When God Makes A Promise
Galatians 3:15-18

Trusting the promise of a wonderful God is much to be preferred, rather than trying to work our way into getting right with him. In these verses the apostle Paul encourages us to trust God’s promise because:

1. It stands firm (3:15)
2. It is focused (3:16)
3. It is forever (3:17)
4. It is favorable (3:18) 

When I came up to this next part of Galatians I thought we would go from verse 15 to verse 25 and talk about the promise to Abraham and the Law of Moses and we’ll put them next to one another. As I got into them, I realized that’s way too much. In a sense, this is sort of the guts, the heartbeat of the book. This is what Paul’s point is. The folks who are in error in Galatia, the folks who prefer to add some works to their faith are saying, “We’re going to go with Moses on this one.”

Paul asks, why go with Moses (a) when Abraham’s covenant is fundamentally superior and (b) because Moses’ covenant actually contributes to Abraham’s. “Go with Abraham,” Paul is saying.

In these four verses, 15 through 18, he begins by explaining what the promise, the covenant with Abraham is all about, how wonderful it is. Then, beginning in verse 19 and through 24 and 25, he will say there’s nothing wrong with Moses’ covenant, but this is how it fits together with the grander one.

Any one who prefers to work their way to heaven has opted for not the best covenant. If you have Jewish background, and Paul is talking to those who do, it makes perfect sense.

Galatians 3
¹⁴ in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might comes 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.

It’s that word “promise” that we’re going to deal with today.

I suppose there was a time in my life when I was convinced I knew more than my Dad, but I don’t remember when that was. He’s always known more than me. When the time came for me to buy my first car, there was this beautiful ‘71 Chevelle I had to have and it was $1,500. It was 1976. I went to my Dad and said, “It’s time for me to have a car, I think I can pay for it, and I’m responsible. I wonder if you’d cosign a loan with me.”

He said, “No, that won’t work here. A cosigned note means if you don’t make a payment, I have to. And I’m not going to do that.” In one swoop he educated me in an area in which I had been totally unfamiliar. His appreciation of a contract was way beyond mine.

What Paul is going to do here is fundamentally the same thing. He’s going to tell these dear people in Galatia that, “Look, you people have God’s promise to Abraham, God’s contract, God’s covenant. You have it. Why would you cast it aside for a lesser one?”

Evidently (I’m paraphrasing) you don’t understand what you have and why it is that what God has promised to you through Abraham is so wonderful.

Here are four verses to help us understand what makes God’s promise, God’s covenant, so wonderful. We’ll just walk through these verses.

1. It stands firm (3:15)

It is a contract. “Brethren,” he says. He’s changing his tone a little bit. Last time he said “Brethren” it was “who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus has been publicly depicted as crucified?” He’s softening a bit. He’s saying, “Let’s break it down, and let’s bring it into human terms.” A covenant, even in this life, once it’s been ratified, cannot be adjusted except by mutual consent of both parties. It’s set; it’s good, even in this life. What about with God?

When it comes to God making a covenant it’s slightly different than covenants made at a human level. If you want to go buy a car it’s basically you and the bank or you and the lending agency. When God makes a covenant it is not an agreement between equals. When God makes a covenant it’s an agreement between two unequal parties and the superior one initiates it.

The nature of a covenant, in God’s view, is a promise or a contract between two unequal parties. Once God had judged the world in Noah’s day, for instance (Genesis 9), He made a promise that He would never again judge the world by a flood.  Who gets to call that shot? Only the one who can so judge. That’s God’s to do. That’s His promise.

We talked a week ago about that symbolic covenant that God cut with Abraham. Cutting a covenant literally takes its name from the practice of severing animals in two pieces, laying them apart leaving a pathway between. A covenant has been cut and the individuals who are making the agreement walk between the pieces signifying that if they break their side of the deal they just as well be cut in half themselves. That’s how serious they are about the contract.

In Abraham’s case, what does God do? Abraham does nothing and God alone passes between the pieces. He’s the superior side of the contract. He takes the initiative. He’s the one who makes it happen.

In the time of Moses, the covenant to which these folks in Galatia who are in error seem to want to return is the one that’s discussed in the 24^th chapter of Exodus. That’s called in history, not just Bible history but in ancient Near Eastern history, a Suzerainty Vassal treaty. The literature models perfectly other treaties from that day. When a conqueror would come in, whip the dickens out of the conqueree, and say, “OK, now I think we ought to have a deal.” The superior party makes the deal. The lesser party if he has any sense at all says, “OK, I’ll go along with that.”

And so God says, “OK, nation of Israel, I’ve just brought you up out of the land of Egypt, I have rescued you, I have saved you, I have delivered you, I’ve taken care of your enemies, I’ve promised to be with you. Do you want to make a deal with me or not?” And they said, “Yes, all that the Lord has spoken, that will we do.” And the Mosaic covenant was born.

He did the same thing with David. He said to David in the II Samuel 7, “I’m going to make a king through you. I’m going to promise to do that.” God again taking the superior side and David simply trusting Him.

Maybe the best example of God’s covenant is that one discussed in the 31^st chapter of Jeremiah when God said, “The days are coming when I will make a new covenant with My people and under the terms of that covenant I’m going to give them a new heart and I’m going to forgive their sins.” God takes the initiative.

That’s the nature of the covenant -- when God makes it. Even in human terms, once a covenant has been ratified and the language there is deliberately used to say, “set in stone,” as it were. It’s been signed, it’s been notarized, it’s been filed at the courthouse much as you would a piece of real estate. It’s done. How much more Paul would say, when God does it. No one can annul it; no one can add anything to it. Not even Moses.

I’m going to share some verses out of Hebrew 6 just as a way of underscoring this notion. It’s very interesting what the apostle has to say in Hebrews about God and his promise to Abraham beginning in verse 13:

Hebrews 6
¹³ For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,

When you go into a court of law and it’s time to swear an oath, they bring out the Bible. You put your hand on the Bible, raise the other hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You’re swearing an oath on something greater than yourself, the Bible being authoritative and unchanging, at least symbolically, in the minds of the courts.

When God wants to make a contract, He doesn’t need to mortgage anything. Who does he swear by? Who does He find greater than himself? God is God. There isn’t any higher echelon available. And so He swears by Himself.

¹⁴ saying, "I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU."
¹⁵ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.
¹⁶ For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.
¹⁷ In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,

Why go anywhere else? Paul is arguing. Steadfast and sure, an anchor to the soul, God’s contract, God’s promise, God’s covenant stands firm.

2. It stays focused (3:16)

God doesn’t make flippant oaths. He doesn’t make cavalier promises. He says what He means and He means what He says. Something that needs to be understood about verse 16 -- it’s kinds of parenthetical. It’s an add-on. It’s on the side, a thought that basically contributes to where Paul is going but he’ll pick up the Abraham thing again in verse 17. Now he’s going to talk about the promise itself and how it is that it is a narrow one.

The promises were given to Abraham and to the seed (verse 16). He does not say, “and to seeds,” which is plural, as it would be many, but one. “To your seed.” Paul says this is Christ. He’s doing a bit of a word play here and he’s teaching interesting theology from God. He’s quoting from Genesis 13 and from Genesis 17. The promises that God gave to Abraham that by extension will reach the seed of Abraham.

The Jewish people who would try to corrupt these Galatian believers would want to say, “God’s promise is to Abraham and all his physical offspring, including us.” Now Paul has already said, “No, it’s not the physical offspring.” Abraham had six sons that we know of. Did all of them equally receive the promise from God? No, only those who are of the faith of Abraham.

The promise is to Abraham from an ethnic standpoint but those who are beneficiaries of it are those who have faith like Abraham. Paul has already said that. It’s not simply a physical thing. It’s a spiritual thing and it comes down to be rather narrow. Not to seeds, not like all the physical descendants of Abraham. Paul is saying that’s not so, but to seed. This is where he takes the word and it’s a special word because it’s what we would call in English a collective singular. It’s like the word deer. You can use the word to mean a gaggle of them in a field, “There’s deer in the field,” or “I shot a deer today.” Same word.

Collective singular could go both ways. Paul is saying not to seeds, but to the seed, the spiritual descendant of Abraham who reaches its culmination in Christ Jesus, the Messiah and beyond Him to all who are His. It’s a focused covenant. It doesn’t just land on every physical descendant of Abraham. It lands on those who have trusted God with the faith of Abraham.

“And to his seed,” and he goes on to say, “which is Messiah,” which includes Messiah’s body, which includes Messiah’s people. That’s who receive the promise; that’s who it’s for. That’s what it’s all about.

The seed is Messiah, Messiah has a body, the body is the Church (capital C), the Church is made up of Jews and those who aren’t. This seed, he says, is Christ.

I will look just a few verses down the way. Paul does this sometimes in Galatians. Sometimes he loops back. In Galatians 3:27 he’s talking about the unity of Jesus with His people. Remember the statement in Acts 9 -- the tremendous statement made on the road to Damascus -- “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Paul says, “What? Who are you Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Paul was persecuting the believers. Jesus was saying, “You are after my represented body. You are after Me. He makes a tight connection there that can’t be divided up. The Bible takes very seriously the notion of the body of Christ being the people of God.

Galatians 3
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 point of this is that God’s promise is focused. When He says I’m going to bless, that word bless means grant focused favor toward. When God blesses us, He’s seeing us and He’s dealing with us personally. He’s dealing with us individually. He is giving grace through His kind focus upon us. Paul says this covenant to Abraham is focused. Why would you not want it? It’s for you. It’s even personal.

3. It is forever

Not only does it not change, it stands forever. Look at verse 17, “I say this,” and then Paul uses some very specific language. A covenant, having been previously ratified by God. Let’s pause there for a second. There are three really loaded statements that he made in that brief expression. First of all, he uses the word “covenant,” deliberately. A covenant is a promise or a contract initiated by God as a superior to one inferior. This is God’s doing. It’s His idea. It’s His initiative. It’s His power. It’s all His to do. It’s first of all a covenant.

Then he uses the word, “having been previously ratified.” It’s already set and it stands firm as such. It’s not in process. It’s not somewhere under contract. It’s done. It’s been done, it’s established, it’s set, and it will never ever change.

The third thing he says is “by God.” There are two ways that could be said. One would be by God as an instrument. For instance, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. You’ve heard that. The gun is the instrument, the indirect personal agent. The person is the direct cause. This is not something that God had gone through me to make happen. This is something deliberately and directly done by God. God is making it happen. He’s very clear with the use of words here. This is something God has done. Very powerful. And that’s why it’s going to abide.

Two factors, he says, won’t influence God’s covenant in verse 17. For one, time. This covenant is all set by God after 430 years. It is not nullified with the coming of the Law. To us 430 years is a long time, twice our nation’s history. To God, 430 years is not much. In light of human history, not much. Time won’t influence God’s covenant because for one, God is not intimidated by time. A thousand years to the Lord is as a day and a day is as thousand years. God is outside of time. He’s not bound by the strictures of time. He uses time; it’s at His disposal but He calls it into being and He’ll bring it to an end. Time is God’s tool. It doesn’t own Him, doesn’t push Him, doesn’t run Him, doesn’t manipulate Him, doesn’t intimidate Him. Time is just there, a unit of measurement as far as God is concerned.

God doesn’t need time, but He sees the end from the beginning anyway. Why would God make a covenant with Abraham and then 430 years later say, “That won’t work.” He wouldn’t have made it in the first place because He knows where it’s going. He’s already there and He’s not in time.

When God does something, it’s done perfectly and it’s done permanently because that’s how He is -- both perfect and permanent. Why in the world would He establish a covenant that He knows is going to be abrogated? Just because now we have the Law of Moses, as though the Law of Moses were some sort of alternate plan B. God doesn’t need any alternate plan B. He doesn’t take risks; he doesn’t need to. He’s God. When He says His covenant stands, it stands forever. God stands forever.

The second factor that won’t influence God’s covenant, is here in verse 17. After 430 years it won’t be annulled by another covenant. The second factor that won’t mess it up is another covenant because God has already made one and He’s not going to break His word. It’s impossible for God to lie because that would be God going back on God. That would be self-contradiction and that doesn’t work with a perfect being.

Another covenant can’t change things because God won’t break His word and God won’t work against himself. Interesting use of this particular word in 3:17 of nullifying the covenant. That’s been done. Jesus charges the Pharisees with doing this. He says, “You made a deal to take care of your parents and they might have been helped by things that you have but you said, “Oh, no. You’ve changed your mind and decided rather to declare what possession you own as property of the temple. So your parents. . . Well, let them go on welfare.

People may want to jerk covenants around. People may figure it’s been long enough. God doesn’t do that. It isn’t His character. It doesn’t change at all.

This next covenant, the one that he mentions in verse 17 that comes 430 years later, that’s his next topic beginning in verse 19. We won’t go any further with it for now.

God’s deal stands forever. Let me share a few passages of Scripture that I consider to be high water marks that illustrate this. The most basic verse about God’s promise in the entire Bible is Genesis 12:3. The rest of the Bible is all about Genesis 12:3. God said, “In your seed, Abraham, I’m going to bless. I’m going to focus My favor on all the nations of the world.” Very key -- this is not about the Jews. This is about all the nations of the world and Abraham; you’re the key through which I’m going to reach them.

Scroll forward to Matthew 28. Jesus gathers His disciples around Him after His resurrection and says, “Go into all the world, and make disciples of all the nations.” Is this a new idea? No, nothing has changed. Go into all the world, just like it was to be done through Abraham, make disciples of all the nations.

Scroll forward to Revelation 5 - Now we’re in heaven. Every tribe and tongue and people and nation are living there. Who is strolling the streets of gold in Revelation 21? Every tribe and tongue and people and nation. What God said in Genesis 12:3 roughly 2000 B.C. in actually happening in heaven because God keeps His promise and it stands forever. There is no point in human history, Biblical or otherwise where God changes His mind. God has His plan, it’s a perfect plan and He sees to it that it’s carried through to perfect fruition in eternity because that’s the world God lives in. He’s populating heaven and nothing is going to mess that up.

God promises, and Paul is saying, “Why, you dear people in Galatia, why would you not want this? Why would you not joyfully place yourselves in the middle of the promise of God that’s going to carry you, guaranteed, to the halls of glory? For what? You want to keep a bunch of rules? Do you want to feel religious about yourselves? What is it that’s so attractive about this other way? Not a thing in light of the promise of God which is firm and focused and forever.

4. It is favorable (3:18)

If this inheritance, this wonderful package of grace that God has in store for His people, if it’s from the law, it can’t be from the promise. You can’t have it both ways. This is another way of saying it’s either by faith or by works that heaven is obtained. Not some strange combination of the two because faith plus anything is no longer giving all glory to God, and that’s the key. It’s either going to be by promise, trusting God by faith and faith alone, or any combination of everything else. It can’t be a mix.

So Paul says this inheritance, if it’s from the law, it’s not from promise. You choose. In an offhand way he suggests, “Which way do you want it here?” He hasn’t talked much yet about the Law of Moses but he will in a bit. But to Abraham, he says, to the promise, God richly showed favor abundantly and freely and unilaterally. It’s all from God. What is it that you want? It is favorable promise; it’s all good. There’s nothing bad about it. There isn’t a downside.

This expression from verse 18 reminds me of Romans 8:32. He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things. It’s all good. Why ever wouldn’t you want it? The inheritance -- it’s Christ Himself. That’s who lives forever; that’s who illumines glory, that’s who indwells the believer. It’s Christ’s life in us that keeps us alive forever. He doesn’t just keep our old hearts beating; it’s His life that lasts forever. He said, “I am the resurrection. I am the life. That’s Me. That’s what I embody. If you’re resurrected, it’s because the living Spirit resurrects you. It’s all wrapped up in Him. If we get Jesus, we get everything and Paul says we get Him not by keeping a bunch of rules and hoping. We get Him simply by trusting. Once we have Him, He’s the fountain of life. What else do we need? It’s favorable. This word that is used here in the New American Standard Bible, it’s simply granted to Abraham. That word “granted” means God has. It’s a done deal with results that abide on into eternity. It’s a done deal that God has richly poured out upon Abraham. Freely given him all things, same word used in Romans 8:32. Not just granted -- overwhelmed him with the majesty and the grace of what He has provided in Christ.

Years ago I heard a recording of a preacher describing Jesus. I’m going to read this quote. It was originated by SM Lockridge, who preached at the Calvary Baptist Church of San Diego for 40 years, from 1953 to 1993. He went home to be with the Lord in 2000.

Keep this in mind as I read this -- if you get Jesus you get everything.

"The Bible says my king is a seven way king. He's the king of the Jews; that's a racial king. He's the king of Israel; that's a national king. He's the king of righteousness. He's the king of the ages. He's the king of heaven. He's the king of glory. He's the king of kings and He's the Lord of Lords. That's my king. Well, I wonder, do you know Him?

"David said, 'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork'. My king is a sovereign king. No means of measure can define His limitless love. No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of his shoreless supply. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.

"He's enduringly strong. He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful. Do you know Him?

"He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world. He's God's Son. He's the sinner's Savior. He's the centerpiece of civilization. He stands in the solitude of Himself. He's august and He's unique. He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented.

"He is the loftiest idea in literature. He's the highest personality in philosophy. He is the supreme problem in higher criticism. He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He's the core, the necessity of spiritual religion. He's the miracle of the ages. He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. He's the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Savior. I wonder if you know Him today.

"He supplies strength for the weak. He's available for the tempted and tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He strengthens and sustains. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleanses the leper. He forgives the sinner. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captive. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent. And He beautifies the meek. I wonder if you know Him.

"Well, this is my king. He's the key to knowledge. He's the wellspring of wisdom. He's the doorway of deliverance. He's the pathway of peace. He's the roadway of righteousness. He's the highway of holiness. He's the gateway of glory. Do you know Him?

"Well, His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you.

"He's indescribable. He's incomprehensible. He's invincible. He's irresistible. Well you can't get him out of your mind. You can't get him off your hand. You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him. The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him, and the grave couldn't hold Him. That's my king! Do you know Him today?

"Father … yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever and ever and ever! How long is that? And when you get through with all the forevers, then amen! Amen!"