Commentary on Galatians (45)

GALATIANS 3:15-18
Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

The reasons suggested as to why Paul mentions certain points, or why he chooses to argue for these points the way he does, are often partly based on speculation. For example, when he puts the emphasis on Abraham, it could be that he is answering some of the opposing arguments, those that appeal to Abraham to establish justification by works, law, or circumcision. However, there is no way to be sure of this, and it could be that Paul is merely raising the point to present his own case against the Judaizers. In any case, whether he is answering actual or hypothetical arguments, or whether he is making his own case, we know that he is indeed facing opposition, that is, Judaizers who would sway the Galatians from the true gospel.

So far Paul has shown that Abraham himself was justified by faith apart from circumcision and the law, since he was justified before circumcision and the law. And he has also demonstrated from the law itself that it is impossible to be justified by observing the law, that the law itself points to faith as the way to be justified, and that the basis and object of this faith is the substitutionary atonement performed by Christ.

But now one may object, although Abraham was justified by faith before the law, it could be that we are now to be justified by the law precisely because it came later, and thus superceding the principle of justification by faith exemplified in Abraham. It is relatively unimportant as to whether this is an actual objection that Paul is answering, or whether it is merely a possible objection. He proceeds to answer it in our passage, arguing that the formal introduction of the law did not annul or add to the principle of justification by faith.

Verse 15 refers to "a human covenant" as an illustration. It is uncertain which legal system is assumed here – Roman, Greek, or Jewish. The question does not ultimately affect our understanding of the passage, since Paul's intention is clear enough, and under any one of these legal systems, there comes a point in which a covenant is no longer subject to annulment or addition after some official action or event (such the death of a testator).

Paul is referring to a covenant "that has been duly established." After that "no one can set aside or add to" it. And "so it is in this case" of Abraham, the law, and justification by faith. Whatever he has in mind closely corresponds to a "last will and testament," through which an inheritance is left to the beneficiary. As the rest of the passage suggests, the covenant made with Abraham is very much like this. It is not so much an agreement as it is a declaration of what God promises to perform. One writer observes, "It is a grant rather than a bargain."

This is clearly seen in the way God ratified his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. Following the customs of the day, animals were cut apart and the halves arranged opposite each other. The parties were to pass through the pieces, and so the covenant would be ratified in blood. However, in making his covenant with Abraham, God passed between the pieces alone. Again, this suggests that this covenant is not so much an agreement as it is a declaration of what God promises to perform. The fulfillment of the promises does not depend on both parties playing their parts, since Abraham had no part – the covenant does not depend on him, but only on God's ability and faithfulness to perform what he has promised.

The word translated "seed" in verse 16 could in fact be taken in either a singular or collective sense, or both. Consider the English word "family," which appears to be singular, but could refer to a collective that consists of multiple individuals. In fact, Paul himself assumes a collective sense for the word in several other places (Romans 4:16-18, 9:6-8), so it is probably a mistake to think that he is here making an argument that turns on the singular sense of the word.

Rather, he is expounding on the promise made to Abraham, pointing to Christ as the true heir of the inheritance. Several verses later (v. 26-29), he will conclude that believers are thus heirs of the promise through Christ, that is, by being "in him" or joined to him. Therefore, the word "seed" can be taken in both its singular and collective meanings, but verse 16 focuses on the singular sense to emphasize the fact that the "true" heir of the promise is Christ.

But what Paul is really saying (v. 17: "what I mean is this"), is that since no one can set aside or add to even a human covenant that has been duly established (v. 15), then "The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise" (v. 17). The inheritance was given to Abraham by promise – by God's sovereign declaration of what he would perform – and ratified in blood. And as we have seen, the promised blessing is applied through faith to those whom God has chosen to believe. The law, which came after, does not affect this, whether we are referring to the promised inheritance or the means by which it is applied (v. 18). Therefore, the principle of justification by faith is preserved despite the formal institution of the law.

Since it is not until verse 17 that Paul applies the illustration he began in verse 15, we could consider verse 16 a parenthesis between the two verses. But the verse contributes to the overall argument. If the inheritance was promised to Abraham and his "seed," and the "seed" is Christ, then the inheritance was promised to Christ. Then, since the inheritance was promised to Christ and "duly established," nothing could interject in the meantime to prevent the fulfillment of the promise. But then, once Christ has received the promised inheritance, all those who are joined to him by faith becomes heirs to it as well. Thus we see that all those who receive justification before God and the gift of the Spirit do so through faith in Christ apart from circumcision or the works of law.