Galatians 3:15
"Though it be but a man's covenant yet if it be confirmed"
"No man disannulleth, or addeth thereto"
This is another argument of Paul's and of course, all of Paul's arguments are logical. But this one is based on reasoning, as Paul compares the law to a human contract. "When two people make a contract, it is illegal for a third party to step in and change it or cancel it. Now, God made a contract (covenant) with Abraham 400 years before the law was given! So the law of Moses could never cancel God's original promise to Abraham! And God gave that promise to Abraham's seed as well, and we know that this seed is Christ. The Mosaic law was not a new way of salvation, because it could and would not cancel God's promise to Abraham. I weigh in with Paul! Promise and faith go together, but not promise and law.
"But why then did God even give the law?" the objectors would argue; Paul gave three answers:
(1) The law was temporary, for the Jews only (3:19-20). Rom. 2:14 and Acts 15:24 make it clear that God never gave the law to the Gentiles. The moral law was already written in the hearts of the Gentiles.
(2) The law convicted of sin and never saved (21-22). If there was a law that saved sinners, then God would have spared His Son and used that means of salvation; there was none. The law is not against God's promises; as it reveals sin, it forces the sinner to trust God's promises!
(3) The law prepared the way for Christ (23-29). "Before the faith we now know came, the law shut men up, revealing their need for a Saviour." The law was God's "schoolmaster' (tutor) for the Jews in their national infancy. The law kept the Jews "in line so to speak until Christ came and the full revelation of Gospel was given to Jews and Gentiles. As L. E. Maxwell once put it: "We Were Crowded to Christ!"
"PROMISE AND FAITH GO TOGETHER"
"BUT NOT PROMISE AND LAW"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
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