Covenant: Law OR Promise? (Galatians 3)

This blog will take a look at Galatians 3. My goal is to simplify a complex legal statement about God’s Messiah, whom Paul proves is Jesus Christ, as shown in the text. Note that I’m calling Jesus God’s Messiah, NOT the Jewish Messiah. Hopefully by the end of this blog you’ll see why.

Biblical scholars call Paul’s method of interpretation Rabbinic Pesher. We mentioned this a couple times in past blogs. Paul’s interpretive method is a real head-scratcher for us moderns because sometimes he changes the Bible text and does other ‘non-scientific’ things to the OT when he quotes it. But like I’ve previously said, that’s how they did it so there’s no changing that fact. All that remains for us is to accept it and do the best we can with it.

In any case, the main point of Galatians 3 is:

JESUS — NOT ISRAEL — IS THE CENTER OF GOD’S
REDEMPTION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

It’s like Jesus himself said,

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me. (John 5:39)

Said another way, God fulfilled His promise of giving humanity His Messiah, NOT through the Mosaic covenant (= the nation Israel), but through the Abrahamic covenant (= before Circumcision and Israel). Make a mental note of that, because it is of utmost importance for understanding all the stuff Paul talks about regarding the LAW and ISRAEL in all his letters!

Over the past 1.9 millennia Paul’s letter to the Galatians (a region in today’s Asia Minor/Turkey) has been sorely butchered by religionists. Most western Christians today use it to justify their false idea of God’s ‘salvation’ requirements for humanity. The Evangelicals are particularly deficient in their interpretations of this text. Their denominational theological myopia is unparalleled in the realm of propaganda. So let’s see what the text does say. And along the way we’ll briefly compare it to today’s perverted religious idea of what Martin Luther said about righteousness (‘justification’ for you churchians) many centuries ago. That way we can set the record straight.

Let’s start by quoting the relevant text in Galatians 3:

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us … 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

15 Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. 17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

The above Pauline text is written as an argument.
Paul states his conclusion at the outset.
The Argument represents the reasoning for the Conclusion.
The Reasoning is presented by way of contrast.
Paul relies on Moses’ authority to substantiate his point.
Here is Paul’s conclusion:

14 …so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Here is Paul’s summary argument upon which he bases his conclusion:

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us…14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles…

For Paul, it is all about GOD MAKING HIMSELF AVAILABLE TO MANKIND (think: Garden of Eden). This is a gigantic subject about THE PARAKLETE (The Helper), which I mentioned in a previous blog. More on that in a future blog. So the point of Paul’s argument in this text is GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT. That is the basis of God’s inheritance found in v 18. Paul considers God’s Spirit to be the royal seal affixed to His promise (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30), but that’s another subject off point for this blog.

Paul’s argument is about ‘human relations’, otherwise known as COVENANTS:

15 Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.

The human relations Paul is talking about is the covenant. And as he says, once it is made, it is established. By way of comparison, most of today’s human relations here in America are based on commerce agreements (not covenant agreements). Big difference! I talk about commerce in previous blogs. Anyway, here is the heart of Paul’s argument:

17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

First of all, it is essential to pay attention when you see the words “What I am saying is this.” The reason is because the writer is coming right out and plainly stating the point he wants you to get. When you come across this kind of saying in the Bible, you have struck gold! This type of thing occurs so rarely in the Bible, that when you find it, you had better pay attention. And, make sure you do not pervert the words that follow. You must take them at their face value in terms of the mindset of the ancients who penned them. In other words, do not interpret Paul’s words in terms of modern thinking!

In the above text Paul’s argument is ‘framed’ by contrasting two of God’s covenant agreements. One of the covenants is based on God HIMSELF (“promise”), whereas the other covenant is based on God’s THEOCRACY (“law”). That is the framework of his entire argument.

Now pay attention to this fact:

THE TWO COVENANTS ARE DIFFERENT AND SEPARATE.

In other words, God’s PROMISE to Abraham and God’s LAW to Israel at Sinai are both based on a COVENANT but they are SEPARATE and DIFFERENT. We’re talking about binding legal agreements. Everything that Paul says in Galatians 3 is spoken in the context of COMPARING TWO COVENANTS. So don’t get side tracked by superfluous ideas and arguments. No more religious sophistry!

You can read God’s covenant of promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 & 15 (cf., Genesis 18:18). This is known as a gift covenant. Essentially, God promised to make Abraham great, to make his descendants into a great nation, and to BLESS THE WHOLE WORLD through Abraham (which Paul interprets to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ in the above text). So, Jesus Christ is the substance of God’s covenant of promise that Paul is referring to. And that promise brings an INHERITANCE, as stated. You can read God’s covenant law to Israel in Exodus 20 (cf., Deuteronomy 5). This is known as a conditional covenant. The law of that covenant is known as the stipulations of the covenant (not the whole covenant, but only one part of it). We discussed this in previous blogs. In Exodus and Deuteronomy you will see the inheritance that He is talking about.

Some may disagree that “law” here in Galatians 3 is a reference to God’s theocracy (the nation Israel). They may say, “Where is a nation in Paul’s statement in Galatians 3?” You find it in the following facts, which all pertain to God’s nation Israel:

• “The Law, which came 430 years later” (v 17) is a reference to the Sinai covenant event that established the nation Israel, which is God’s Theocracy (viz., Exodus 20 in context). There’s no getting around that historical fact. Remember: “the law” (per se) was only part of that covenant agreement. To reiterate, “the law” is known as the stipulations of the covenant (I covered this in a previous blog).
• Verse 17 identifies 2 different covenants by specifying “a covenant previously ratified” in contrast to “the law”. These types of covenants are royal agreements involving kings/nations. That’s history, and there’s no getting around it.
• Verse 18 identifies the source of the Inheritance, which is not “the law” covenant, but is instead based on the “promise” covenant, first by stating what it is not based on, and then by stating what it is based on.
• Verse 18 elaborates on verse 17, as an affirmation of that fact.
• “There is neither Jew nor Greek” (v 28), concerns two categories of NATIONS: Israel (Jew) and all non-Israel (Greek). This is BIG PICTURE stuff.

Therefore, Paul is talking about a NATION known as God’s Theocracy Israel in this context. Note that Paul is definitely NOT talking about “the Mosaic law”, per se (as the theologians and other religious sophists would have you believe). Besides that, they can’t even agree on what they mean by ‘the law’!

Back to vv 17-18 and Paul’s point. Paul is contrasting TWO COVENANTS; the one based on SINAI-LAW NATION-MAKING and the other based on GOD’S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM. Paul makes that point by declaring that the one covenant doesn’t affect the other covenant, and that the one covenant is the basis of the Promise, whereas the other covenant is not, and cannot affect that Promise. Do you see? He is talking about two different covenant agreements. Make a mental note of that. Now think about this for a moment. The one covenant had to do with GOVERNMENT LAW ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, whereas the other covenant had to do with GOD FULFILLING HIS PROMISE. The first covenant depended on MAN’s (long-term collective) responsibilities, whereas the second covenant depended on GOD’s responsibilities.

Now take a look at how mankind has administered all human government over the course of known human history. How much good have they done? The fact that none of those ancient governments still exist in the present may answer that question. Compare that with what God promised and has already fulfilled exclusively apart from man’s help. That is Paul’s point. He is effectively saying, GOD MADE A PROMISE WHICH HE FULFILLED, and that promise is not based on His Theocracy known as the nation Israel. It’s also not based on any human input. It is based solely on God’s doing, and is a whole different matter compared to his Theocracy with Israel. Abraham is the focus of both, because he is the ‘father’ of both. Abraham is the source, the origin, so to speak (not Israel).

Going back to Paul’s Conclusion about the Holy Spirit, we can affirm that God’s Holy Spirit is made available to us because God promised He would do it, not because Israel was able to fulfill it through their Theocracy. That is Paul’s point. Let me say it like this:

ISRAEL HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD FULFILLING HIS PROMISE TO GIVE HUMANITY HIS HOLY SPIRIT. HE DID IT SO HUMANITY COULD ‘RECONNECT’ WITH HIM AND THEREBY RECEIVE A FUTURE INHERITANCE FROM HIM. HE DID IT THAT WAY SO WE WOULD RECEIVE HIS SPIRIT BY FAITH IN HIS PROMISE, NOT BY HUMAN ‘AGENCY’. THE HOLY SPIRIT, NOT NATIONAL ISRAEL’S LAW SYSTEM, IS THE BASIS FOR GOD BUILDING HIS KINGDOM.

Let’s consider one more critical fact. Today’s theologians use this text to ‘prove’ their ‘position’ that Christians are not obligated to obey God’s law (the Mosaic law). Now I ask you, where do you see that in the above text? I personally don’t see it anywhere! So instead of using the text to peddle antinomian Christian propaganda, we need to take it at face value. The point is, GOD’S PROMISES ARE BETTER THAN HUMAN GOVERNMENT (Israel’s Theocracy, to be specific). For one thing, God’s promises are more reliable. And for another, they’re much more valuable! Now let’s move on to see more of what Paul packed into his statement in that text.

Now that we’ve established that Paul is talking about two different covenants, we must make sure we ‘get’ what else he’s saying about them. Look again at vv 17-18:

17 the Law … does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified … so as to nullify the promise…

Note the two different and separate covenants in that text. We all know for a fact that God made a covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai. That is implied in the words “the law”. And we see that Paul identifies “the promise” as “a covenant previously ratified”, thereby defining the promise as a covenant. So, we know Paul is talking about covenants in that verse. Add Paul’s opening statement (v 15) to that and you get covenant written all over this context!

18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise…

Note the basis of God’s Inheritance: PROMISE (God), not LAW (Theocracy). Paul’s point was never ‘works of the law’, as the theologians falsely claim today (they have no idea what they’re talking about!). By works of the law the theologians mean OBEYING GOD’S LAW. How preposterous! Essentially, modern churchianity is teaching Christians that they don’t have to obey God’s law. So you have to wonder, whose law are they are obeying? Then you have to wonder if that law is going to be the basis upon which God will judge them on Judgment Day? Add to that their ideology, ‘the devil rules this world’. So that means if they’re not obeying God’s law, they are obeying the devil! LOL…Insane! Christians obeying the devil instead of God. In this one thing their ignorance deceives them (to their own demise).

Instead of that, Paul is plainly telling us that our Inheritance is not based on the Mosaic covenant agreement. In other words, our Inheritance with God is based on God’s promise to Abraham (the Abrahamic covenant agreement). That means ISRAEL IS NOT ABLE TO GIVE US GOD’S INHERITANCE (never was and never will be, as stated above). So let’s not drag the Mosaic law code into this, shall we? And let’s not drag Israel into it either! That verse plainly states what the “inheritance” is based on: a promise made by God (that is, the covenant of Promise that God made with Abraham, which God Himself fulfilled).

Do you think ancient Israel and 2nd Temple Israel failed to grasp the fact that God’s inheritance promised to Israel was based on GOD’S PROMISE instead of OBEYING GOD’S LAW? Think about it. I just told you what that ancient text means based on common sense. As a 2nd Temple citizen, Paul understood it. That’s why he said what he did in Galatians 3. If Paul could understand it like that, do you think he was the only one in 2nd Temple Israel? And if I, living 2 millennia later, can understand what Paul is saying, don’t you think the people to whom it was originally written could? What do you think is the likelihood they missed it?

I’m telling you, from reading the ancient Jewish literature, and from learning some of the modern Jewish rabbinic traditions, I know for a fact that, theoretically, they did understand it the way I’m telling you. Even today they see it that way. The ‘Jews’ never had any pretensions that they could earn God’s promises by obeying God’s law. Instead, the reason why they focused on obeying God’s law is because they were afraid of getting kicked out of the land again FOR IDOLATRY (disobeying God’s law). That’s why they were so picky about obeying God’s law. Not because they surmised they could inherit God’s promises as a result of obeying God’s law.

Now, at the risk of sounding like I’m contradicting myself, let me say this about that theory: It’s complicated! The reason? HUMAN CORRUPTION IN GOVERNMENT. So essentially, the 2nd Temple government propaganda machine was what Paul kept fighting. And, as always, that machine was driven by ‘greed and self-indulgence’ (to quote Jesus, Matthew 23:25). See anything like that going on today here in America? See it anywhere else? So, all I can say is it’s complicated due to human corruption in government.

In this thing (‘works of the law’), the entire Christian theological world is WRONG. In other words, Christian theology’s idea about ‘works of the law’ is a false premise. That also means that all their ideologies based on that false premise are WRONG. That would make all related reasoning and conclusions WRONG as well. So don’t listen to them on the subject of Law vs. Grace, because they have no idea what they’re talking about. This Galatians 3 text is one of their main ‘proof texts’ for their Law vs. Grace fantasy. Anyway, back to the point…

Verse 18 is where Paul explicitly separates the two different covenants and assigns one to the legal process of government administration, and the other to the legal process of promise. Note that there’s nothing in Paul’s statement addressing the question of WHETHER OR NOT CHRISTIANS MUST OBEY THE MOSAIC LAW (as today’s theologians would propagate). So that idea is moot for this context.

Effectively Paul is saying, GOD PROMISED SO GOD WILL DO IT, and GOD DOESN’T NEED ANY HELP FROM HUMANS, whether individuals or groups … or national Israel.

Now Paul moves on to the next question begging to be asked:

19 Why the Law then?

Again, make sure you pay attention to what he’s saying. He’s blatantly announcing to you his point through asking a question. Let me rephrase that question in today’s terms:

19 Why did God bring the nation Israel into existence?

Let’s reason it out so we can see why he asked this question. Since God does not need mankind (in the form of the nation Israel) to help him fulfill His promise to Abraham, then why did God create the nation Israel in the first place? (“Why the Law then?”). Paul didn’t leave us guessing, because he answered the question for us:

19 It was added because of transgressions … until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

Note the words transgressions and seed. What or Whose transgressions? What seed? Is there a relationship between the two? First of all, we know that all human governments use law to control their populations. They do that using law enforcement administrations (social structures + bureaucrats). So the idea of LAW could never exist outside of a system of human government administration. ‘Administration’ means law enforcement. The law code is merely one part of that system. It’s the standard by which they go about enforcing based on human determinations (judgments). Here is Paul’s way of saying that:

… the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones…
(2 Corinthians 3:7)

Paul calls government administration “the ministry of death”. Why? Because that is the sole purpose of all governments! I talked about this in previous blogs. If you want to read an excellent primer on the subject, read Frederick Bastiat’s, ”The Law” (just read the beginning before he gets into the evils of socialism). So what is Paul telling you in that verse? This: Because humans harm each other, and behave contrary to God’s intent for humanity (virtue, happiness, fulfillment, longevity, etc.), God instituted a law system that would control His Own nation (ancient Israel) by controlling that people’s behavior and their social institutions.

God’s law is very specific on how He requires His government administration to operate. He is also very specific on how He wants all His citizens (His ‘chosen people’) to behave. That is what Paul is referring to when he says “because of transgressions”. In other words, GOD GAVE HIS LAW TO JACOB’S DESCENDANTS (Israel) BECAUSE THEY WERE JUST AS SINFUL AS ANY OTHER HUMANS! They were no different from any of the rest of us. The same holds true today. He needed a way to control their behavior and social institutions. So he created his own kind of government known as a THEOCRACY.

The next question that begs to be asked is, what result would God want to achieve by controlling His citizens like that? The answer is plainly stated in the text (as well as other places in the NT). Here’s how he says it in this text:

19 until the seed would come

What seed? Paul tells you right there in the text. It’s none other than Jesus, God’s CHRIST:

16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

This is Paul’s PROOF from the law of Moses:

In your [Abraham’s] seed [singular=Jesus Christ] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you [Abraham] have obeyed My voice. (Genesis 22:18)

So, the law came into existence until God’s seed came into existence. In other words, the nation Israel came into existence to be the holy environment through which God’s Son Jesus Christ would come into existence. Note that the word Christ means ‘anointed one’. I talked about this in a previous blog. It has to do with how a man was identified as the new king by a higher authority who appointed him. According to Paul in this text, Jesus is God’s chosen leader for His Theocracy. Don’t miss that. You get that from Paul’s use of the word “Christ” to identify this “seed”. So, Genesis 22:18 is the OT text Paul uses to prove who Jesus is: God’s Messiah/Christ. That is Paul’s verse for showing Jesus in the OT. How does he prove it? He interprets seed as singular instead of plural, which means a PERSON instead of a NATION (group of people).

According to the OT texts, King David was God’s favorite national leader. We know that because God referred to David as “a man after my own heart”, and “my anointed”. Then Jesus appeared on the scene. God essentially said the same about His Son, but a lot more emphatically. Remember the “voice from heaven” in the gospels? Look it up in Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22, etc. Remember the ‘appearance’ on the Mount? Look it up in Matthew 17:3 ff. It’s easy to see that Paul’s word “Christ” in this verse is a direct reference to Jesus Christ, God’s favorite national leader. And that is the basis of Paul’s Argument in this whole text. Paul is telling us that

ABRAHAM’S DESCENDANT — JESUS CHRIST — FULFILLED GOD’S REQUIREMENTS FOR GOD TO BLESS ALL MANKIND. SO NOW GOD CAN GIVE MANKIND THE INHERITANCE HE PROMISED WAY BACK DURING ABRAHAM’S TIME.

Talk about waiting a LONG time to finish something!

That great accomplishment served as only the beginning of God’s greater plan to save all humanity, and eventually salvage his whole creation. But that’s the subject of another blog on Apocalyptic ideologies and Eschatology.

Note this affirming statement:

19 the seed would come to whom the promise had been made…

Paul is plainly stating that Abraham’s seed (Jesus) is the intended recipient of God’s Promise to Abraham:

…in you (Abraham) all the families of the earth will be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)

God chose Abraham as the origin of all the blessings He was in the process of bringing to the world. And it all hinged on Abraham’s “seed” (singular), Jesus. There’s a lot packed into Paul’s statement here! Verses 19-20 mention the mediator aspect of this process:

19 …the Law…having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator…20 Now a mediator is not for one; whereas God is one.

“Mediator” is a legal word that has great import, which I’ll discuss in another blog. Suffice to say that mediator was a well-known legal convention during Paul’s time. Mediators were used in contracts and other agreements that were well documented, such as marriage, business, foreign commerce, land, etc., as well as other types of legal relationships. The name used for these mediators was scribe. I believe our modern use of lawyers here in America is based on the ancient social institution of scribe. I got that idea from Jacob J. Rabinowitz’s, “Jewish Law”.

Let me contrast today’s American legal representative (lawyer) with America’s founding fathers’ intent for us today. They didn’t like lawyers. In fact, Jefferson was staunchly opposed to them. Instead, America’s founders liked to use the legal forum on a pro per basis. In other words, they battled it out in the courts themselves, man against man. That’s what they envisioned for all American men. But ‘somehow’ we were overrun with lawyers, representatives, middlemen, brokers, etc. Now tell me, do lawyers really ‘represent’ you? LOL! Lawyers have one objective: Easy money through billable hours, using paper process, while protecting the courts and themselves at your expense. Results mean little to today’s lawyers, but process is everything! Anyway, you get the point.

Nevertheless, the idea of representative or lawyer was a big thing back in Paul’s time. But I won’t get into the details in this blog. It had to do with documenting legal form and process due to the nature of the process. The biggest problem they had in 2nd Temple government, as we do today, is the legal process was used to do politics instead of accomplish justice. That however, is another story that, as usual, complicates the matter.

Note the difference between the way I quote v 20 immediately above and the quote at the beginning of this blog taken from the NASB Bible version:

20 Now a mediator is not for one; whereas God is one.
(literal Greek)

20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. (NASB – added words in italics)

I merely deleted the words supplied by the translators which do not appear in the original Greek text. Now look at how simple that confusing statement is. Paul sets up a contrast again. He’s contrasting the two different covenants in terms of a mediator and the parties involved. Note the key words: “mediator”, “not for one”, “one”. In simple language, Paul is saying that when 2 or more parties are the responsible parties to an agreement, you need a go-between to broker the deal. It has to do with fairness and a reliable, independent witness. But when the agreement depends upon the duties of only one party, there’s no need for a broker. In the case of the Law covenant, a mediator was needed  to broker the deal between God and Jacob’s descendants (Israel). In this case it was Moses. But in the case of the Promise covenant, a mediator was not needed, because God is the only responsible party to the agreement. That’s pretty much what Paul is saying in v 20. Just use common sense and you’ll get the simplicity of it!

Next, Paul reasserts and reaffirms his distinction between the two covenants:

21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Note Paul’s comparisons: Law vs. Promise (v 21). He’s talking about the two covenants again. The one covenant is not contrary to the other covenant (and vice versa). What does he mean by, not contrary? He’s asking if the Mosaic law cancels, voids or violates the covenant God made with Abraham. The answer is no. He says it emphatically, “May it never be!” This FACT is soooooooooo important that he wants to put a sharp point on it. Why is this fact so important? It’s because EACH COVENANT SERVES A DIFFERENT PURPOSE. That is what he’s saying. He is telling you that the Mosaic law covenant was not designed to ‘impart life’. He’s conversely implying that the Abrahamic covenant was. That is why God’s Promise-covenant could not be based on the Mosaic law. This was by design!

Note the word “righteousness” in v 21. Paul is equating righteousness to the promise God made to Abraham. And he’s equating that righteousness to imparting life. So apparently, righteousness is connected to life. That is what this is about. But isn’t righteousness supposed to be based on the law? Technically, yes. But that’s not what Paul is talking about. He’s talking about measuring up to God’s standard, so you can be in a relationship with Him. Let me say it like this: God needs you to have a certain character so he can have a relationship with you. This is a completely different kind of righteousness.

Now compare that to what happened in Eden. Adam DISOBEYED God and God let him run his own life according to his own ideas and judgments. Living life his own way is what Adam passed down to all the rest of the human race. That alone began the downward spiral of each man, and mankind as a whole, living our lives and ordering our societies according to what WE (not God) consider right. Now compare that with what GOD considers right. Apart from God’s law, do we or our societies even know what God’s standard of right living is?

Moreover, God’s standard has to do with one’s quality of person. Now compare that to only your behavior (which has to do with the law). Let me rephrase that idea. Paul is talking about two kinds of righteousness in this text. One is based on a person’s behavior in compliance with government legal mandates, whereas the other is based on a person’s character and subsequent behavior in compliance with God’s Divine intent for humanity and humans. The latter is where Jesus Christ comes into the picture.

Now what connection would you imagine exists between life and righteousness? Could it possibly have to do with the fact that once you are connected to God in a covenant relationship, you are also connected to the source of life, with all the short-term and long-term blessings that go along with it? Might this also be related to the phrase “eternal life” which we find frequently in the NT? So, could we then conclude that at least one of God’s primary purposes for fulfilling His Promise-covenant is to make believers ‘righteous’, so they can have ‘life’ IN THIS LIFE? If so, then what kind of ‘life’ is he talking about? This is a huge subject that has to do with the pragmatics of living now and preparing for ‘the next life’.

Modern Judaism uses the phrase “the next life”, “the life to come”, etc. That’s their equivalent to Christianity’s “eternal life”. The idea of “the life to come” was a huge ideology in 2nd Temple Israel. It’s too big a subject to get into here. Suffice to say it is grounded in 2^nd Temple Messianic Apocalyptic and “the fear of God” relative to obeying God’s law. It has to do with Judgment Day. And Judgment Day has everything to do with living in the here and now as well as the future inheritance God will give us, which is what Paul is referring to in this text. Like I said above, this stuff is complicated because there’s a lot of history behind it that you have to know before it can make sense to you.

So it appears that the ‘life’ Paul is talking about has to do with the present and the future when God’s Christ (Messiah) rules the earth. This apocalyptic, eschatological subject is very deep, and would be a good subject for another blog series. Please don’t confuse apocalyptic ideologies and eschatology with fulfillment of prophecy like many today sensationally peddle to make a living off the gullible!.

Back to the text:

21 …if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness…22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin…

You can see Paul contrasting the two covenants again with the words righteousness and sin. Those words express the results of each covenant. The law covenant condemns people by exposing their sins (law enforcement), whereas the promise covenant brings people righteousness by faith. Those are the effects of each covenant. Very simple. And pay special attention to this contrast:

22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

That’s a causal statement. Each covenant has its role in God’s ‘plan of salvation’. The Mosaic covenant (the scripture, the law) provides condemnation so that the Promise covenant can provide life. The express purpose of that schema is so that God can limit membership in His kingdom to only those who ‘believe’. In other words, the only people who can receive God’s righteousness and life are those who receive it as a free gift, because God designed it to not be established or be procured by human agency, just like Paul says in many of his letters where he calls ‘life’ a ‘gift’.

So, in the above verses, Paul is basically telling us that HUMAN GOVERNMENT CAN’T GIVE US WHAT GOD WANTS US TO HAVE. Conversely, Paul is also telling us that only God can give us what He wants us to have, but only by faith in Jesus Christ, instead of by ‘signing-up for’ 2nd Temple Israeli citizenship. Note: CIRCUMCISION is the sign of 2nd Temple citizenship. That’s where circumcision comes into the picture in Galatians. Circumcision is an integral part of Paul’s argument here, as seen in the greater context of his letter to the Galatians. So when you read the word ‘circumcision’ in Galatians, you need to think citizenship in Israel (which involves obeying all the laws, paying all the taxes, etc.). Essentially, Paul is saying you don’t need any of that to get ‘life’, besides the fact that all it will do is drain the life out of you! Again, this is complicated, and has a lot of legal history behind it. You must understand what Paul means by circumcision in order to make sense out of what he’s saying. So add that word to this discussion.

Let’s remember that the reason that God gave His Promise to Abraham in the first place is because law enforcement systems do not “give life”. Instead they only destroy and kill, literally. And when they become corrupt like we see in America today, they actually stop people from righteous living. That’s the opposite of their intended purpose! They actually force people into doing wrong, even against their own will. I won’t get into any examples because volumes couldn’t contain all the wrongs that corrupt government people throughout human history enact hour after hour, every day of their lives. It has become a matter of institutionalized corruption. Today’s governments are corruption machines that destroy innocent lives. In other words, the social institutions (the social processes) are corrupt, so the operatives within them do wrong as a matter of public policy and legal practice. It’s a social machine. Since that is how they earn their living, the Bible calls them ‘workers of iniquity’. Imagine, government people = ‘workers of iniquity’? How incredible! Especially when we’ve all been brainwashed into believing we must trust in ‘our’ government! Like I said, it’s complicated, so let’s not get into it now. If good government is bad compared to God’s ‘life’, then how much worse is bad government?

Besides that, God knew beforehand that Israel would violate the Mosaic law (covenant Stipulations) to the point of extinction as a nation. He told Moses as much. Consequently, God could not rely on Israel to fulfill His Promise to redeem (give life to) mankind, even if it was possible. Only a fool would trust his riches to someone who would squander them, right? Moreover, Paul affirms what we just said about law in these words:

22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin…

That includes all ‘Jews’ as well. In other words, the legal standard of God’s law brings condemnation to all humanity by reason of the simple fact that no person (except Jesus) and no nation, has ever fulfilled the law’s requirements, which is the essential condition to being a party to God’s inheritance. So, God has graciously provided the remedy for this human dilemma through His Son, Jesus. Although God freely provided this remedy, He also made it a covenant agreement that has stipulations that must be followed. But that’s not at issue here, and I’ve blogged about it previously. The thing here is, GOD’S LAW SHUTS EVERYBODY OUT OF GOD’S BLESSINGS BECAUSE OF OUR PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE SHORTCOMINGS (sins), and there’s nothing we can do by ourselves to raise ourselves up to that standard. So…

22 …the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

In other words, JESUS PROVIDES THE REMEDY FOR HUMANITY TO HAVE ACCESS TO GOD’S BLESSINGS. To reiterate, this text has nothing whatsoever to do with Law vs. Grace. It has to do with GOD’S PROMISE FULFILLED IN JESUS!

Remember that 2nd Temple law enforcement has zero ability to fulfill God’s promise. And all Gentile governments reject God and Jesus as having no value to them, so they’re even further away from receiving God’s blessings! So the only remedy is Jesus Christ’s redemptive work, which is the essential and only means available for us humans to receive the “inheritance” that God wants us to have. This is because Jesus solves the problem we have with God’s legal standard. We rely on Jesus to get us into a ‘relationship’ with God (a covenant agreement).

Meanwhile, Paul provides another CONTRAST between the 2 covenants:

23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

“Faith” refers to Jesus, “law” refers to Israel. “Kept in custody under the law” means ‘being a citizen of Israel’. “Before” refers to the order of events: First came Israel, and then came Jesus. So, before Jesus showed up on the scene, Israel was the way God administrated His Kingdom. “Faith” is a reference to the life you live as a citizen of God’s Kingdom under Jesus. “Custody” and “tutor” are references to the life you live as a citizen of God’s kingdom under Moses/Israel. Custody and tutor are legal terms. These words probably refer to children under the care of a parent-appointed authority/guardian. Like rich kids who have people that train them in social conduct, basic living and technical things (for making a living). Also like American public schools. Just take a look at how monarchs train their children in order to groom them for public office, and compare that with how the industrial governments train the masses of children to obey them and function as obedient slaves in the commercial corporations. In that context, we know what custody is. It’s the same as being cared for, guarded and trained.

Now think about how rampant teenage pregnancies are in America today. Think about how ignorant Americans are of their founding laws and practices. Think about how bad our health is and how terrible our food supplies are. Consider how inadequate retirement is, especially in the latter years when ‘they’ stuff you into a hospice to let you die. I’m betting that if Americans practiced ‘custody’ a bit more, then our daughters would be cared for, our elderly would be honored, our labor would be ours, and our thinking would be much different. How so? Because we ourselves would be doing the guarding, caring and training. Not some ‘hired hand’ under the control of bureaucrats who care about nothing but their own securities and comforts (“greed and self-indulgence” – Jesus ).

Paul is telling us that Israel’s Theocracy was a gigantic national jail house designed to care for the citizens, guard them and train them. That’s what I meant when I said God has specific standards for His people. All the stuff Israel did by law was a scale model of what went on ‘in Heaven’ (where Jesus was originally from). The principle difference is, men ran things in Israel, not God (or Jesus). As a tutor, God’s standards for Israel were designed to educate the entire nation of people to recognize their God appointed leader (Jesus) when he showed up on the scene. That’s what God wanted His Theocratic tutor to do.

This tutor is like kids playing with dolls and toy cars. They’re scale models of the real thing. Those toys get them accustomed to the grown-up equivalents. Same with Israel and Jesus. Jesus represented to Israel (and humanity) what God requires of mankind, through their obedience to God’s law with pure intent. Jesus’ life exemplified God’s intent for all Israel (and mankind). So when Jesus appeared on the scene, Israel was supposed to recognize him. How much more simple could God have made it for them? But apparently something went wrong, because 2nd Temple Israel executed the guy! And apparently it was caused by corrupt government and chaos in society that blinded the nation to who Jesus was. In other words, the nation itself is what ‘blinded’ Israel to Jesus as their Messiah! That’s what Paul means by “being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed” (v 23).

That ‘faith’ was supposed to center on Jesus (not Israel). It was supposed to be based on a desire to be like Jesus. It was not supposed to be faith in 2nd Temple government (or any other human government, e.g., Rome), based on fear of punishment or power acquisitions, or whatever. Israel’s reception of Jesus as their ruler was supposed to be an informed, voluntary, willing decision. That is what ‘the law’ was supposed to teach them as a nation. But they missed it! Hence:

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

When JESUS appeared, God no longer needed ISRAEL, simple as that. The reason? Like Paul says, “so that we can be justified by faith” (v 24). That was God’s plan the whole time! That’s what Paul is telling us here. When you have the real thing, you don’t need a scale model. When the problem is solved, you no longer need the legal work-arounds. Now this may sound harsh, but what Paul is saying here is obvious. To reiterate:

GOD NO LONGER NEEDED ISRAEL AFTER JESUS SHOWED UP.

In other words, once God got what he needed out of His Theocracy, He no longer needed that Theocracy. And Paul tells us WHY:

6 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Instead of through what? Instead of through citizenship in Israel (via circumcision). In other words, instead of GETTING CIRCUMCISED you HAVE FAITH. That is what circumcision means. It means citizenship in 2nd Temple Israel. Paul is telling us that no one needs any of that anymore because of Jesus! Pretty harsh, eh? Under Jesus, God has created a whole new kingdom where everyone is united,

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

So now we come right back to the beginning, back to God’s covenant agreement with Abraham,

29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

JESUS IS THE REASON WE CAN ALL ‘CONNECT’ TO GOD AND RECEIVE HIS BLESSINGS WHICH HE PROMISED TO ABRAHAM WAY BACK 1000’S OF YEARS AGO!

ISRAEL IS NOT THE REASON WE CAN ALL ‘CONNECT’ TO GOD AND RECEIVE HIS BLESSINGS WHICH HE PROMISED TO ABRAHAM WAY BACK 1000’S OF YEARS AGO!

See how Paul calls the Jesus-people ABRAHAM’S DESCENDANTS, even though we know none of us Gentiles have Abraham’s genetic material in our physical bodies? And the end effect of that connection is we are all ‘heirs according to promise’. And so now we have come full circle.

I realize that I skipped over verse 27. But that’s the subject of another blog. It would be about the metaphor of being clothed. Some scholars have written on that subject, but I’m not up on it quite yet. So it’ll have to wait. Suffice to say it’s a cultural euphemism that requires further elucidation.

Also, I realize I didn’t say anything about the apparent contradiction in this blog, where I initially said that God doesn’t need anyone to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant of Promise, yet He used Israel to bring Jesus into existence. Technically, God does not need anybody. But pragmatically, God does need humans to bring into existence other humans. That’s why he used Israel. In other words, God worked within the system that He created. But, if anyone wants to make an issue out of it, let’s just remember what John the Baptist said to the 2nd Temple political leaders when they showed up to give him grief:

… and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. (Matthew 3:9)

Pretty harsh, eh? Meanwhile we can summarize what we’ve discovered in Galatians 3.

First, we see two distinct and different covenants involved in God’s plan of saving humanity.

Second, one of the covenants created the nation Israel (Law), and the other covenant grants believers God’s Holy Spirit (Promise).

Third, God did not design Israel’s Theocracy to enable His people to receive His Promise of an inheritance.

Fourth, God did designate Jesus as God’s means of enabling all people to receive His promise of an inheritance (on condition).

Fifth, God gives both Israel and the Gentile nations access to His promises through faith in Jesus.

Sixth, the purpose for Israel’s Theocracy was two-fold:
1. to bring into existence Jesus, and
2. to be the training ground for Israeli citizens to enable them to see who and what Jesus was when he showed up on the scene.
But unfortunately for them, they missed the opportunity as we stated previously. And it was all because of their national power politics which resulted in their man-made laws that caused them to violate the Mosaic law (God’s law), which oppressed them to the point that they were unable to recognize God’s Messiah when he made his appearance.

Seventh, God’s Promise to Abraham many 1000’s of years ago is available to all humanity today simply because of Jesus, God’s Christ.

Eighth, Galatians 3 is NOT about “Law vs. Grace”, and it does NOT instruct Christians to DISOBEY God’s law!

Ninth, Galatians 3 shows us that God’s Law covenant with Israel was God’s scale model of Jesus who is the real thing (the King of God’s true Theocracy).

Tenth, Galatians is a prime example in the New Testament of 2nd Temple Jews interpreting the Old Testament scriptures to show Jesus in them with respect to God’s plan of salvation for all humanity.

Wow! That was long! So thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read this!

See you in the next blog…

(A big thanks goes out to my good friend Jim for editing this blog for grammar and content!)