Unsupervised

 Galatians 3

Carl laid the foundation for the Law in his teachings on the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Then John Farmer explained how the Galatian church was deserting Christ and His Gospel of Salvation for a different Gospel (a Gospel of works).  Last week Brian Bridgeman taught on how Paul describes to the Galatians his reproof of the apostle Peter for reverting back to the works of the law and leading new believers astray.  Paul tells the Galatians that he has died to the Old Testament Law and that by the persecution that he received from the Jews, he had shared in Christ suffering and that he (Paul) no longer lives but Christ lives in him.

Today we will learn a little more of how the Galatians so quickly abandoned their new found faith in Christ and the Gospel that Paul preached to them and began following a different Gospel.  This different Gospel was based on the works of the law again.

Galatians 3:1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

Note: the Galatians did not actually witness Christ crucifixion but, they did hear of it in graphical detail from Paul.  And according to Paul they believed and received the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 3:2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?

Did you receive the Holy Spirit from obeying a set of laws and rituals that you were taught before you came to know Christ or did you receive the Holy Spirit by putting your faith in Christ and the Gospel message that you heard?

Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

Galatians 3:4 Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing?

What kind of things had the church in Galatia suffered?  We don’t know for sure because Paul does not go into detail here.  He assumes his audience (the Galatians) is acutely aware of the things that they suffered at the hands of the Pharisees and the Romans concerning their faith in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross as payment for their sins.  Maybe they were trying to work out some kind of compromise with the Jewish Pharisees so that they would not be so different from the Orthodox Jews who worshipped in the Jewish temples and thereby avoid the persecution.

Galatians 3:5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

If it was because they observed the law they would have seen the miracles before they (by faith) came to Christ and believed His Gospel of redemption and salvation.  It should be noted here that God had given them His Spirit and had worked miracles among them (otherwise Paul would not have mentioned it).

Now Paul goes on to explain what salvation by faith is.  Paul says

Galatians 3:6 Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

This quote is a reference to Genesis 15:6

Genesis 15:1-5 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”  He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

*Genesis 15:6-7 Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham:  “All nations will be blessed through you.”

*Genesis 12:1-3 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

*Genesis 18:16-19 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

*Genesis 22:15-17a The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.

Genesis 22:17b-18 Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Galatians 3: 9-10 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”*

*Deuteronomy 27:26 “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.”

Galatians 3: 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”*

*Habakkuk 2:4 NASB “Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.

Galatians 3:12-13 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”*

You may remember Carl pointing this verse out when he went through the book of Deuteronomy three weeks ago.

Deuteronomy 21:22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

So what about leaving a dead cursed man’s body hanging on a tree overnight would desecrate the land?

I don’t really know but I do know that the Jews took this very seriously from the time that God gave the command to Moses.

Joshua 8:2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves.

The Bible doesn’t directly tell us what happened to the king of Jericho, but it does tell us what happened to the king of Ai and by looking at this next passage about the King of Ai and passages about  the other kings that Joshua killed  you can figure  it out.

Joshua 8:28-29 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. He hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening.  At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

Joshua 10:27-39 At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day. That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. The LORD also gave that city and its king into Israel’s hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left. Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish. Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it.  They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it. Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.

Galatians 3:14-15 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.* The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.

*Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.”

Galatians 3:17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later,* does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in His grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Exodus 12:40-41 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years.  At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’S divisions left Egypt.

* If you refer back to the notes in my teaching on 11-27-2011 titled, Making Ready a People Luke 1:1-25, you will see that by the dates given in the Bible Adam was created approximately 4120 BC and Seth, Adam and Eve’s first born, was born 3990 BC.   So the fall and the promise of the seed took place somewhere in the time period between 4120 BC and 3990 BC.

Per Genesis 12:4 the Lord spoke the first promise to Abram when he was 75 years old (2172 BC when Abram was born -75 years Abram age when he left Haran = 2097 BC). Abraham became the father of Isaac at age 100 which would have been approximately 2072 BC.  Therefore the first promise was given to Abraham at age 99 in the year 2071 BC.

Therefore even though the promise of the blessing to Abram (later renamed Abraham) and his seed was made over 430 years before the Law was given through Moses (i.e., 2071BC the year before Isaac was born when the promise was actually given that he and Sarah would have a son the next year -1447 BC when the Law was given to Moses after the Israelites left Egypt actually =  approximately 664 ), the promise to Satan (concerning Eve’s seed and the coming of the Christ and how He would crush the head of the serpent i.e., the head of  Satan) was made approximately 2000 years before that.

Paul probably did not want to go into detailed date calculations with the Galatians so he probably just used a number that every Jew is familiar with (i.e., 430 years because that is how long they spent in Egypt he probably took for granted that they knew that Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born and Jacob 130 when he arrived in Egypt per Genesis 47:9) to describe the fact that the promise was given before the law was given.  Adding 430 years in Egypt + 130 years to Jacobs’s birth and 60 years to Isaac’s + 1 year when the promise was made at least 620 years. This is also in agreement within the margin of error of the approximately 664 years calculated above.

Galatians 3:19-20 What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.

Galatians 3:21-25 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. (NASB Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.)Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

Thus the title of this message i.e., “Unsupervised”.

At work we have what they call self-directed work teams.  These teams know what their job is and they do it.  They don’t need a task master or a supervisor to watch them and tell them what they can and cannot do because they are professionals and they are fully trained to do the right thing every time every day.  So it should be with us as Christians after being fully trained we should be just like our teacher and be able to carry out the great commission that He gave us in Matthew 28:19-20 i.e., making disciples of all the nations and baptizing them and the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them all that Christ has commanded them to do.  The Galatians did not have the luxury of extended training from the Apostle Paul and they were still immature believers.

Galatians 3:26-29 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So then the most important question for us to ask ourselves is:  Do I believe God and do I trust Him even as Abraham did or, am behaving immaturely like the Galatians and who returned to relying on good works?

Let’s Pray.