Chapter 16
Salvation
“Brethren,
I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a
man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed,
which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before
of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after,
cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the
inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham
by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of
transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it
was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a
mediator of one, but God is one.”
(Galatians 3:15-20)
Paul’s
purpose in Galatians 3 is to show us that salvation, in its entirety, is the
inheritance of free grace, the result of God’s absolute and unconditional
promise through the blood of Christ. He is showing us that no part of the
inheritance can be obtained by the works of the flesh, by obedience to the law.
Paul, writing by divine inspiration, uses argument after argument to
demonstrate the fact that this is not some new doctrine, but that it is the
doctrine of Holy Scripture, constantly taught throughout the Old Testament. In
this passage he shows us that the blessing of Abraham, the blessing of
salvation by the blood of Christ and the operation of God’s omnipotent grace is
an eternal, covenant blessing.
Paul has already shown us that the promise God made
to Abraham was the promise of the gospel. That promise is an eternal, covenant
promise. Here the apostle shows us the steadfastness of that covenant and the
certainty of the promises of grace and salvation in the covenant, using earthly
things as illustrations of heavenly things. ― “Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed,
no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto” (v. 15). Because the promise was
given to Abraham 430 years before the law was given on
It is a
matter of common knowledge that once a covenant has been
ratified, it cannot be changed. Its terms cannot be altered. Paul’s point is
this: ― Because the promises of grace and
salvation were made before the law was given, the law cannot alter or in any
way nullify those promises. Therefore, justification, salvation,
sanctification, and eternal life cannot come by the law. All the blessings of
the gospel come by God’s free, unalterable promise, through the merits and
efficacy of Christ’s redemptive accomplishments to all who, like Abraham,
believe the gospel.
If a man’s covenant cannot be overturned by
something that happens after the covenant is ratified, you can be sure God’s covenant
cannot be. ― “Now to Abraham and
his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as
of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (v. 16). The promises of the gospel
were given long before the law and cannot be annulled or modified by the law
that came later. The word translated “covenant” in verse 15 refers to
what we would call “last will and testament.” There is no doubt that Paul uses
the word in that sense here to illustrate his point. Yet, he is using it to
refer to something far greater than a man’s last will and testament. He is
using it to refer to God’s everlasting, immutable, unalterable covenant of
grace, and the promises of it made with his Son as our Surety before the world
began.
Paul stresses the fact that the promise
God made to Abraham was totally wrapped up in one person, Abraham’s “Seed,”
the Lord Jesus Christ. The promise was, from the beginning, based upon the work that Christ
accomplished from eternity as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
and would accomplish in time as our Surety, Redeemer, and Covenant Head.
Therefore, as it has been from the beginning of time, so it is now. Grace,
salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life flow to believing sinners freely
through the sacrifice of Christ.
That
which God confirmed to Abraham in Christ by the gospel that was preached to him
cannot be nullified by the law given at
“And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed
before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years
after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect” (v. 18). The inheritance
Paul speaks of is an eternal inheritance, everlasting life and happiness in
heaven. This is the gift of God in, by, and through Christ. It is not gained by
obedience to the law, but by the gift of grace. This inheritance of grace
includes all the blessings of grace and glory (Eph. 1:3; 1 Cor.
These bounties of grace do
not belong to those who seek them by the deeds of the law. They are not the
heirs of the promise (Rom.
The fact that Paul
speaks of the space between God’s promise to Abraham
as being 430 years sometimes causes confusion. There were considerably more
than 430 years between the time God’s covenant promises were given to Abraham
(Gen. 12) and the giving of the law on Sinai (Ex. 20). Actually more than 600
years elapsed between the two events.
Did Paul make a
mistake? Is there an error found in the Bible? Of course not! I am certain that
Paul understated the space of time on purpose, taking the 430 years from Exodus
12:40-41, which refers to the time of
That which Paul obviously has in mind, when he
speaks of God’s covenant with Abraham and the blessings of it, is the
everlasting covenant of grace, so often spoken of in the Book of God (Jer. 31;
Ps. 89; Heb. 8; Heb. 12; Eph. 1; 2 Tim. 1). John Gill tells us that, “The
covenant of grace is a compact, or agreement made from all eternity among the
divine Persons, concerning the salvation of the elect.”
This covenant of grace is an eternal covenant.
Before there was a star in the sky, before the sun was fixed in its place,
before there was an angel in heaven to sing the praises of the triune God,
before there was a man on earth made in the image and likeness of God, the
everlasting Father determined to have a people for himself, like his
only-begotten Son. As he loved his Son, so he loved his people before the world
was (John
These are the words of that
covenant as they are given in Scripture. ― “Mercy shall be built up forever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish
in the heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto my
servant. Thy seed will I establish forever, and build thy throne to all
generations. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore,
and my covenant shall stand fast with him” (Psa. 89:2-4, 28). The Psalmist
declared, “The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting” (103:17).
This covenant of grace, and
redemption, and life, was made between the sacred Persons of the blessed
Trinity before the world began. Man had nothing to do with it. The foundation
of the covenant is the love of God and his sovereign pleasure. The covenant was
entirely free. The grace of God is its only cause. This everlasting covenant is
the basis of all of God’s decrees and works. It is “his own purpose”
according to which he brings all things to pass (Rom.
What does all this mean to
believing sinners, to poor, weak, worthless sinners who look to Christ alone
for salvation and eternal life? It means, “All
things are yours, for ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” It means, “all things work together for good” to you. It means that “no
evil shall happen” to you. It
means that you “shall never perish.” God’s covenant encompasses all
things for us. I remind you, too, that this is an immutable covenant. It is “ordered in all things and sure.” God
will never break his covenant. Of our God it is written, he is a God “keeping
covenant” (Neh.
It is just
this point for which Paul is arguing in Galatians 3:15-20. In Hebrews
In verses 19-20 Paul shows us that the law was
given, not as a system by which sinners should seek to be saved, not as a rule
of conduct by which believer’s are to measure their spiritual might and
superiority over others, but it was added as a temporary thing to restrain
wickedness by the threat of punishment, until Christ came and brought in the
fulness of God’s covenant promise. ― “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions,
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by
angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but
God is one.”
The law was given long after
the promise of eternal life was made (Tit. 1:2). It was given to reveal and
expose the sin and guilt of men, to constantly remind and make men conscious of
their sin. The law was given at Sinai to show sinners their need of a Substitute
and to reveal Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, in types and pictures until he
came (Heb. 10:1-9). Even as God gave his law on
As Moses was mediator between God and Israel on
Sinai, the Lord Jesus Christ, our God-man Savior, is the Mediator between God
and men (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24; Acts 4:12). A mediator has to do
with more than one party. There can be no mediator if only one person is
involved. Yet, God is only one person; he is the one offended, standing off at
a distance, giving the law in the hands of a mediator, revealing their
alienation. Therefore, justification
cannot be expected through the law. Someone must step in, take up our cause,
and satisfy the law for us, or we must perish. That Someone
is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Mediator and Surety. He took up
our cause from eternity, assumed total responsibility for our souls before the
world began, and has sworn to his Father that he will bring his own elect safe
to glory at last in the perfection of his righteousness and holiness (John
10:16; Heb. 2:13), according to the terms of the covenant (Eph. 1:3-6),
presenting us before the presence of his glory holy and without blame before
the holy Lord God.