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Past Ponderings

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

How Does Abraham Point To Justification By Faith? (Galatians 3:5-22)

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How Does Abraham Point To Justification By Faith? (Galatians 3:5-22)

GIST: The true heritage of God’s people is a heritage of faith.

Last week, we eased into what could be considered an argument section in the book of Galatians. The entire letter focuses on getting the gospel right. Again and again, Paul has been hammering home salvation through faith in Jesus alone. It is the gift of grace, not the product of works. Chapter three begins of a series of arguments for why we can believe this truth. Last week, we looked at just the first one: the argument from experience. These early Christians had not been saved by keeping the Law, but through trusting in Jesus, so it made no sense to think they should now return to a practice which could never rescue them in the first place. 

This morning, we’re going to walk through his next argument. Really, it’s a heftier section, so I debated dividing this up a bit more. However, though there are three distinct sections in most English translations, I really see them building on the same driving message, so I at least want to try to keep them all together this morning. Essentially, Paul is arguing here from the standpoint of heritage. The Judiazers were arguing that to be saved you needed faith in Jesus, but since Jesus came within the context of Judaism, you also needed to follow the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. So Paul goes back to the original Jew, father Abraham, and points out that justification through faith was his reality too. 

Our gist is this: The true heritage of God’s people is a heritage of faith. To break this down this morning, I want to walk through how Paul develops this heritage of faith argument. Basically, we will see that Abraham believed and lived by faith, the Law then revealed our need for faith, yet that original promise to Abraham never changed. We were always meant to be saved by faith. I guess you could consider that the gist part 2 ☺️. Let’s dive in!


I. Abraham Believed & Lived By Faith (5-9)

We’re going to start where we left off last week in verse 5. Paul starts by saying, “You’ve seen God move in miraculous ways around you. This wasn’t because of the law. This was because of His love.” He then moves into his Abraham argument by saying…”Yeah, that’s the same thing that happened in Abraham’s life.” Check out verses 5-9 here.

“5 Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith-- 6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

Again, Paul goes here because the Judiaizers were telling these Gentile believers that true salvation has come through believing Jesus and being a faithful Jew by following the ceremonial law. Paul refutes this by pointing out that Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, wasn’t justified by obeying the law. He was justified, like us, because he→  

Believed God & Was Counted Righteous. The verse he quotes here is Genesis 15:6. That might not seem too significant, but it is because in chapter 17, Abraham was circumcised. That means his salvation came before his circumcision. → 

That Is The Heritage Of God’s People. It’s a heritage of faith, and a faith that was lived. I know this might seem like semantics but hear me out. Notice that the Scripture doesn’t tell us Abraham said he believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. He believed and that belief was demonstrated in his life. He followed God down paths that didn’t make sense. He left everything, went through circumcision as a man (!), and was even willing to place his only son on an altar because he trusted God to be exactly who He said he was. That’s the kind of belief that saves. Just saying a prayer to check that box, or going to church to cover that part of your life isn’t what Paul is talking about. Nominal faith, a faith that is surface deep, won’t save you. But true faith is the only thing that will, and that was the plan from the beginning for all nations. Paul is quick to lay this out. Abraham was saved by faith, and God planned for blessings for the entire world to come by this same kind of faith. 

After starting this argument, he goes to the next biggie for the Jewish faith, the law. We’re now hitting Abraham and Moses! As he’s pointed out before, he further develops that→ 


II. The Law Revealed Our Need For Faith (10-14)

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

There are at least two points to make here. First, →  

The Law Condemned Because It Pointed To Requirements Beyond Our Nature. To bring life, we’d have to obey it perfectly, but we couldn’t, so it could not bring life! Therefore, the law could only condemn. As we’ve mentioned before, that was its purpose. It was designed to point to our need (and Paul is going to keep building this point here, too). In fact, the verse quoted about the righteous living by faith here is Habakkuk 2:4… from the Old Testament! This isn’t a New Testament concept. The law revealed our need for faith, and → 

Jesus Took Condemnation For Us, So We Could Live By Faith. The law revealed where our hearts were naturally headed, to Hell. We stood guilty. Jesus was innocent, but He took the punishment our corruption earned so we could be covered in His innocence. This opened the door for us, like Abraham, to come to Him in faith, to be changed by His grace. See, the law pointed to our need for faith→ 


III. Yet, The Promise To Abraham Never Changed (15-22)

This is widely considered the most complicated portion of his argument here. I’ve heard it called “distinctly Jewish” in its reasoning, which, of course, follows his purpose. However, I do think we can still see the point he’s building here. Look at verses 15-22:

“15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Man, there are really some beautiful thoughts here. This is the big picture. → 

The Promise Came First Because Of Grace. God’s plan to rescue us from sin was always about us receiving His gift of faith. 430 years later→ 

The Law Came Because Of Sin. The law wasn’t a new method of salvation. It was a method of revelation. It pointed to our need and the coming of the one who would fulfill the original promise— Jesus the Christ! There were multiple parties involved in this transaction of grace (Jews and Gentiles), but only one God of all! And He used the law because we needed to see our bondage before we could appreciate the freedom He offered by faith.

Now, let’s recap a bit in some→ 


TAKEAWAYS

  1. Justification by faith isn’t a new concept; it’s the original plan!

  2. Faith brings the life Jesus secured for you on the cross. I’m not sure how your week has been, but I imagine there are some of you who have had a bumpy one. We’re living in the midst of a pandemic in a county where COVID cases are on the rise. For me, the first ½ of this week in particular was draining. At one point, Melissa looked at me and reminded me that all of this was happening for a purpose and that God’s timing was better than mine. In the moment, it’s hard to keep our eyes on that truth, but that is precisely what we need to remember. Jesus came to bring us life, abundant life. Are you living like that’s your reality today? Because→ 

  3. Jesus’ promises are faithful. 

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