Abraham's Seed

Brothers and sisters, 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. 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 the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. Galatians 3:15-18

Just as we cannot arbitrarily break a contract in the human realm, so the covenant God made with Abraham is binding. The promises of the covenant apply to Abraham and His seed, singular. Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Conditions cannot be added to that covenant. It is sealed.

So, 430 years later, God gave the law to Moses, establishing a way of life for the people of God. A new nation was born: Israel. That nation needed laws and standards of living that reflected the God Who saved them and chartered them as a people for His Name. The law was not to qualify them for the inheritance. The inheritance was secured to Abraham and his seed by God’s promise. The law was to set them apart from Egypt, in which they had been held captive for centuries, and other pagan nations around them. But mainly, the rituals and customs of the law of Moses symbolized the Seed Who was to come, and the policies of His kingdom.

The manmade laws that the Jews later added just represented religion, and obscured the grace of the covenant promises of God and complicated the issue of faith. God didn’t need religion’s help. His simple, perfect plan of grace covers everyone’s sin. We, like Abraham, believe and are saved.

Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.  But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.  Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.  So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. Galatians 3:19-25

The law cannot provide salvation. Only faith in the atonement of Christ can provide salvation. The law cannot give life. Man is already dead in sins. Only faith in Christ can give life. Why is there a law? So we could see that we are dead in sin and need salvation. We are all condemned by being born spiritually dead. That’s ALL of humanity. Therefore, ALL can be saved by believing in Jesus Christ. It is the only way. There can be no combination and no compromise. It is all grace. Available to every human. No exceptions. No degrees of goodness can contribute anything to the finished work of Jesus, just as no degrees of sin can affect our condemnation. We were all born condemned IN ADAM (all die). Now that Christ has made His atonement, the law holds no authority over us. IN CHRIST, we are alive and free.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29

How are we all children of God? By physical birth? No. We are condemned by physical birth. Not by any human relationships or genealogies or education or religious practices. There is no universal Fatherhood of God/brotherhood of man. Jesus made this perfectly clear to the Jews  in John 8:43-45:

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

How are we children of God? Not by being members of the human race. Here’s how we are children of God:

“in Christ Jesus, through faith.”

That is the only way we become children of God. There are no works that will earn us that position. He freely bestows it upon those who believe on His Son, Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham.

When we receive by faith Jesus’ atonement, we are baptized into Him by the Holy Spirit. We are clothed with Him. IN HIM, we are not Jew or Gentile, slave nor free, male or female. We are all one IN CHRIST JESUS. It is a technical term. It is a permanent position. Eternal. Only IN CHRIST are we Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.