tablets on Mount Saini to show mankind the exceedingly sinfulness of their sin in the light or comparison to a perfect, pristine, and pure God.

The dreaded and dreadful enemy of every person Jew or Gentile is the “sinful nature” we inherited from our parents Adam and Eve, therefore, because this nature is “unseen” in the “inner man”, God gave His “Law” through angels to Moses, so that every man’s mouth would be shut (Romans 3:19) and closed tightly before Him thinking that “in them” there resides any goodness (Romans 7:18). It is the bent of every person (even now) to think of or consider themselves to be “good people” as they compare themselves with others, but when we compare ourselves to God (as we see His perfect and pure “Goodness”) in His “Law” we are undone as Isaiah wrote in this manner, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.” (Isaiah 64:6-7). When any sinner is truly justified by “faith in Jesus Christ”, they hear the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ (at that instant, moment, or time of their conversion/new birth) saying as He did to so many in the Gospels, “And He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:48). Observance of the “Law” is futile to sinful humanity and can never bring about this great assurance!

My own Personal Note: The mistake that the Jews made so long ago (regarding God’s Moral and Ceremonial Law given to them through Moses) and have handed down to every Jewish generation since is that the “Law” was somehow God’s method of correcting their sin before Him, but when we listen to the words written by Moses himself in Deuteronomy 18:9-22 it is clear that Moses understood that “One” was coming after him and greater than him who would fulfill God’s long waited for “promise” to Abraham that the “Law” could never do.

“The moral law was added to the promise to discover and restrain transgressions, to convince men of their guilt, and need of the promise, and give some check to sin. And this law passeth not away; but the ceremonial law was only introduced till Christ, the seed to or through whom the promise was made, should come. And it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator - It was not given to Israel, like the promise to Abraham, immediately from God Himself; but was conveyed by the ministry of angels to Moses, and delivered into his hand as a mediator between God and them, to remind them of the great Mediator.” John Wesley

“And the word transgression, by its Pauline and Jewish usage, compels us to this view. Transgression presupposes law. It is the specific form which sin takes under law-the reaction of sin against law. What was before a latent tendency, a bias of disposition, now starts to light as a flagrant, guilty fact. By bringing about repeated transgressions the Law reveals the true nature of sin, so that it ‘becomes exceeding sinful.’ It does not make matters worse; but it shows how bad they really are. It aggravates the disease, in order to bring it to a crisis. And this is a necessary step towards the cure.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 9

Paul describes God’s Promise to Abraham as Immutable

Galatians 3:15-18 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. KJV

Paul once again recognizes these Churches in Galatia as his brothers “in Christ” despite his ignoring it at the beginning of his letter due to the urgency of disputing the “bewitching” teaching that many had given themselves over to from the Jewish legalist. Paul knew these people were his brothers and sisters “in Christ”, for he was God’s human instrument in bringing the Gospel to them and witnessing their conversion to Christ, but now Paul’s heart and soul is filled with a deep concern for their spiritual well-being and growth in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wants to completely crush this false teaching that many of them have received, for he knows that there is no way they will ever reach full maturity “in Christ” by striving to do so in the flesh. Paul now is going to detail for them how the “Law” that God gave to the Jews (through Moses) cannot ever change, replace, or make void the “promise” He (God) made to Abraham (John 1:17).

Paul refers to this “covenant of promise” through Abraham as we would view a parents or grandparents “last will and testament” which is only appropriated by the “heirs” of said parents or grandparents and that would be sons and daughters or grandsons and granddaughters. Therefore, as through Abraham’s “Seed” “Christ” these brethren the Galatians and us have become “heirs” by virtue of sonship as Paul details to the Roman believers with these words, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:15-17).

Likewise also as the writer of Hebrews declared so emphatically with these words, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.’ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:13-20).

Paul points out to them by using sinful man as an example declaring that not even a human ordained covenant or solemn agreement between two human parties can be nullified, shown to be invalid, or deprived of its legal binding authority. Therefore, how much more the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient God’s promised covenant to Abraham that his “Seed” would bless every nation on the earth be made void by the “Law” that He Himself gave to man, because man never even knew that such “Law” even existed.  Through “faith in Christ Jesus” God the Father has given birth to a redeemed, regenerated, and reborn human race that are distinct from the rest of humanity solely and only because of what Christ Jesus has done for us (justification by faith) and to us (being sanctified by faith) and finally (glorification by the same faith) (Romans 8:29-30) in making us united with Him through repentance and believing the Gospel of Grace.

The promised Messiah did not come until 1911 years plus or minus after God made this promise to Abraham, but God gave His “Law” to Moses 430 years plus or minus after He made this promise to Abraham. Why did God wait 1411 years plus or minus before Christ was born to Mary? Paul gives an answer in the following Chapter to these Galatians and to us when he writes, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4). God the Father (who sees the end from the beginning) waited until the Roman Empire had dominance over the world. Historians document that during Rome’s reign and rule, they built many roadways or travel paths that were much easier to navigate than before and this was critical for the Lord Jesus’ Apostles who would make their way throughout the world proclaiming the Gospel of Grace. Also the manner of our Lord Jesus’ death had already been prophesied by King David in Psalms 22 and crucifixion had not even been done until the Romans came into power and dominance. The “fullness of the time came” with the emergence of the Roman people as dominant over most of the earth and then our Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem under the “Law”, lived for 33 years obeying the “Law” in word, thought, and deed, laid down His Life as a sinless sacrifice on the Roman Cross, was buried, then 3 days later was Resurrected from the dead and so fulfilled every Prophecy regarding His first coming to this earth and redeeming us from the “Laws” curse.

Finally, in verse 17 Paul concludes his lecture to these Galatians on the permanence of God’s Covenant with Abraham with the English phrase “cannot disannul” which is translated from the Greek word akuroo which means not capable of invalidating or making of no effect. God made this “covenant” with Abraham and not the reverse of Abraham making a “covenant” with God (Genesis 12:3). Therefore, this is the evidence of the immutability or as the writer of Hebrews put it above the unchangeableness of the promise because its origin was Divinely given to man through Abraham’s “Seed that is our Lord Jesus Christ” and by the way once again God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). The English word “promise” is translated from the Greek word epaggelia which means an announcement for information, assent or pledge, but most specifically it means a Divine assurance of good. Paul uses this word epaggelia four (4) times in this short span of his letter to drive home the point to these Galatians and to us that God has made “One Way” only for sinful humanity to be right with Him and not even the “Law” that He Himself gave to man can change His promise before He even framed the foundations of the world as He first introduced to Adam and Eve before Abraham or Moses were even born (Genesis 3:15).

My own Personal Note: Paul uses very clear cut language in these verses of his letter to these Galatian Churches with the “one goal” at hand and that goal was to crush, demolish, and squash the idea that the Jewish legalist were spreading about the land as a cancerous plague. The notion that someone could come to “faith in Christ” and then add the requirement that the Jews and Gentiles who did so, must now keep the Law of Moses was complete heresy according to the Apostle Paul. Paul wants the Galatians and us to understand and know with complete confidence and no uncertainty that anything added to Gospel of Grace is an abomination or perversion of the true Gospel as he declared at the very beginning of his letter (Galatians 1:6-10) and is to be rejected violently and likewise are the people declaring such a perversion (2 John 1:7-11). Paul declares God’s Promise to Abraham of “faith in Jesus Christ” as the final authority on salvation and the way of righteousness as he wrote in this manner to the Colossian believers, “He is also head of the body, the Church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.” (Colossians 1:18-23).

“It is from Christ that the grace flows which constitutes Christians. Christians are those who believe after the example of Abraham; they therefore are the spiritual seed. Christ, working in and by these, makes them the light and salt of the world; and through them, under and by Christ, are all the nations of the earth blessed. This appears to be the most consistent interpretation, though everything must be understood of Christ in the first instance, and then of Christians only through Him.” Adam Clarke

“When a man amongst ourselves bequeaths his property, and his will is publicly attested, its directions are scrupulously observed; to tamper with them is a crime. Shall we have less respect to this Divine settlement, this venerable charter of human salvation? You say, The Law of Moses has its rights: it must be taken into account as well as the Promise to Abraham. True; but it has no power to cancel or restrict the Promise, older by four centuries and a half. The later must be adjusted to the earlier dispensation, the Law interpreted by the Promise. God has not made two testaments-the one solemnly committed to, the faith and hope of mankind, only to be retracted and substituted by something of a different stamp. He could not thus stultify Himself. And we must not apply the Mosaic enactments, addressed to a single people, in such way as to neutralize the original provisions made for the race at large. Our human instincts of good faith, our reverence for public compacts and established rights, forbid our allowing the Law of Moses to trench upon the inheritance assured to mankind in the Covenant of Abraham.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…