January 28 Click on verses for Full Scripture	previous - - - - - - - - - - next
Today's Pathway: Galatians 3:18-19 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.

Over the past few days we have seen that the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant promised that all the nations of the world would be blessed through the Seed of Abraham, Who is Christ. The conditional Mosaic Covenant, which contained the Law, was not given until four centuries later, and could not and did not invalidate the Abrahamic Covenant. God had promised Abraham that salvation would come through the Messiah, and Abraham believed Him, and because of that was declared righteous. He had faith that God would do what He had promised to do. The Judaizers were teaching that a person had to obey the edicts of the Law in order to be saved. Paul is stating in verse 18 that if salvation could be obtained by keeping the Law, then it was not being obtained by having faith in God's promise. This is an important principle. Faith and works are mutually exclusive (Romans 11:6). The Judaizers were saying that salvation was obtained through faith and works. Paul is saying that if works have anything to do with salvation then faith is nullified. Homer Kent wrote,

"The promise was repeated to Isaac and Jacob, and no conditions were imposed. Because the patriarchs believed God’s promise, with no strings attached, they had been declared righteous. For anyone to insist that now one must place himself under the law in order to inherit the provisions of the promise to Abraham was to place that inheritance on an entirely different basis. It would be 'no more of promise.'"

In verse 19 Paul asks and answers the question that the Judaizers, and those who had been bewitched by them, would have raised: "Why was the Law given, if it wasn't designed to save men's souls?" Paul's answer is that it was added because of man's sinfulness. The fact that it was "added" indicates that there was something in existence before the Law. What was that? It was the promise of salvation by grace through faith! The principle of faith had already been established, so what was being "added" could not have been designed to subtract from the promise was already in existence. The Law was never designed to save; it was given to show the Jews that they needed a Savior. Again Homer Kent makes an insightful comment:

"The translation 'because of'' renders a Greek word which may denote either cause or purpose. If the former is the intention, Paul’s meaning was that the law was given because man’s sinfulness was so great. The law was to act as a restraint on him. It is more consistent with Paul’s thought elsewhere, however, to regard this word as indicating purpose here, so that the meaning is: law came in order that sin might take on the character of actual transgression of clearly indicated standards. Unless there is a revealed law, sin is sinful but it is not transgression (Romans 4:15). This understanding fits well with Paul’s emphasis in this passage, for he was engaged in showing that the law did not make men righteous but served to condemn them."