Transcript Galatians 3:6-26 Page 991 in Pew Bibles 6. Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, 7.

Galatians 3:6-26
Page 991 in Pew Bibles
6. Just as Abraham believed God, and it was
credited to him for righteousness,
7. so understand that those who have faith are
Abraham’s sons.
8. Now the Scripture foresaw that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith and foretold the
good news to Abraham, saying, All the
nations will be blessed in you.
9. So those who have faith are blessed with
Abraham, who had faith.
10. For all who rely on the works of the law are
under a curse, because it is written:
Cursed is everyone who does not continue
doing everything written in the book of the
law.
11. Now it is clear that no one is justified before
God by the law, because the righteous will live
by faith.
12. But the law is not based on faith; instead, the
one who does these things will live by them.
13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the
law by becoming a curse for us, because it is
written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a
tree.
14. The purpose was that the blessing of
Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ
Jesus, so that we could receive the promise of
the Spirit through faith.
15. Brothers, I’m using a human illustration. No
one sets aside even a human covenant that
has been ratified, or makes additions to it.
16. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham
and to his seed. He does not say “and to
seeds,” as though referring to many, but and
to your seed, referring to one, who is Christ.
17. And I say this: the law, which came 430 years
later, does not revoke a covenant that was
previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the
promise.
18. For if the inheritance is from the law, it is no
longer from the promise; but God granted it to
Abraham through the promise.
19. Why the law then? It was added because of
transgressions until the Seed to whom the
promise was made would come. The law was
ordered through angels by means of a
mediator.
20. Now a mediator is not for just one person,
but God is one.
21. Is the law therefore contrary to God’s
promises? Absolutely not! For if a law had
been given that was able to give life, then
righteousness would certainly be by the law.
22. But the Scripture has imprisoned everything
under sin’s power, so that the promise by faith
in Jesus Christ might be given to those who
believe.
23. Before this faith came, we were confined
under the law, imprisoned until the coming
faith was revealed.
24. The law, then, was our guardian until Christ,
so that we could be justified by faith.
25. But since that faith has come, we are no
longer under a guardian,
26. for you are all sons of God through faith in
Christ Jesus.
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Is the Gospel Consistent
with the Old Testament?
How would you explain the Gospel
using only the Old Testament?
How Would You Explain
from the Old Testament…
• The substitutionary death of Jesus?
• That keeping Old Testament commandments
will not make you right with God?
• That being made right before God could
happen on the basis of faith?
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Old Testament Principle #1:
The Law Brings a Blessing or a Curse
What do you have to score to get the blessing?
Choose: Blessing or Curse
“Look, today I set
before you a blessing and a curse: there
will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of
the LORD your God I am giving you today, and a
curse, if you do not obey the commands of the
LORD your God…”
Deuteronomy 11:26-29
>
Dramatic Review of the Choices
Deuteronomy 11:29 “When the LORD your God
brings you into the land you are entering to
possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at
Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.”
>
Dramatic Review of the Choices
Deuteronomy 27:12-13
“When you have
crossed the Jordan, these tribes will stand on
Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon,
Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And
these tribes will stand on Mount Ebal to
deliver the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher,
Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.”
>
Dramatic Review of the Choices
• Deuteronomy 27:15-25: There are 11 Curses
then this twelth and final curse…
• Deuteronomy 27:26 “‘Cursed is anyone who
does not put the words of this law into
practice.’ And all the people will say, ‘Amen!’”
>
Blessings will Run You Down
And Tackle You to Bless You
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 “Now if you faithfully obey
the LORD your God and are careful to follow all
His commands I am giving you today, the LORD
your God will put you far above all the nations of
the earth. All these blessings will come and
overtake you, because you obey the LORD your
God”
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Curses Will Run You Down
Deuteronomy 28:15 “But if you do not obey
the LORD your God by carefully following all His
commands and statutes I am giving you today,
all these curses will come and overtake you”
>
100 or You’re Cursed
3:10 “For all who rely on the works of the law
are under a curse, because it is written:
Cursed is everyone who does not continue
doing everything written in the book of the
law.”
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Old Testament Principle #2:
There is a Curse on Those
Executed and Hung on a Tree
Is it a coincidence Jesus died on a cross,
as opposed to some other means of execution?
Hung On a Tree: Under God’s Curse
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 “If anyone is found
guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty
and is executed, and you hang his body on a
tree, you are not to leave his corpse on the tree
overnight but are to bury him that day, for
anyone hung on a tree is under God’s
curse. You must not defile the land the LORD
your God is giving you as an inheritance.”
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The Cross: Christ, Our Curse
• 3:13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse
of the law by becoming a curse for us,
because it is written: Cursed is everyone
who is hung on a tree.”
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So What is the Purpose
of the Old Testament Law?
An Obvious & Reasonable Question
What is the Purpose of the Law?
3:19 “Why the law then? It was added
because of transgressions until the Seed to
whom the promise was made would come.”
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The Law Reveals Our Inability
to Escape Sin’s Hold Over Us
3:22-23 “But the Scripture has imprisoned
everything under sin’s power, so that the
promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to
those who believe. Before this faith came, we
were confined under the law, imprisoned
until the coming faith was revealed.”
>
The Law Reveals Our Inability
to Escape Sin’s Hold Over Us
• It’s not that we are ignorant of right and wrong
• It’s not that we don’t have rules to guide us
• It’s that sin has us so thoroughly in its grip that
we cannot escape – no more than a prisoner in
a dungeon could escape
• Our only hope is to be rescued
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The Law Brings Us to Christ
3:24-25 “The law, then, was our guardian until
Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But
since that faith has come, we are no longer under
a guardian”
def >
Guardian
• Literally, “Child Conductor”
• Warren Wiersbe: “In many Roman and Greek
households, well-educated slaves took the children
to and from school and watched over them during
the day. Sometimes they would teach the children,
sometimes they would protect and prohibit, and
sometimes they would even discipline.”
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Old Testament Principle #3:
Source of Spiritual Life
Imparted How?
Source of Spiritual Life:
The Law or Faith?
• Leviticus 18:5
“Keep My statutes and
ordinances; a person will live if he does them.
I am the LORD.”
• 3:12 “But the law is not based on faith;
instead, the one who does these things will
live by them.”
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Life by Faith
Habakkuk 2:4 “…But the righteous one will live
by his faith.”
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Live by Faith
• Lifestyle
• Life
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The Law Cannot Give Life;
It Can Only Reveal Our Helpless Condition
3:21 “Is the law therefore contrary to God’s
promises? Absolutely not! For if a law had been
given that was able to give life, then
righteousness would certainly be by the law.”
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Old Testament Principle #4:
Abraham Was Declared Right by Faith
The Father of All Jewish People
Abraham Believed God’s
Promise of an Impossible Son
Genesis 15:5-6 “He took him outside and said,
‘Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are
able to count them.’ Then He said to him, ‘Your
offspring will be that numerous.’
Abram
believed the LORD, and He credited it to him
as righteousness.”
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Believing God = Right With God
• 3:6-7 “Just as Abraham believed God, and it
was credited to him for righteousness, so
understand that those who have faith are
Abraham’s sons.”
• Bookkeeping Term
• Push it in or have it towed, we will give you 100%
of the purchase price toward being right with God!
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Two Possible Approaches:
The Law or Faith
• 3:18 “For if the inheritance is from the law, it
is no longer from the promise; but God
granted it to Abraham through the promise.”
• But didn’t the law come later and add new
conditions to the promise?...
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You Can’t Change the Rules:
The Promise Came First
• 3:15 “Brothers, I’m using a human illustration.
No one sets aside even a human covenant that
has been ratified, or makes additions to it.”
• 3:17 “And I say this: the law, which came 430
years later, does not revoke a covenant that
was previously ratified by God, so as to cancel
the promise.”
.>
Old Testament Principle #5:
Abraham Was Promised a Son Who
Would Make the Difference
The Awaited Messiah
Not Abraham Only
3:8-9 “Now the Scripture foresaw that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith and
foretold the good news to Abraham, saying,
All the nations will be blessed in you. So
those who have faith are blessed with Abraham,
who had faith.”
>
Gentile Nations Blessed Through
Abraham’s Descendants
• Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, I
will curse those who treat you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth will be blessed
through you.”
• Genesis 18:18 “Abraham is to become a great and
powerful nation, and all the nations of the
earth will be blessed through him.”
• Genesis 22:18 “And all the nations of the
earth will be blessed by your offspring...”
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Awaited the Promised One:
A Descendant of Abraham
• Genesis 3:15 “I will put hostility between you and
the woman, and between your seed and her
seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike
his heel.”
• 3:16
“Now the promises were spoken to
Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to
seeds,” as though referring to many, but and to
your seed, referring to one, who is Christ.”
>
Yes, It’s All in the Hebrew Scriptures
• Yes, being made right with God on the basis of
faith is in the Bible; Abraham was!
• No, you can’t be right with God on the basis of
keeping the Law; unless you keep it perfectly
• If you don’t keep all the rules perfectly, then
you are under a curse
• But Jesus became a curse for us on the cross
..