Galatians 3:15-20: a reflection

15Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void or adds to it. 16Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring. He doesn’t say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”, which is Christ. 17Now I say this: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. 18For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise. 19Then why is there the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.

Paul makes a careful argument about the priority of God's promise. God gave his promise to Abraham centuries before the law was given at Sinai. And, Paul argues, a covenant already ratified cannot be annulled by something that comes later; the law, coming four hundred thirty years after, does not cancel the promise. The inheritance, therefore, rests on God's promise, received by faith, not on the law, and God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Notice what Paul is protecting. He wants us to see that our standing with God rests on his gracious promise, which came first and cannot be undone, not on our law-keeping, which came later and was never meant to be the basis of the inheritance. If the inheritance came by law, he says, it would no longer be by promise; but God gave it by promise, freely. The foundation is grace, God's promise, not our performance.

That is a deeply reassuring truth. If your relationship with God depended on your law-keeping, your performance, your record, it would be shaky, because your performance is uneven. But it does not. It rests on God's promise, given freely to be received by faith, a promise that our later failures cannot annul any more than the law could. Do not build your standing with God on your own performance, which will always wobble. Build it on his promise, received by faith, the foundation that came first and cannot be undone. The inheritance is by promise.

Lord, my standing with you rests not on my law-keeping or my performance but on your gracious promise, which came first and cannot be annulled. When I am tempted to base my relationship with you on my uneven record, remind me that the inheritance is by promise, received by faith. Let me build my security not on my wobbling performance but on your promise, which does not fail.