Galatians 3:13-15
"Christ hath (past tense) redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14. That the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through (not through Israel as the Old Testament had promised, but through) Jesus Christ; (in other words that finished work of the Cross) that we (as Gentiles) might receive the promise of the Spirit through (not through the Law but) faith. 15. Brethren, (Paul was speaking to Gentile believers up there in central Turkey in Galatia, and Paul says -) I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, (can cancel) or addeth thereto." When
he added "or adds thereto" at the end, he is telling us that Nothing
can be added to God's plan for our salvation or redemption. And the
expression just before this "no man disannuls" though the word is
improper the "dis" here has no effect on the word "annul". No mere man
can annul what God has put into action or as the second part says change
this thing by adding to or taking away from. Now that sounds like
double talk in a way doesn't it? But you see what the apostle is really
saying is that as he himself is also human, he's a man like anyone else,
and he has an understanding that the Law, so far as humanity was
concerned, was weak and beggarly. It just couldn't get the job done, and
that sometimes shocks people. We ordinarily think of the Law from the
other side, and that is that it was what? Perfect, Holy, Righteous, and
that it is. But from mans point of view it was powerless, and all it
could do was point the finger of condemnation at mankind. Its
requirements were a yoke of heavy bondage which the average Hebrew
couldn't bear. All right, but since it's a covenant, and remember a
covenant in Scripture is always a one way street. Every covenant in
Scripture begins and ends with God, and men can't touch it. They can't
enlarge on it, they can't subtract from it, and this is exactly what he
is saying. Even though from a mans standpoint it is weak and beggarly -
now look at it again in verse 15.
Galatians 3:15
"Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, (and we know it was as it was settled in heaven. So if it be confirmed,) no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto."
Now
let us take us back to a scripture. Sometimes things come to mind that
we didn't intend to do and this is one of them. Come back with us to II
Samuel chapter 7, and here we find the Davids covenant. Now that just
simply means that it was a covenant that God made with David concerning
his offspring, the Nation of Israel. And let's start with verse 14.
Where He's been speaking about the Royal line of the house of David
which would lead up to the coming of the King, the Christ, the Messiah.
This Royal blood line is going to come down through Solomon on one side,
and Nathan on the other. But He's speaking primarily here of Solomon,
and the Lord says-
II Samuel 7:14
"I
will be his father, and he shall be my son, If he commit iniquity, I
will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the
children of men:" Now even though it sounds like He's
only addressing Solomon in particular, yet He's looking at the longer
view, the whole Nation of Israel. That's who He's really talking to. He
would chasten the Nation of Israel by the nations who were their
enemies, and the various other ways that God had of chastening His
people. Now continue on.
II Samuel 7:15
"But (now the flip side).) my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee." Yes,
He's going to chasten them, He's going to deal harshly with them when
they come into a place of unbelief, and abject behavior. But in spite of
everything that Israel does in opposition to her God, His mercy will
never depart from them. Why? Because it's a covenant, and God will never
go back on His word, and He has promised that through the line of David
coming down through Solomon and Nathan would one day come the King, the
Messiah. And it had to happen regardless of what Israel did in the mean
time, the covenant stands secure. Now coming back to Galatians chapter
3. Remember there are all kinds of covenants in the Old Testament. It
starts with the Abrahamic in Genesis chapter 12, and then the Davids
that we just looked at. We have the Palestinian, that promised Israel
the land of Palestine. We've got the covenant which contains the Law,
and none of those things could Israel or anybody else add to or take
away from or ever cancel because it's made and going to end with God.
Now let's move on to verse 16.
Galatians 3:16
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, (plural) as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, (that is the Seed of Abraham in this case) which is Christ." Now
we'd better chase that down all the way back to Genesis chapter 3,
because after all that's what the scripture expects us to do. Even if
this is old to you, and it's just review for a lot of us, yet we think
that the scriptures demand that we just build line upon line and precept
upon precept, and not just wonder what Paul is talking about. Well
let's go back and see what he's talking about, because it's all back
here. And most of us have grown up with this verse. We think one great
old preacher once called this verse "the beginning of the line of
scarlet thread in scripture, and now here it is. God says to Satan.
No comments:
Post a Comment