Galatians 3-1 to 3-18

In previous studies, brethren, we have seen how Paul addressed a specific issue with the Galatians. And that was because there were false Christians or false brethren, as it says in Galatians chapter 2. So maybe you want to now go to Galatians chapter 2 and chapter 3 and put a little marker there, because we're going to go in and out. But we see in Galatians chapter 2, early there in verse 4, that it says, false brethren secretly brought in who came in by stealth. So nowadays we have these stealth fighters, and you know what that is. radar doesn't pick it up. So there is in there a spirit of deception.

And they were perverting the gospel of Christ. And Paul addresses that in Galatians chapter 1, verse 7, where he says, if anybody brings any other gospel, let him be an anathema, be an enemy of the truth. So he is very strong about that.

But this was a problem that had occurred previously. We know that the Acts chapter 15 was basically written in the year 49 of the current era. And Acts 15, they had that problem. A decision was made, but three years later, this debate still continues in Galatia. So Paul writes this epistle. And the basic theme of this epistle is that we are made just with God by grace.

We are justified by grace, by Christ's blood, by sacrifice, by the mercy and kindness of God towards us. He also makes it very clear that the law tells us how to live according to God's love.

But any law doing will not pay for the sins that you and I have committed. No degree of law obedience will pay for our past sins. So what pays for our past sins is Christ's sacrifice. It's God's mercy. It's that giving gift from God gratis to you and I. And there's nothing that we can do to pay for it. But now, being so grateful for it, we must not continue sinning. We must now obey God. So that is very simply Galatian's theme. And what people even today do, even today, and that concept has filtered into the churches today, says, Oh well, you just have to believe and you'll be fine. Technically what they're doing is making Christ a minister of sin because they're calm down in sin. And that's what Paul in Galatians chapter 2 verse 17 and 18 says, but if we seek to be justified by Christ and we also found to be sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not. So we are justified by Christ's grace. But that does not mean that now we've got to, you can't keep on sinning. Otherwise Christ will be a minister of sin and therefore, of course not. So think about that because during the questions and answers, maybe I would like you to answer some questions I might pose about that.

But the point is God's law and God's grace, in other words, Christ's sacrifice to us, above a gift from God to us. God's law is a gift. It's a good gift. The law is good. It teaches us how to have love in concern. And as we heard in the sermon, very clearly, as we apply God's law, we learn that you and I need to be peacemakers. That's what it is. In the end, that is based on love and that is the bond of perfection, the bond of unity. It's that love and being willing to make peace and just holding our tongues and change, not just our tongues, but change our minds. It's our hearts. It's because of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So it's got to be internal. And that's why you and I receive God's Holy Spirit, which is the sanctification of the Spirit that helps you and I to change, to change.

Now, what is legalism? We say, oh well, when we say we got our bagels, Lord, that's legalism. No, it's not. Legalism is when you believe that you will be justified by obeying the law. Putting it simply, we have to obey the law, but that doesn't make you right.

Legalism is when you think that you are saved, you're justified by obeying a law. No, you are justified and you are saved because of Christ's mercy and sacrifice. For us, and God's giving of his Son to us, and all that, he's given us. Now, yes, we have to do our part as a response. The law is lovely. I mean, you need to read sections like Psalm 119, Psalm 119, and you just read and meditate, and read it slowly, and digest it. It's lovely. It really honors and pays respect to God's law.

Psalm 111, right at the end of it, in verse 10, says, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. I'm just paraphrasing it, so the words might not be exactly that way when you read it in the Bible. And it says that God gives you good understanding if you obey his commandments, and honor will last forever. So if you keep God's commandments, and therefore you have the fear of God, there will be honor forever, which means eternal life. So that is, you can see that God's law is important. And then if you don't close the chapter there, or the reading there, but you go on reading to the next chapter in verse 1, under 12 verse 1, it says, praise the Lord, because blessed is the person that fears God, and has great pleasure in keeping his law. And then later on, it says, he will never fall down, and he will have eternal memory. It'll be remembered forever. You read that in verse 6. And then interesting, it says, on the other side, in verse 10, it says, the sinner will be sad, and it'll be gnashing of teeth, and it'll be consumed. Doesn't that tie to the light of fire? So right there in Psalms, in this case 112 verse 10, it already is bringing that across.

So Paul is explaining a very important point, that when we receive, and we believe in Christ, and we receive God's Holy Spirit, there's got to be a change from the old man to the new man. And there has to be a change. And therefore, he brings an analogy, a symbolism of baptism. In Galatians 2 verse 19 says, I through the law, die to the law that I might live to God. Through the law, I die to the law. In other words, because I have sinned and I've broken the law, I've died. And that is symbolic of baptism, because when you and I are baptized, then all the man needs to be put away, and a new man must be coming out. We must be a new man. And Christ must be living in us through God's Holy Spirit. Therefore, and now we go on to the new section that I'm covering today, in Galatians chapter 3 verse 1, it says, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should no longer obey the truth?

Now, who has deceived you that you don't need to obey God's truth? And what is the truth? It's God's law. God's law is truth. Christ is truth. God's law is truth. God's way is truth. And so, who is deceiving you that you don't have to obey God's truth?

Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. Now, Paul is saying, who has deceived you because Christ has been clearly declared or shown to you that is crucified? The Messiah was crucified. I mean, He gave them, explained to them what had happened a few years before about Christ's time. But not only that, He went to the Scriptures, for instance, He went to Isaiah 53 and He says, you were pierced because of our sins. And He was pierced because of our sins. And He was cut off because of our sins. And you read that in Isaiah 53 verse 5 and verse 8. So, He explained from the Old Testament that that was clearly describing the Messiah Christ. And therefore, He said, what He is saying in verse 1 is, you know that we have preached to Christ. We know that Christ was crucified.

Who is deceiving you because you don't have to obey the truth now? And then, to reinforce His point in verse 2, He says, in Galatians chapter 3 verse 2, this only I want to learn from you. In other words, He poses them a question to re-emphasize the point. Now you tell me one thing. You know, see that you've got this reasoning answer this question to me. That's what He's basically saying. Did you receive God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit, by words of the law or by the healing of faith?

How did you receive God's Holy Spirit? Did you receive because you were obeying the law? And obviously they went. Or because Christ came and the apostles came and they preached that they needed to repent, that Christ was our Messiah, that He died for our sins, and then if they were baptized and through the laying on our hands, they would then receive the Holy Spirit. Did they receive the Holy Spirit therefore by obeying the law or through this process of Christ being preached to you? Of course, it was through the process of Christ being preached to you.

That's what He says about a healing of faith. Of course, Christ was preached to you and the healing of faith was that you heard about the faith of Jesus Christ. I went through that last time. It's the faith of Jesus Christ. What do I mean the faith of Jesus Christ? Let me go through that again. As I tried to explain, with two beings, one was the God and the other one was the Word. And they decided that they wanted to create more human beings into their family, into their kind of beings.

And therefore, part of that plan, the world had to be created, human beings had to be created, they would have to have free moral agency. Yes, they would fail. And because to make the plan viable, the penalty for sin had to be paid. And that penalty for sin to be paid would involve the sacrifice of Christ. And Christ therefore voluntarily emptied Himself. You read that in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6.

He voluntarily emptied Himself from the form of God and became a servant of the former man. That required faith from Christ that the Father would resurrect Him. If there was any competition between the two, that would not have been the case. But because they loved one another, they were working together as one in a team, once Christ became a human being and died, and obviously never sinned, He trusted in absolute faith that the Father would resurrect Him.

And He was resurrected by the Father. That was an act of faith of Christ. An act of faith of Him giving His life, giving His blood, which you know, life is in the blood, He gave His life for us. And in also an act of faith, from the point of view that they recognized that this enormous sacrifice would make it in some of us, or in most of us, click sooner or later, we, our hearts would then be pierced and realize that we are a charge.

So they had faith that this act would yield the right fruit to many. So it was an act of faith. But on the other side, it requires faith from us to believe that that sacrifice is enough and we're going to do our part as well. So that's why I say from faith to faith. And therefore it's the preaching of faith. And that's why I said, did you receive the Spirit by words of the law or by the hearing of faith? Because you heard and you believed it and therefore you now need to have faith. And that's because you acted in faith and you repented and you baptized in faith, then you receive God's Holy Spirit.

When God obviously sees that you are sincere, that your repentance and baptism is genuine, because He sees the heart. I mean, you may receive a minister, but you don't receive God. So He sees the heart. So how did you receive the Holy Spirit? By the hearing of faith. Then it goes on in verse 3. And it says, let me read, are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? In other words, you started this road, let's call it, of being a disciple of Christ. You started this road of being a true Christian, but maybe a better sentence is a true disciple of Christ.

Because Christian is a label that is nowadays badly misused, right? But really a disciple of Christ, a follower of Christ. So you started this road through faith, through what you believe. Are you now believing that you need to become even better by deeds of the flesh? That's what he's saying. Verse 3, having been done in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Are you therefore you have received God's Holy Spirit? But it's like saying that is not good enough. You now, deeds of the flesh, are required to make you perfect. You need something else to be justified. And typically what they're talking about here is the law, and I mean the ceremonial law.

In other words, do you need now to make specific things like physical sacrifices or whatever it is? No, because those pointed to Christ. Those were only a teaching lesson to Christ, to see what Christ has done. So it's not that that's going to make you perfect. What's going to make you perfect is the sanctification of the Spirit, that God's Holy Spirit works in your mind and works in my mind, and we are becoming better people. It's not because of that you sacrificed a whole bull or a whole goat or whatever it is.

Those things, those sacrifices are symbolic. Understand, those sacrifices are symbolic of the true Christ. Now that we have the true sacrifice of Christ, we need to move forward and use God's Holy Spirit. And like we heard so clearly in our sermon today, we all sometimes have things that happen to us that make us upset.

And it's so easy for us to just explode. I know it's easy for me. I'm a Gentile. I have this Gentile blood and it's easy for me to, I have to fight that and overcome it. And I need God's Holy Spirit every day. But we all like that to one degree or another.

And that is the perfection that we need to roll through in our Christian life. That is the sanctification of the Spirit. It's not a sanctification of the flesh.

And it is important that we, it's like you have a compass and you in your mind and this changes your thinking. It's not things of the flesh that are going to justify you. It's the sanctification of the Spirit. You receive God's Holy Spirit. Now don't disappoint God's Holy Spirit. Let's put it that way. Not that it is a person, but God's mind, God's sinking, God's pricking of your conscious and all that. Don't sear your conscience with a hot eye. Don't allow that. But listen to it and change and become a better person. That's what we're going to be. So in verse 3 says, being perfect by the flesh or becoming more perfect through meat or meats or fleshly things, of carnal things. And that is another point that during the interactive battle, say afterwards, maybe I'd like to ask you some questions about it and how do you see that? So I'm saying these things to generate a little bit of thinking afterwards, so that you can generate questions and we can talk about it.

Brethren, how do we become more just? How do we become better people?

Is it becoming better people by becoming more Jewish-like? And I don't mean Jewish-like. Any disrespect to the Jewish community. But do you become more righteous, more godly, by having or using a magic word? Oh, you gotta use a magic word. And I don't know if you know what I'm talking about, but some people believe that you gotta use some sacred names to talk to God, like a magic word, like a wand, that dead word move. No, brethren, God created the languages and the words are translated. You don't have to use words like Yahweh or Yahshua or Yah or anything like that. You can talk in English. And when I talk to the brethren in Portuguese, I talk in Portuguese.

So, the other thing is, oh, now you gotta look at things and you gotta make a more perfect calendar and therefore you gotta do this and therefore you start changing the calendar and you have holy days and different days and things like that. Brethren, that is incorrect. Or you say, oh well, I'm gonna use certain words or certain phrases and these phrases mean this and therefore, because these phrases mean this, this means that, that, that, that. And you use human reasoning apart from God. So, you take a little bit of Bible and then use a bit of reasoning and then you take a bit of Bible, then use a bit of reasoning and you end up on a different tree. In other words, you're not holding on to the trunk of the tree and you're jumping from one tree to another and occasionally, the trees break and you leave the real tree, the real olive tree. And we're gonna be careful, brethren. We gotta be careful. That is the danger of thinking that you're being perfected in the flesh. Now, the brethren that Paul dealt with, very well, of his own nation and he says in Romans 10 verse 1 through 3, he says, let's just turn there very briefly, Romans 10 verse 1 through 3, he says, brethren, my heart, desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be safe. You know what these are like these people. My prayer is that they be safe for our bear, their witness, that they have zeal from God. They are zealous. They are godly people. However, not according to knowledge. And I'll put this the same thing in today's world. In today's way of, of, what is the word, looking at Christianity. A lot of Christians out there are zealous for God. I am not disputing that. But God hasn't called them and they don't have the knowledge. And this is what Paul is saying. These people, they are ignorant of God's righteousness. That's what he says in verse 3. For they've been ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness out by becoming perfect in the flesh, by trying to do things of the Lord to become perfect. They have not submitted to the righteousness of God. They have not humbled themselves that it's not their self-righteousness, but they have not accepted that they and us, just like to Abraham, was imputed righteousness because they believed. And because we trust God. And that imputes righteousness on us. That's how we submit to God's righteousness. We just accept that and it's imputed to us as it was imputed to Abraham. And that's exactly what Paul goes on to in a moment. So let's just continue reading in Galatians chapter 3 and look at verse 4. He says, have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? I mean, you've gone through so many trials and now that you're in the church, you've got some, is this all in vain? Aren't you getting the point? Because then we're not learning the lesson. We're not learning the lesson because all the things that you've done that broke the law caused suffering. Breaking the law caused suffering.

But you know what? Obeying the law doesn't pay for those sufferings.

Only God's mercy and kindness pays for it. There's nothing you can do. Only God's forgiveness, and you say to God, I am sorry, and God sees that you're sincere and honest, and then he forgives you. That's it. And therefore, he then says in verse 6, he says, well, let's continue at verse 4, verse 5. Therefore, he will supply the Spirit to you and works miracles among you. Does he do it by works of the law or by hearing of faith? You know what's God that gives you? God's Holy Spirit. And it was then, you know, if you read in Matthew, when he talks about joining the Baptist, he says, I baptize you with the water, but Christ will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Basically, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, but it's given to us through Christ, just like we are instructed to be baptized in the water, but he baptized in the water through a physical minister of God. Likewise, you receive God's Holy Spirit through Christ. He's the one that baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. So he's reading in verse 5. Therefore, who supplies the Spirit to you, and works miracles among you? Does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Of course, by the hearing of faith. You trust it, you believe, you got baptized. That's how we receive God's Holy Spirit. Verse 6, just as Abraham, like I was explaining to you, believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

He believed God. You know what? He trusts God. It was imputed to him by faith. He was put in the status of being right with God, by faith, because he was told, leave the land of your parents and go to this land. And I'll bless you. And I'll bless your descendants through the descendant which was Christ. So I'll bless.

And what did Abraham say? Oh, I don't believe you.

No, he just said, yes, sir. And he left. Because he trusted God, that was counted to him. That was credited into his, let's call it, bank account. It was credited into bank account. You are right with God now. It was imputed and it came as righteousness. So that means he was made just by grace because he believed in God.

It was not Abraham's justice, was not Abraham's, let's call it, obedience to laws. Obviously, your by God's laws. We read elsewhere your by God's laws.

But it was granted to him because he believed.

And that's how all nations will be blessed. Because we read there in Exodus 12 that that applied to his seed and his seed represents Christ. Look at Galatians 3 verse 26. Galatians 3 verse 26. It says, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Now, what does that mean? Oh, we can just read that and say, okay, we sons of God through faith for Christ Jesus. But are we digging deep into it and understanding what it means?

Because the promise was given to Abraham and to his descendant, which is Christ. When you and I are baptized, we are baptized into the spiritual body of Christ.

So, in a sense, we become part of Christ's body. Therefore, we are now children of God. Black Christ is the Son of God and we are part of that family.

Look at it. Continue reading here in verse 27. Galatians 3 verse 27. For as many as you as we're baptized into Christ. Now, in English, it's quite specific. Into Christ. In other languages, it's not as specific because it might just say, in Christ. But the English language has this word, into, which means a direction to be put inside of, into Christ. So, we're baptized into Christ, into the spiritual body of Christ, into that family.

So, we now have put on Christ. We now have Christ in us because we're part of Christ. We put on Christ.

So spiritually, it's quite profound. And therefore, just like Christ was a Jew, we now become Jews in that concept, in that spiritual sex. So, continue reading. Therefore, it says, there's not a Jew nor Greek. There's not a slave nor free. There is not a male or female. For you all are one in Christ. Now, you all are one provided you are followers, disciples of Christ. You are part of that spiritual body. Regardless whether you're a man or woman or whatever color or whatever nationality doesn't matter. And if you are Christ's, then you're Abram's seed.

And here's according to the promise.

In other words, literally we are spiritual Jews. But it is a matter of the Spirit. It's not a matter of works of law.

It's not a matter of words that we use that sound like Jewish and that we don't even know if those are the correct pronunciations. It's not any of that. It's not using tassels or things like that. It's got nothing to do with that. It's a matter of the heart of receiving God's Holy Spirit and becoming a new man. Becoming like God is.

Let's continue therefore in verse 7. Verse 7, Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. Correct. The true sons of Abraham, the true sons of the spiritual Abraham that is pleasing God, are the ones that are of faith. In other words, that I believe in this act of faith, that they put it in the heart and it's not the physical things of the flesh or physical sacrifices or eating whatever things may be or not. Whatever it is. I am not saying we don't obey God's laws. Of course we do. But obeying physical law does not make us right with God. And then we continue reading in verse 8. And the scripture foreseen that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. God would make Gentiles right with God by this act of faith. Preached the Gospel to Abraham saying, in you shall, all nations shall be blessed. In you, Abraham, all nations shall be blessed. Why? Because it's that line of faith, not just the physical line. Now, I'm not saying the physical line does not have a job and responsibility. Yes, they do. And that physical line will have a responsibility in the world tomorrow. Yes, they do. But the spiritual line is the one that ultimately you've got to be in that spiritual line to be in the kingdom of God. It's important for us to understand. So, verse 9. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Just like Abraham was blessed by faith, and we read that in Old Testament, nothing different in the New Testament. There is nothing different in the New Testament.

Verse 10. For as many as are of the works of the Lord are under the curse, for it is written, curse is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in a book of the Lord. For those that say, well, we are going to be made right by obeying the law, they under a curse. Why? Because they've broken the law somewhere along the line.

That's it. They've broken the law somewhere in the line. It's not the law that's bad, it's the actions that broke the law that brought them the curse. So it's not the law that is a curse, it's the actions of breaking the law that is a curse.

You know, the problem is sin, and sin is breaking the law.

You read in Old Testament, for instance, Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28. What do you have there? Blessings and curses, right? Blessings and curses. And it says, Yeas the law, if you obey the law, you will be blessed.

If you break the law, you will have these curses.

It's not the law that is bad, it's whether you obey it or will you break it. And then you read, for instance, in Matthew, in Deuteronomy 11, that there was the instruction saying, when you get to the Promised Land, there'll be two mountains, a mountain Gerizim and a mountain of Ibal, and a mountain of Gerizim, certain tribes will get on that mountain, and certain tribes will go on the other mountain of Ibal, and they will say, the ones on Mount Gerizim, you'll be blessed for this, you'll be blessed for that, and you'll be blessed for that. And the ones on the mountain of Ibal will reply, and you'll be cursed for that, you'll be cursed for that, you'll be cursed for that. But it wasn't the law, it was the action. It was the action.

When you break the law, there are penalties. Because I'm mentioning Leviticus and Deuteronomy, let's look at Deuteronomy 27 very briefly. Deuteronomy 27, that is just before the chapter of Deuteronomy 28, which is a place in Zen cursings, Deuteronomy 27, and it's talking about, they go to the Mount, and then they go to the Mount of Gerizim, and then they go to the Mount of Ibal, which is the Ibal is the curses, and then you can see in chapter 27, starting verse 11, and these will stand in Mount Ibal, specifically in verse 13, they'll do this, and they'll say, curse is this, and curse is that, and curse is the other. And then look at verse 26, right at the end, right at the end there. Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law. And all the people said, so be it. And all the people said, amen, so be it. So, if you don't confirm, if you don't comply to all the things of this law, you'll be cursed.

So let's make it very clear. It's not the law that is bad, but if you don't comply to the things of the law, you'll be cursed.

Did Christ commit any sin? Did Christ commit any sin? No. But one point in the law says, if you hang on a tree, you are cursed. Did Christ deliberately hang on a tree? No. But they put him there.

They put him there.

It wasn't his sin. It was the sin of mankind that put him there. On that tree, whether it was a cross, or whatever it was, whatever it was. The point is, they put him there. He carried our sins on his back. They put that on his back. He carried our sins on his back.

He was prepared to do it, but he did not sin.

He did not sin.

And so, if we go back, and now to Galatians chapter 3, in verse 10, it says, For as many of the works of the law are under the court, cursed, for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things which are written in the book of the law, but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Okay, it's very clear. We went through this point. We justified by faith.

Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, have he become a curse for us? How did he become a curse for us? Because it's written, cursed is everyone who hangs on the tree.

They forced him. They put it there against his own will.

Okay, he allowed it to.

So that our sins could be forgiven, but he never sinned. But by that, it's symbolic. Again, there's a lot of symbolism, but it's symbolic that Christ nailed all our sins to the cross. That's what was nailed to the cross, our sins, because he carried them on his back for us.

But Christ never sinned. See?

So the point is, we need to now grasp this and say, we gotta live according to the whole law.

But that doesn't just defy us. That does make us right. We now gotta become like God and live according to God's spiritual law.

So not saying that we now gotta offer bulls and goats. No, because that law was added because of transgressions.

That law was added because of transgressions. As we read in verse 19, it says, what purpose then does the law serve? And he's now talking about the ceremonial law. It was added because of transgressions. In other words, because people broke God's law. So because they broke God's law, they needed sacrifices, namely Christ, to forgive us. That was added because we sinned. So the point is, we now have to live according to God's law. Because it says in Galatians 3 verse 10, cursed, it says here, a fort that is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. So we have to do all things. We are going to keep all the commandments, all of God's commandments, the 10 commandments and other commandments that they gave us, like clean and unclean foods. And he's only dies as examples. We're going to keep those commandments because that's God's law. The ceremonial law was added because of transgressions. It's important for us to understand that.

So let's go and read now in verse 14, because we read up to verse 13. Now 14, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

You see, Christ died for us.

He carried our sins for us.

Obviously, the cross is symbolic of that, but He carried, He died, His blood died for us. He was sin for us, as 2 Corinthians 5 21 says, He was sin for us. Not very sin, but He was sin by putting in a cross, symbolizing that.

Also, the law says that if you were on a cross, you had to be buried on the same day. You read that in Deuteronomy 21, verse 22 and 23, and He was buried that same day.

Now, verse 14, He says, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. The blessing of Abraham may come to us that might not be Israelized.

It comes to everybody. How? So that we can receive God's Holy Spirit through faith, and just like Abraham believed in God, we also have to believe in God.

Through Christ, therefore, all nations are blessed and perfected.

And that is basically the whole theme of the Book of Galatians. Now, in a sense, very briefly, on the next four verses, Paul changes a little bit the explanation, starting in verse 15.

And I'm going to use a physical example to explain what he's talking about. What he's saying is, he says, you sign a contract with your bank to get a loan to buy a car. Or you sign a contract with your bank to get a loan to buy a house. And in that contract, you agree that you will pay so many whatever dollars a month towards that car for a certain number of years, or towards that house for a certain number of years.

And now you're bound by that contract. Once you've signed that contract, the contract is sealed. It's closed.

If you now decide, well, I'm not going to pay this month, and you're not going to pay next month, you're going to start to get hit with interest and then with penalties and all other things, because that is what you contracted to. There is a contract, and you have to abide by the contract. That contract is sealed. It's closed. Now, granted, there are things like renegotiating the contract and other things. That's completely different. But the analogy is that once you sign a contract, the contract is sealed, and you've got to stick to it.

Let's now, with that understanding, let's read verse 15. Brethren, I speak in a manner of men, though it is only a man's covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one knows it or adds to it. So, once you've signed that contract to buy that house, etc., you can say, oh well, the price has changed now, two years down the road, the price has changed, now you've got to pay more. No, you've agreed on that price, you signed the contract. Oh no, oh, I don't have to pay now, I don't have to pay, I won't pay. No, the contract is signed, that's it. So, he's saying, I speak in a manner of men, though it is only a man's covenant, so it may be, as an example, it's only a man's agreement or a covenant. Once it's sealed, when it's confirmed, once you've signed on the bottom line, no one knows it or adds to it.

Now, to Abraham, now he is using that analogy, verse 16, now to Abraham and he's sealed. You see, the promise of faith was given to Abraham and he's sealed. You see, the promise was given to Abraham and to Christ. It's important, quite often we don't mention that the promise, oh, the promise was given to Abraham. You go back and he says the promise was given to Abraham and he's sealed, which is Christ.

So, to Abraham through Christ and then to mankind. So, there is no promise was to Abraham and he's sealed, where the promise is made. He does not say to thieves, brutal, as of many, but of one and to your seed, who is Christ. And this must say that the law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. Now, what do you mean the law was added 430 years later? It was the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law of the sacrifices was added 430... The God's law, the Ten Commandments, had been existing from day one. And Abraham knew and he kept the law. But those laws of sacrifices that they had to do, and it was given in Deuteronomy, you read in Deuteronomy chapter 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the different sacrifices, they were given 430 years after the promise was given to Abraham. Now, the promise was given to Abraham when he left the land of his fathers, and was given to him. And the promise was said to you and to your seed, leave and I'll bless you. And yes, that promise then was reinforced and might unconditionally, things like that. But it was there at the beginning, and that was 430 years.

The interesting is... And that promise, it says, yeah, cannot an old covenant, it was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.

What do we mean 430 years? Yes. The promise with Abraham was made about 19...

1917 years before Christ, before the current era. And the ceremonial law was given about 1487 before Christ. That is exactly 430 years. Let's look at Exodus 12, verse 40 and 41. Exodus 12, verse 40 and 41. Now it came to pass at the end of 430 years, on that very same day.

It came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. And this is a night to be solemn observance. You know, that was on the evening of the beginning of the 15th of Nisan. The 14th is a possible and the 15th at the sunset when the day began, the 15th, they left by night. That is a night to be much remembered.

It was the same day, and it was the first day of 11th bread, was the same day 430 years before that Moses left the land of his fathers.

Wow!

And some people have a problem with verse 40, so let's explain. Verse 40 says, Now the sojourning, the sojourning of the children of Israel, who lived in Egypt, yes, they did live in Egypt, was 430 years, the sojourning of the children of Israel. And it was the period that they wear pilgrims. They wear in a land which is not theirs. The moment that Abram left the land of his fathers, he was a pilgrim. And the period that they wear pilgrims was 430 years. The whole, that's Abram, and the descendants of his, that's by street, who are the children of Israel, that whole period. And they lived in Egypt, quite correct. They did live in Egypt at the end. That total period from when Abram left to when the Israelites left Egypt was exactly 430 years. Now, that's got some interesting bits of calculation out there. It just shows that time to God, everything is very exact and very precise. It's very exact and very precise, and God does things on time. And that's a whole different story. But going back to Galatians 3 verse 18, because we finished there, verse 17. For if the inerrantance is of the law, it is no longer of promise, but God gave it to Abram by promise. God gave that inerrantance to Abram and to his seed by promise. What was the promise to Abram? Well, initially it was a bit of land and then it increased to more and increased to more and the promised land. But the promise ultimately is to Christ, right? Because it's to Abram and his seed, Christ. What is the inheritance of Christ? Because ultimately it's our inheritance.

What is the inheritance of Christ? It's the kingdom of God.

The inheritance of Christ is the kingdom of God. And you read, for instance, in Romans chapter 8 that we are inheritors of God. Let's look at that. Romans 8, Romans 8 verse 17. Romans 8 verse 17. Now this is very, very encouraging. Romans 8 verse 17 says, if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified together.

We are joint heirs of Christ. So what is the promise to Christ? What is Christ's inheritance? It's a promise to God. Now you're going to go to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1, first in verse 2. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2.

It says, in the last days God has spoken to us by son whom he has appointed, a heir of all things. Now let me ask you what is excluded from all things? Nothing.

And a little bit further, in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 6. In the latter part there, verse 6, let all the angels of God worship him, Christ, and of the angels, he says, who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire, but to the son that is Christ. That's God the Father saying to the son, he says, your throne of God is forever a scepter of righteousness, the scepter of your kingdom. And then he says, sorry, I'm reading chapter 1. I meant to read chapter 2. Chapter 2 verse 6b. And he says, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him? You have made him a little lower than angels, you've crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of your hands, you have put all things in subjection under his feet. So, what has God put in subjection under Christ? And by implication to us, because we coheirs of Christ, all things, the universe, all the galaxies, everything, it's not just a little geographical area around Palestine, it's not just the whole planet Earth, it's all the galaxies and all the universe in the new heaven and the new earth, that is to come.

Reverend, what is our hope? What is the promise to us?

He said, we're gonna rule and have responsibilities over the whole universe. Can you, with this body, travel to other galaxies? Well, you can't even travel to Mars. You have to carry everything and to get to Mars, it'll take you a couple of years, if that. Probably, I don't know, I can't remember, but I think it's 10 or 12 years in the best spaceships that you could have, and then you would be confined in a thing for 10-12 years, and then come back and you'll have to take everything with you to be able to live out there. And that is only another planet, kind of the neighbor planet. And that's not even the extremes of our solar system. And there are billions of solar systems in our galaxy, the Milky Way. And there are billions of galaxies and trillions and billions of galaxies. And you know what? That's what you and I are gonna inherit.

God's got a great plan for us. We don't know how. I don't know how He will achieve that. Those are things that He says, well, that's going to be a surprise to you. I'll explain to you when your mind can understand it. But for the time being, Christ has died for us. And God is saying, I want you in the kingdom. But just trust and believe. And now that you believe in that, follow the example by using God's Holy Spirit to become a new man.