|
GALATIANS Chapter 3 "Abraham
and His Seed." This Bible Study is provided by http://www.theseason.org with permission from it's author R. Christopherson. Galatians 3:1 "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" Paul did not try to soft peddle the Word of God to men, he said what was on His mind. Paul is asking the Galatian Christians; Who has bewitched you into the ceremonial religion? He is telling them, you understood the death of Christ when I taught it to you, why have you allowed someone to come into your churches and all them to do this to you? Galatians 3:2 "This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" Paul is saying, let me ask you this one question? Paul had taught them that they received the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith in Jesus Christ, and now he wants them to answer this question back to him. Did you receive the Spirit of God by ceremonial law, the dos and don't of the law, or was it by your hearing of Christ on the cross paying the price, where by in repentance you are forgiven? Galatians 3:3 "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Are you so senseless whereby having begun in the Spirit in the perfect way, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Are you now made perfect through all those bad thoughts that you receive from time to time? Of course any time you break any part of the law, you have broken all the law and you have flunked, you are back under the law. Paul is asking the Galatians, are you so foolish that you would go back to legalism? All forms of legalism was nailed to the cross with Christ, and Colossians 2 tells us all of the things that were nailed to the cross with Christ. Be a realist for a moment. All flesh dies and decays, the inner man, the soul and spirit returns to our Heavenly Father upon death, so flesh is not going to save anyone. When anyone comes to you and tries to teach that the flesh will they are trying to pull back into their legalistic false doctrine, the doctrine of the Kenites, and their father Satan. We do not need to respect any day over another to be in the will of God, because Christ became our Passover. We respect Jesus Christ every day of the year, and every moment of every day. Any time we fall short of His Word, that is the time to repent in Jesus name, and all of those sins are gone from us. We are made perfect through the blood of Christ upon repentance, and not by any act, word or deed under any part of the law. Christ became our Passover when His blood was shed on the cross and that is enough for all the sins of every soul that will repent. Don't let anyone add one thing to this or you have made the entire gift of God void to you. Galatians 3:4 "Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain." Paul is telling these Galatians, are you going to throw the entire works of Jesus Christ away? I can hardly believe it. You are going to throw away the entire effect of the gospel, and that is so senseless and foolish of anyone to expect any part of your flesh to save you. Paul is saying, I just can't believe you would be so foolish. God loves you, and wants you to use His Word as your authority, and that in itself can cause certain people a great deal of harm, when they are uneducated in His Word. This is because if they take an expression literally, they could make a fool out of themselves, or even cause harm to themselves. This is why it is important for us to educate ourselves in the Word, and know the times and ways when the Word was written to rightly divide the Word of God. Have the right tools to help you understand the figures of speech, the idioms, and correct meaning of the words being used. Jesus himself used idioms in expressing his instructions in what shall happen in the final days of this earth age, when Satan is cast out of heaven in Luke 10:19 "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Satan is the serpent, and his offspring through Cain are the serpents. Jesus was telling us, His disciples to take power over Satan, and his Kenite children in that day. The scorpions are the fallen angels that will also be thrown out of heaven by Michael, and be here on earth during that time. Jesus wants you to take power and authority over Satan, the Kenites and the fallen angels, and this has nothing to do with any snake in the woods, for that snake in the woods has never read the word of God. You fool with those snakes and they will bite you. This instruction by Jesus had nothing to do with religion, but many people have died from snake bites trying to prove their salvation, using this passage. Learn to use the right tools of the Word, and try to understand what the true meanings of what God is trying to tell you. This is repeated in Mark 16:18; "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." To take the deadly drink was a saying, such as "painting the town red", drinking poison was in reference to your character, that it would withstand any poisonous test. The poison that would come from the serpent, the Kenite. It is in reference to the spiritual, and not the literal act. Yet many people have died in religious services drinking their poisons to prove their salvation. My friend, legalism will do the same thing to you, and it is very sad to be in ignorance of God's Word, and try to follow it blindly not knowing the true meanings. Our Father loves you very much, and when you believe the the Word is telling you to do something that would harm you, your common sense should tell you that you just don't understand the true meaning of the passage. Galatians 3:5 "He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth He it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith." Paul is telling the Galatians to stop and think, when there was a miracle performed by Jesus or one of the prophets or apostles, do you think that those miracles were done by the law? No, miracles happen under the works by the faith of the one administering the miracle. Paul is asking did the law perform the miracle, or the Holy Spirit of God, acting by the hearing of faith? The law is the law, and it has never performed any miracle. When a miracle happens it is the touch of God, it is the Holy Spirit of God that accomplishes the miracle. Galatians 3:6 "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." The law that was given through Moses over four hundred years after Abraham died. However, Abraham by faith was accounted righteous by God. The most fierce test of Abraham's faith and love for God was when he was going to take his seed, Isaac and offer him on an altar to God for a sacrifice. Abraham knew that God promised him and Sarah that through Isaac would come nations and peoples so numerous as the sands of the seas, and the stars in the heavens. So when Abraham offered Isaac, he actually believe that God would give him back to him to fulfill His promise. This act was accounted to Abraham for righteousness by God. Genesis 22:1 "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, "Abraham:" and he said, "Behold, here I am." Genesis 22:2 "And He said, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Genesis 22:3 "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him." When Abraham followed through with what God had told him to do, and had actually raised the knife to slay Isaac, God stopped him, and provided the ram to offer in Isaac's place. Genesis 22:7 "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, "My father:" and he said, "Here am I my son." And he said, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Genesis 22:8 "And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering:" so they went both of them together." Genesis 22:9 "And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood." Genesis 22:10 "And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." Genesis 22:11 "And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham:" and he said, "Here am I." Genesis 22:12 "And He said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me." Abraham knew that in Isaac would come the true Messiah, and the uncountable numbers of children and nations that would come from Isaac. Abraham knew without a doubt that if God wanted a sacrifice, He would prepare one for him. Genesis 22:13 "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." Genesis 22:14 "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." "Jehovah-jireh" in the Hebrew tongue means "Jehovah will see, or provide". Abraham had the faith in God to know that He would provide a way, that God's will would be fulfilled. When God made promises to Abraham, Abraham acted on those promises knowing that they would all be kept. When God asked for a sacrifice in Isaac after God had already stated that through Isaac would come kings and nations, and seed that would number as the stars of the heaven, though it did not make sense to Abraham, by faith he followed God request. Galatians 3:7 "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham, " When you have the faith of God, and in Jesus Christ, then you also come under the same faith and promises that Abraham came under. You become a child of that promise. Galatians 3:8 "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be blessed." This is a bad translation, for it should read that "God would justify the Gentile through faith". It is aimed a unbelieving Gentiles that would come to believe on Jesus Christ and by faith repent of their sins. "Nations" in the plural, can never be referred to Israel, the twelve tribes. The word "Nation" is "ethnos" in the Greek, or Gentiles. They are the nations not of Jacob, nor of the houses of Israel [the Christian nations], or the house of Judah [the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and part of the Levi]. Through the Christian nations and the Jews all of the other nations on the face of the earth will be blessed. Galatians 3:9 "So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." Again, Abraham's faith was before the law. So you can look back to Abraham and see that all the nations of the world will be blessed. All the people of the world are blessed because Christ came through the seed of Abraham, Abraham's offspring. Every person on the face of the earth that is blessed by faith in Jesus Christ, is blessed because of Abraham's faith. Galatians 3:10 "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Deuteronomy 27:26 tells us that the law simply cannot carry you through, where you break one part of the law, you break all the law. " 'Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.' And all the People shall say, 'Amen'." The entire Torah, or the law pointed toward Christ's coming, and that upon His death on the cross would come full salvation. It is in Christ that all blessings flow out to all ethnic peoples that would by faith believe in Him and repent of their sins. It is in Christ that the curse is removed from you. The curse is to live in and under a set of rules and regulations whereby you could never obtain salvation. That would be unfair to anyone placed in that situation, and our Heavenly Father is not unfair. As we read in I Peter 3:18-20; upon Christ death he went all the way back to Noah and preached to them, that they also could receive the truth, and be saved. Then upon His resurrection, Jesus Christ brought all those souls that would believe with Him to paradise. I Peter 3:18 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: I Peter 3:19 "By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison," I Peter 3:20 "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." Noah means the beginning, and Christ went back to all souls that existed on this earth and preached to each of them that they might have the same opportunity that you and I have today. Galatians 3:11 "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, "The just shall live by faith." There is not one of us perfect, and the only way that the just can live is by faith in Jesus Christ. This verse, "The just shall live by Faith", comes from Habakkuk 2:4; "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: But the Just shall live by his faith". There was only one from the seed of Abraham that accomplished perfection in all parts of His life, and He is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The rest of us must live by faith in Christ, that upon repentance our sins are forgiven, and then we are justified or made right before the Father. We become perfect because Christ paid the price for us. So from this, all peoples and nations become blessed through Christ. Galatians 3:12 "And the law is not of faith: but, "The man that doeth them shall live in them." If you are going to make you doctrine one of legalism, and your build the doctrine on one of the laws specifically, then you have lost before you have started. This is because under legalism, when you separate one law over another, and hold one in higher stature then all others, when you have broken say the tithing law, or say one of the health laws, you have also broken that law that you hold dear. When you have broken one of the laws, you have broken all of the laws. The same goes for holding one doctrine of Christ teaching higher then another, for in the eyes of God they all are equal. This is why our life should be guided by faith, and our eyes set on all of His Word, and when we fall short daily we should repent of those sins we know we have failed in, as well as those sins that we have overlooked, or even committed in ignorance. If you establish your church doctrine on one point of the law, and within your congregation you condone the breaking any part of the others, that is the end to your right-standing before God of that church. You will not receive the blessings of God, because no one can keep them all. The law and the commandments are good, and there is not one part of the law that is not good, but the law was given as a schoolmaster to show each of us that we simply cannot live by the law, and its purpose was to point to the cross of Christ, which is the only way for perfection. Galatians 3:13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" This is recorded in Deuteronomy 21:23 "His body shall not remain all night upon a tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." God knew that we could not keep all the law, and that is why He sent His only begotten Son so that when we did fall short, we would have that forgiveness through repentance from all of our sins. Remember back in Isaiah 53:4 "Surely He hath borne our grief's, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for out transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." Christ took the stripes so that we could be healed both physically and spiritually. He did it all because He love each of His children. God created us and He know all of our limits, and that is why He provided a way for us when we fall. Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord [the father] hath laid on Him [Jesus Christ] the iniquity [sins] of us all." Had Christ not died on the cross for us, then every living being that had ever lived in the flesh would be sentenced to death in hell fire. This is why God allowed the office of Messiah under the law, because without faith under the law every soul from the beginning of time would be dead in hell after the final judgment, because no one could live by the law and keep it to perfection. Galatians 3:14 "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." What Paul is stating is that all races can receive the promise of the Holy Spirit through their faith, which is their belief in Jesus Christ, and their repentance to the Father in Christ name. The subject here is "peoples" and when "we" is used it means more then one race or peoples. We discussed this earlier, where God promised this blessing that would come through his Seed to all the races. To be blessed by Christ, means that He will forgive them of all of their sins upon repentance. You can repent and have that forgiveness, just for the asking. Galatians 3:15 "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." Paul is saying that a contract is a contract, even in man's way of doing business. God has made a contract with us, and in that contract He has made many promises, and those promises are written down for you in His Word. This contract has guaranteed you eternal life, however for it to be confirmed and received on your part, you have to have the faith to receive it. You do that by believing in Jesus Christ, and allowing Christ's blood to pay the price for your sins, just for the stating them before the Father. Even though man can not be counted on to keep his promises, When God makes a promise in written contract, you can count on Him to fulfill that promise. Galatians 3:16 "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, "And to seeds, as many; but as of one, "And to thy Seed," Which is Christ." God did not give up Israel for the sake of the rest of the peoples and nations, but He allowed all others the same opportunity as Israel, to be saved and well blessed through Christ. Romans 11 tells us that for the sake of the Gentiles, the nation of Israel [all the tribes] would be blinded to the truth and would stumble. Their stumbling was not for the sake that they would fall, but that through their falling the remnant, which is God's elect would be able through Christ to graft into the tree of life, which is Jesus Christ. When you read in Revelation 21:24: "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it." "Nations" in the Greek is "ethnos" and is where our word "ethnic" comes from. These ethnic peoples are in the eternal age, after the Millennium and the Judgment and all evil has left the earth. This is concerning the nations blessed by Abraham's Seed. We see that there are kings of the nations, of the different races that are part of this eternal age of the eternal age. This gives absolute proof that there will be people amongst the Gentiles that do have eyes to see and ears to hear, and that will believe in Jesus Christ, and will be saved. These kings will become the election of their people that they will become kings in the eternity, under the King of kings. Each of the different peoples will have their own king, as well as Christ, only Israel will have only one king and He is Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:17 "And this 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." In other words, it was 430 years after the covenant of God with Abraham, that the law came into being. That law given to Moses simply cannot disallow, or make to no effect the promise that God gave to Abraham. That promise was that in his Seed, that Seed is Christ, would the whole world [all races] be blessed. Galatians 3:18 "For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise." If that covenant promise was by the law then there would be conditions to the promise, however the the promise that God gave to Abraham was given by faith. Those promises by God to Abraham were covenant promises that could not be broken. It is only by faith that the blessing of eternal life can be had, and the only way to receive it is by believing in Christ, and all owing His blood to blot out your sins before the Father through repentance. The next question that should enter your mind is, why would God give us the law that would curse us and kill us and condemn us to hell fire? Galatians 3:19 "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgression, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." Why then was the law given, if it was sent 430 years after the promise of the Messiah? The law was given because of the transgressions of the people, before the Seed would come unto those Israelites, the people to whom the promise was made. Moses was the mediator that went up into the mountain to receive the law from the angels of God. God and the Holy Spirit was present Himself, and spoke to Moses, and Moses then became the mediator between man and God because the people could not see God. If you stop and think for a moment why the people needed a mediator, stop and think what the people were doing when Moses was up on the mountain. Even Moses' own brother, Aaron the head Levite was in the process of making a golden calf, and changing their entire religion from the True God, to idolatry in the form of a calf made of gold. Just a few days after the departure of Moses, the people turned to idolatry. God had to establish a mediator between Himself and the people to pass the law on to them. The law requires a middle man, a priest who is the mediator. The law was given as a guide to regiment the peoples life. Aside from the law, you do not need a mediator, when you have faith in God your Heavenly Father you can go directly to Him without going through the middle man. That is how faith works. Galatians 3:20 "Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one." So without a mediator, God is one, and when we are in Christ, we are also one with God. Galatians 3:21 "Is the law ten against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." When the people were transgressing against God, and in their ignorance they did not understanding of the promises of God, so what God did is give them written orders and rules as to how to live their lives. God gave them the promise, but the kept messing up, such as making a golden calf, and all sorts of orgies. These people had seen the Red sea open and had been fed with manna from heaven, yet they still were blinded to the love of our Heavenly Father. Galatians 3:22 "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." These written orders has shown that all mankind will fall to the rules that God had given Moses. There would be not one living soul in the flesh, except for the promised one that could fulfill all the laws of God. Out of all those that are trying to keep the law, and when they see that they simply can't keep the law, they would come to see that Christ was given to fulfill that promise. That promise is that by faith in Jesus Christ, through your repentance salvation would come to all them that would believe. Galatians 3:23 "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." All those souls that lived before the coming of Messiah were kept under the law, until the Jesus Christ came and died on the cross. This is how the law pointed to Jesus Christ who is the Messiah. Galatians 3:24 "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster. to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." The "schoolmaster" is one that teaches people, and the law was given to teach us what God expected from us. The commandments and the rules taught the people until Christ came to earth and hung on the cross. After Christ hung on the cross, the law was not destroyed, but the guidelines that existed before the coming of Jesus Christ are just as true today as they were then, only now when we fall short of the law, we can go directly to God for our forgiveness. God required blood sacrifices for the temporary covering for sin, and when Jesus died on the cross, His blood became our sacrifice, and all of the blood sacrifices and ordinances were done away with because they were fulfilled in Christ Galatians 3:25 "But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." We are not justified by law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Now instead of the law becoming our schoolmaster, we have the Holy Spirit that does the same work as the law of Moses. However the Spirit of God is far more gentle, loving, and He is our comfort in times of need. Galatians 3:26 "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." God created ever race and every soul is one of His children. Through Christ every soul has the right to come to God in repentance and receive eternal life, if they have that faith. Galatians 3:27 "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." When you were submerged in baptism, you were baptized into the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. By making that public statement, you recognized that your sins were covered by the blood of Christ, and you are accepting that blood for the covering of all your sins. In doing so, you name them one by one to the Father, and then you let them go for your mind. To hang on to the guilt is to say that Christ's blood was not sufficient for your sins, and place yourself under the law again. It doesn't matter what sin you have committed, the Blood of Christ is sufficient to cover all sins, only you have to have the faith to accept that forgiveness, and release yourself from that guilt. Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." We are all one body, in faith in Jesus Christ that have eternal life. Galatians 3:29 "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." There is a condition here now, and that condition is that you must believe in Christ and have faith to accept His promises that once you repent, your sins will be forgiven. When you have that faith, then you receive and can count on all the promises that He has made to us, for you and I become heirs to every promise in His Word. Friend, you can count on it. Though it makes us one in Christ, it still does not make us all of one race. This is not a racist statement, for in the Millennium age, as well as the eternity each soul of the ethnos remains of his own people, and Israel also remain of Israel, only in this age of the flesh we become one in the many membered body of Christ. Paul addressed this in Romans 12. Romans 12:4 "For we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:" Romans 12:5 "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Romans 12:6 "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;" There would not be so many problems in the world today amongst the races, if people would understand this. God has a purpose for Israel, just as He has a purpose for all the Gentile peoples. Those purposes are written into the Word of God. However in eternal life, we all become one with Christ, possessing the promise which is the subject here, of the blessings of God.
Home .~ Plough .~ Seeds .~ Vine .~ Potter .~ Seasons .~ Sonshine .~ Rain .~ Field |