Romans 1:16-17 Part 9
“to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”
Galatians 3:1-29 The Gospel Beforehand
Remember: The Salvation of the Gospel, the Glorious Good News, is rooted in the Father’s Eternal Will and Purpose, and is Eternal Life, always understood and lived out in the Eternal Context. The living out of this Eternal Life in the here and now is always enveloped by the Living Hope, confident in the “Keeping Power of the Eternal God.”
The Galatian Danger: The Galatian church was flirting with a “vain belief”, as in I Corinthians 15:2. The were being “bewitched by Judaizers, who were destroying their saving vision of Christ Jesus crucified. (3:1)
Galatians 2:11-21 Peter was seduced by the Jewish “christians” from Jerusalem. Peter’s acknowledging of any distinction between Jew and Gentile in the “Faith of the Son of God” is to destroy the Faith of the Son of God!! The Law and Legalism defined Judaism, Grace from God through His Beloved Son Defines Christianity!!!
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer (for all Eternity) I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life that I no live in the flesh (in the here and now) I live by the faith of the Son of God, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME.” Galatians 2:20. This is salvation, this is Christianity!!!
Galatians 3: Galatians 3 is Romans 3 & 4 in the Galatian context.
Vs 1-5 EVERY blessing the new covenant in Christ’s blood is mediated to His people “by the hearing of faith.”
Vs 2&5 Notice that in both verses, the Spirit is foundational and central! If we understand our Lord’s words (John 14:15-18, 25-27; 15:26-27; 16:13-15), we must acknowledge that the Holy Spirit IS THE BLESSING OF THE NEW COVENANT! Every iota of Eternal Life flows out of His Presence within us because He Is Eternal Life within us.! Remember, “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing BY THE WORD OF GOD.”
Vs 6-9 Paul introduces Abraham to the mostly Gentile Galatians. Keeping vs 1-5 in mind, notice that He equates Abraham’s gaining the Righteousness of God with his “the hearing of faith”! (Vs 6)
Vs 7 Paul destroys all “religious racism” with “therefore know (understand by the hearing of faith) that only those WHO ARE OF FAITH ARE THE SONS OF ABRAHAM.”
Vs 8 (1) Notice that the “Scripture” is nearly “personified”. It is more than mere words, It is always The Word from the “Lips” of God!!! Do we always approach it that way?
(2) Again, it is the Scripture that “foresaw”, saw beforehand, understanding the Will and Purpose of the Father.
(3) Here is the Eternal Will of God, His Eternal purpose has always been to “justify the nations.” Of course we know from many scriptures that this is a remnant out of the nations.
(4) This Scriptural foreknowledge caused the Word of God to “preach the Gospel beforehand, (#4283 To announce good news in advance) saying,’in you all the nations shall be blessed.’ ” Paul is implying that Abraham heard and in some saving measure, believed the same Gospel that we do! And integral to that Gospel is its “international scope”. To “nationalize” it in any way is to destroy the Gospel of the Grace of God!!!
Vs 9 And Paul’s conclusion is “those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Remember, Abraham’s belief in the Promise was before there was an Isaac, from whom Israel descended, which Paul is careful to make plain in Romans 4:9-12.
Vs 10-14 Paul’s point here is that to try to live under the law is to live under the curse of the law because no one can fulfill it unto the perfection it requires.
Notice that he doesn’t mention our Lord’s perfect walk on the earth but the curse He bore on the cross for us.
Vs 13 “Christ has 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.”)” He bore the curse and punishment that my every sin required in God’s Court of Justice. He became the curse that I deserve. And why? Vs 14 “that the (BY FAITH) BLESSING OF ABRAHAM might come UPON THE GENTILES IN CHRIST JESUS, that we might receive THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT THROUGH FAITH!”
Do you see the supremacy of the Gift of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s thinking? The Blessing of Abraham is the coming of the Holy Spirit, the “new heart and new spirit” of Ezekiel 36:26-27. This is the “Big Deal” that is Pentecost in Acts 2! And notice, upon the Gentiles. This is the message of I Timothy 3:16, “preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world.” The Gospel is international, or more properly, the Gospel extinquishes international distinctions!!!
Vs 15-18 It’s all about the SEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pay attention: This is the Apostolic understanding!!!
Vs 16 Paul is saying that the promise of God to Abraham was not made to his natural descendants, but to his Spiritual Seed, Who Is Christ!!! The SEED of the Promise was the Eternally anticipated SEED, the Christ of God!
Vs 17 This Promise was made 430 years before the giving of the Law and so the law has no effect on producing the benefit of the Promise!!!
Vs 18 The Inheritance promised to Abraham is always and only through the Promised SEED which is Christ.
Vs 19-25 What purpose did the Law serve in God’s plan? Vs 23-24 tells us that the Law was
purposed to be a protection, a school master, to preserve the remnant line through whom the SEED would come. It was like the ark of Noah, preserving the chosen of God in a world gone mad.
Vs 25 “BUT AFTER FAITH HAS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A TUTOR.” Instead, in the context of the chapter, We have the Indwelling Teacher, the Spirit of Truth to “lead us into all truth. Salvation, the Gospel, is inseparably united to the Indwelling Presence of the Spirit of Truth.
Vs 26-29 Here is Paul’s summation of the matter:
Vs 26 “For you all sons of God THROUGH FAITH IN Christ Jesus.”
Vs 27 If we have believed the Scriptures as Abraham did, we have “PUT ON CHRIST.” We have been plunged into His liberating death, burial and resurrection, washing away our guilt and bearing our just punishment. We come out new creations, clothed with the Righteousness of the One Who was made a curse for us!!!
Vs 28 This “having put on Christ” is the only “place” of human equality, whether racial, gender, or station in life. This will never occur in a fallen world among fallen beings. Ego, pride, and domination is the air that “worldlings” breath!! No attempt by fallen government will ever be truly successful. The “liberatiors” always become the “slave masters.” While those who live by the Faith of the Son of God seek to live this out in the world, Paul’s constant warnings and chastisements in His writings teach us that we await for the “Hope of our Calling” to be complete. Any prejudice among the “just who live by faith” is abhorrent!!! It denies the Gospel to the Jew first and also to the Greeks!
“to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”
Galatians 3:1-29 The Gospel Beforehand
Remember: The Salvation of the Gospel, the Glorious Good News, is rooted in the Father’s Eternal Will and Purpose, and is Eternal Life, always understood and lived out in the Eternal Context. The living out of this Eternal Life in the here and now is always enveloped by the Living Hope, confident in the “Keeping Power of the Eternal God.”
The Galatian Danger: The Galatian church was flirting with a “vain belief”, as in I Corinthians 15:2. The were being “bewitched by Judaizers, who were destroying their saving vision of Christ Jesus crucified. (3:1)
Galatians 2:11-21 Peter was seduced by the Jewish “christians” from Jerusalem. Peter’s acknowledging of any distinction between Jew and Gentile in the “Faith of the Son of God” is to destroy the Faith of the Son of God!! The Law and Legalism defined Judaism, Grace from God through His Beloved Son Defines Christianity!!!
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer (for all Eternity) I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life that I no live in the flesh (in the here and now) I live by the faith of the Son of God, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME.” Galatians 2:20. This is salvation, this is Christianity!!!
Galatians 3: Galatians 3 is Romans 3 & 4 in the Galatian context.
Vs 1-5 EVERY blessing the new covenant in Christ’s blood is mediated to His people “by the hearing of faith.”
Vs 2&5 Notice that in both verses, the Spirit is foundational and central! If we understand our Lord’s words (John 14:15-18, 25-27; 15:26-27; 16:13-15), we must acknowledge that the Holy Spirit IS THE BLESSING OF THE NEW COVENANT! Every iota of Eternal Life flows out of His Presence within us because He Is Eternal Life within us.! Remember, “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing BY THE WORD OF GOD.”
Vs 6-9 Paul introduces Abraham to the mostly Gentile Galatians. Keeping vs 1-5 in mind, notice that He equates Abraham’s gaining the Righteousness of God with his “the hearing of faith”! (Vs 6)
Vs 7 Paul destroys all “religious racism” with “therefore know (understand by the hearing of faith) that only those WHO ARE OF FAITH ARE THE SONS OF ABRAHAM.”
Vs 8 (1) Notice that the “Scripture” is nearly “personified”. It is more than mere words, It is always The Word from the “Lips” of God!!! Do we always approach it that way?
(2) Again, it is the Scripture that “foresaw”, saw beforehand, understanding the Will and Purpose of the Father.
(3) Here is the Eternal Will of God, His Eternal purpose has always been to “justify the nations.” Of course we know from many scriptures that this is a remnant out of the nations.
(4) This Scriptural foreknowledge caused the Word of God to “preach the Gospel beforehand, (#4283 To announce good news in advance) saying,’in you all the nations shall be blessed.’ ” Paul is implying that Abraham heard and in some saving measure, believed the same Gospel that we do! And integral to that Gospel is its “international scope”. To “nationalize” it in any way is to destroy the Gospel of the Grace of God!!!
Vs 9 And Paul’s conclusion is “those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Remember, Abraham’s belief in the Promise was before there was an Isaac, from whom Israel descended, which Paul is careful to make plain in Romans 4:9-12.
Vs 10-14 Paul’s point here is that to try to live under the law is to live under the curse of the law because no one can fulfill it unto the perfection it requires.
Notice that he doesn’t mention our Lord’s perfect walk on the earth but the curse He bore on the cross for us.
Vs 13 “Christ has 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.”)” He bore the curse and punishment that my every sin required in God’s Court of Justice. He became the curse that I deserve. And why? Vs 14 “that the (BY FAITH) BLESSING OF ABRAHAM might come UPON THE GENTILES IN CHRIST JESUS, that we might receive THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT THROUGH FAITH!”
Do you see the supremacy of the Gift of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s thinking? The Blessing of Abraham is the coming of the Holy Spirit, the “new heart and new spirit” of Ezekiel 36:26-27. This is the “Big Deal” that is Pentecost in Acts 2! And notice, upon the Gentiles. This is the message of I Timothy 3:16, “preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world.” The Gospel is international, or more properly, the Gospel extinquishes international distinctions!!!
Vs 15-18 It’s all about the SEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pay attention: This is the Apostolic understanding!!!
Vs 16 Paul is saying that the promise of God to Abraham was not made to his natural descendants, but to his Spiritual Seed, Who Is Christ!!! The SEED of the Promise was the Eternally anticipated SEED, the Christ of God!
Vs 17 This Promise was made 430 years before the giving of the Law and so the law has no effect on producing the benefit of the Promise!!!
Vs 18 The Inheritance promised to Abraham is always and only through the Promised SEED which is Christ.
Vs 19-25 What purpose did the Law serve in God’s plan? Vs 23-24 tells us that the Law was
purposed to be a protection, a school master, to preserve the remnant line through whom the SEED would come. It was like the ark of Noah, preserving the chosen of God in a world gone mad.
Vs 25 “BUT AFTER FAITH HAS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A TUTOR.” Instead, in the context of the chapter, We have the Indwelling Teacher, the Spirit of Truth to “lead us into all truth. Salvation, the Gospel, is inseparably united to the Indwelling Presence of the Spirit of Truth.
Vs 26-29 Here is Paul’s summation of the matter:
Vs 26 “For you all sons of God THROUGH FAITH IN Christ Jesus.”
Vs 27 If we have believed the Scriptures as Abraham did, we have “PUT ON CHRIST.” We have been plunged into His liberating death, burial and resurrection, washing away our guilt and bearing our just punishment. We come out new creations, clothed with the Righteousness of the One Who was made a curse for us!!!
Vs 28 This “having put on Christ” is the only “place” of human equality, whether racial, gender, or station in life. This will never occur in a fallen world among fallen beings. Ego, pride, and domination is the air that “worldlings” breath!! No attempt by fallen government will ever be truly successful. The “liberatiors” always become the “slave masters.” While those who live by the Faith of the Son of God seek to live this out in the world, Paul’s constant warnings and chastisements in His writings teach us that we await for the “Hope of our Calling” to be complete. Any prejudice among the “just who live by faith” is abhorrent!!! It denies the Gospel to the Jew first and also to the Greeks!