Galatians 3:15-29
November 5, 2023
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“You who suffer because you love, love still more. To die of love, is to live by it.”

~Les Misérables, Victor Hugo

“When the law discloses sin and threatens death and the eternal wrath of God, we can neither run away from it nor find comfort in it. It does not lie within our power to shake off the terrors of the law or the sadness that is produces in our hearts.”

~Martin Luther, Second Lectures on Galatians

“It is not by copying Abraham’s faith that people become his children. The true children of Abraham are those who God has chosen to be his promised seed. To them he gives his Spirit, the Spirit of faith, by whom it becomes clear that they are Abraham’s children.”

~Commentary on Galatians by Wolfgang Musculus, Reformed theologian of the Reformation (1497-1563)

“God says, ‘Here is one, if he could be rid of this lust I should never hear of him more; let him wrestle with this, or he is lost’ (chapter 8). Astonishing! God ordains to leave a lust with me till I become the sort of warrior who will still seek his aid when this victory is won. God knows when we can bear the triumphs of his grace.”

~John Owen, Overcoming Sin and Temptation

“The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part.”

~“The Waiting” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Sermon Passage

Galatians 3:15-29 (ESV)

¹⁵ To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. ¹⁶ Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. ¹⁷ This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. ²⁰ Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

²¹ Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²² But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.