We're continuing a two-part Bible Study of Galatians 3. The first part was posted yesterday. If you're not in the habit of studying the Bible verse by verse, here's an opportunity for you to participate in this short study.

Beginning in verse 15 Paul goes through the argument again in a different way.

10. According to Paul in verse 15, what is true of a man-made covenant (contract)?

11. God also made a contract. He made it to Abraham and to his _______.

12. Now if you put verses 15 and 16 together, it must be the case that a covenant ratified by God cannot be broken either. In other words if human contracts can’t be broken, then certainly a contract by God can’t be broken.

13. If this is so, then the law which came 430 years after the contract with Abraham can’t annul it. If I as a grandparent promise my grandson a bike for his birthday and then when the day comes I tell him he can have it if he splits wood for me for a week, I have broken my promise and turned a gift into a wage that had to be earned. This is Paul’s argument in verse 18. God won’t break his promise and change the conditions.

14. An obvious question arises. What is the law for then? He answers the question in verse 19. Why was it added? … until when?

15. According to verse 22 the “Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” So according to verses 23 and 24 when does that imprisonment end?

16. In Christ then, those who are of faith are the sons of God. (vs 26)

17. The conclusion reached in verse 29 states that “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, and heirs according to promise.” You see God made a promise to bless Abraham and his offspring (seed). That promise can’t be canceled by the law because it predates the law. Being in Christ makes a person the recipient of that promise of blessing, unrelated to any legal requirements that the law might set forth.

The argument continues a little bit into chapter 4. Paul continues the thought of being an heir and he tells us that an heir is no different than a slave if the heir is a child. The child of a king or millionaire still has people telling him what to do and hauling him to this or that event. He can’t make his own decisions. So is that the kind of heir we are in Christ?

18. How long does he say that childhood lasts? (See 4:3-5)

19. Now that Christ has come, we are adult sons and heirs, not child heirs.

20. What’s the conclusion then in 4:7? In Romans 8:16-17 Paul says, The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

If I may summarize this entire section then I would say it this way.

A person isn’t justified (saved) by keeping the law and he does not grow in his likeness to Christ by keeping the law. Both come through faith. God gave a promise of blessing to Abraham and his seed and we are the recipients of that blessing if we have come to God by faith in Christ. That blessing has been given as a contract by God prior to any commandments being given and therefore does not depend on them to be fulfilled.

This should not be taken to mean that we can live any way we want, because God wants us to be like him. But that becoming like him will come as work of God from within us and not from our efforts to accomplish it by keeping the law.