Book 33

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 4 * BOOK 33

GALATIANS 3:15-29 – PART 2

Now this lesson will finish book 33, and I find that unreal. That means we’ve come to Tulsa 99 times to do these tapings of “Through The Bible.” Before we begin, let’s review where we ended our last lesson. Paul is writing to Gentile believers for the most part and says –

Galatians 3:26

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

And as I mentioned in the last lesson when Paul speaks of faith in Christ he’s speaking of that whole finished work of redemption, which is faith in His death, His shed blood, His burial, and His resurrection. Paul stresses constantly the power of His resurrection.

Galatians 3:27

“For as many of you as have been baptized into (your denomination?) Christ have put on Christ.”

Well that’s the way most people read it, isn’t it? Sure. You ask the average individual, how did you become a member of your Church? Well I was baptized into it! But you see that’s not what the Scriptures says. Here it says, “that you have been baptized into Christ.” Now there’s not a drop of water in this verse. It’s as dry as a bone, and to follow up with another verse come back to Romans chapter 6, and you have the same thing. I’ll never forget the first time I heard a guest preacher in one of our previous churches where we were members, and this preacher preached from Romans 6 and when he said there wasn’t a drop of water in this 3d verse we thought he was way out in left field. And at that time I was probably one of the strongest, but oh I can see now that he was 100 % right because there is no water in Romans chapter 6. Here it’s basically the same thing as what Paul is saying in Galatians chapter 3.

Romans 6:3

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into (not into a denomination or church, but rather into) Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”

If you’ve been placed in Christ then before you can get there you had to be identified with His death. And how have I always put it? When Christ died, God saw every one of us on the Cross in the Person of Christ, because He died in our place, and this is what God saw. He saw you and I crucified and that’s what He means in Galatians 2 when Paul says –

Galatians 2:20

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;…”

Now just as surely as God saw us on the Cross in the person of Christ, He also saw us in the tomb. So here we are in the tomb, we’re buried with Him. Not by water but by virtue of God determining that now since He’s paid the sin debt for all that believe, and appropriate it then yes God said, “You’re dead, you’re crucified, I saw you in Christ, I saw you buried with Him in his death, in His tomb, and so also we’ve been resurrected with Him to a new life. We are totally different people as a result of this power of His resurrection, and so it’s a God thing. God in His Omnipotence, in His power, in His Omniscience, in His ability to work in the area of the invisible, He has placed us in all of these places.

In the area of the invisible He has seen everyone of us crucified with Christ. In the area of the invisible He saw everyone of us in the tomb with Christ, and in the area of the invisible He has resurrected everyone of us to a new life. How often haven’t I made this illustration? If you were to go down to the morgue and accompany a pathologist in a autopsy, would you ever see the soul of a person? Would you ever see their spirit? Of course not, it’s invisible. Does that mean that it’s not for real? You better believe it’s for real or you wouldn’t be here. But the soul and spirit are invisible, and that’s where God works, in the area of the invisible. He works in the area of our soul and spirit, and human hands can’t touch that. You can baptize this old body a hundred times and it’s not going to change the soul and spirit. Remember this is only an outer tabernacle, but only God can work in the area of the soul and spirit. I wish people could understand that. Looking at the verse again.

Romans 6:3

“Know ye not, that so many of us is were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized (or identified) into his death?” And then to verse 8:

Romans 6:8

“Now if we be dead with Christ, (in other words if we’ve been crucified with Him, if we’ve been buried with Him then) we believe that we shall also live with him:”

How are we going to live with Him? By His resurrection power. Do you see that? We’ve been raised in resurrection power. We’re a new person, we’re a whole new being, and now we are placed into Christ. How? Now on your way back to Galatians stop at I Corinthians chapter 12. These are verses that we use over and over because they are so foundational and so simplistic. You don’t have to have a seminary degree to understand some of these verses. They’re so simple but most people don’t understand them. Also keep in mind that Paul tells us in Ephesians now in this age of Grace that there is only one baptism and then I Corinthians tells us what baptism that is.

Ephesians 4:4-5

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,”

I Corinthians 12:13

“For by one Spirit (the Holy Spirit, it’s capitalized) are we all (believers of Paul’s Gospel for salvation) baptized into one body, (the Body of Christ. Now here’s another verse that is as dry as a bone. There is not a drop of water in this verse. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit working in the area of the invisible placing you and I now in that new resurrected personage into that relationship with Christ.) whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and we have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

There is no color line in the Body of Christ, we believers are all baptized into that Body of Christ, and we are all one in Christ. We just came back from a cruise on the Mediterranean, and we had 62 of us from various parts of the country. But you know what? In just a matter of 24 hours we had all come together as though we had known each other all our lives. Why? We were all believers. We were all members of the Body of Christ, and you’re not strangers long when you’re believers, and it’s so beautiful. Now next week we’ll be going back to Israel, and we’ll have a different group and I know the same thing is going to happen again. That whole group of people is going to come together and by the time we come back it’s going to be as close knit as family. It just shows the fact that when you become members of the Body of Christ there is that unity that nothing can take apart.

Now this is what comes alone from the writings of the apostle Paul. This isn’t taught in the Four Gospels, this isn’t taught in the Old Testament, but Paul is constantly at it. That when we have faith in the Gospel then we become a member of the Body of Christ. Now back to Galatians chapter 3. Now verse 27 is too good a verse to just casually go over, I’m going to spend some time in it. So if you have been baptized by that Holy Spirit’s work into the Body of Christ, then something else has happened. What? You have put on Christ.

Galatians 3:27

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Now I know that maybe some of these things take more faith than the average believer has. In fact let’s come back to Romans again for a moment. You see Romans is the first Book of doctrine that Paul writes in our New Testament, and in his writings is where we must spend most of our time. So turn with me to Romans chapter 3. In one of our lessons earlier today we looked at verses 10 and 20 so now we’ll look at 21 and 22. Remember up in verse 20 it says-

Romans 3:20-21

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.. (now read on in verse 21 and you will see the flip side) “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, (or brought into the spot light) being witnessed by the law and the prophets:”

Remember what I told you in the last lesson that the Bible is a progressive revelation, and here is a good indication of that. Here we are today in Grace, there is no Law, nothing that is part of our salvation comes from the Law, but what does Grace rest on? The Law and the prophets, because they came before. See it’s a progressive thing. Here comes the Law of Moses, and then here comes the prophets with all of their teachings concerning the coming of the King and the kingdom. Then we’ve seen all that just fall through the cracks as we come up through the Old Testament, the Four Gospels and the Book of Acts, and so temporarily during these past 1900 + years God has turned to the Gentiles and calls out the Church. Of course we build on everything that’s gone before.

Romans 3:22

“Even the righteousness of God (not our righteousness. Ours in His sight is nothing but filthy rags, but God’s righteousness) which is by faith (or the faithfulness) of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”

Now I like to look at that word “upon” as being draped with some blanket or cloak that just totally covers me up, and it’s the righteousness of God. Which means that when God looks at me and you, what does He see? He sees that outer covering, and who is that outer covering? It’s Christ! That’s what it means to “put on Christ” that whatever God sees, it’s not me or you but rather Christ. How does that happen? It’s a work of God, I can’t do it.

I explained to one of my classes this past week, Can we crucify ourselves? It’s impossible. There is no way a person can crucify themselves. You might be able to have guts enough to put the first nail in your hand, but how are you going to put in the second one? Hey you have no way of doing it, and so it becomes utterly impossible. And so we have to realize it’s the same way in salvation. I can’t do anything, God has to do it all, because this is being done in the area of the invisible – I the soul and spirit. Now let’s come back again to the Book of Galatians. So we –

Galatians 3:27b

“…have put on Christ.”

And according to Romans that becomes His righteousness. We are clothed with His righteousness and that brings to mind another verse we need to look at the Book of Isaiah chapter 61.

Isaiah 61:10

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; (now this is a man under the Law remember.) for he (God) hath clothed me with the garments of salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, (do you see how that fits with Romans) as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

That’s the outward view now that God sees in that believer. Adorned, covered with righteousness, but inside it’s still old me for the most part, and it’s still old you. But on the other hand we are new creations in Christ because of all that has happened when we believe. Not when we go through a bunch of rituals that will never save anybody. Now come back to Galatians chapter 3 again. Now let’s look at verse 29.

Galatians 3:29

“And if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, (now that doesn’t make you a Jew, be careful thinking that. A lot of people teach that when you become a Christian you become a Jew. No, no, but we become the offspring of Abraham in the realm of the spirit. And so if you’re Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed, and if you are of the seed of Abraham in the realm of the spirit then you become) and heirs according to the promise.”

Now think about that. If you’re Christ’s you are Abraham’s seed. Now again we’ve got to go back to Genesis chapter 12. You’ve go to see these things before they really began to make sense. In chapter 12 we will just look at the 3d verse and remember it’s part of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Genesis 12:3

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee (Abraham) shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Since all families of the earth are blessed then God here is looking way beyond all the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is looking beyond the Law, He’s looking at this age of Grace we’re in tonight when now His blessing of salvation goes to the whole human race. And it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, black or white, it makes no difference. As soon as we become a believer of the Gospel then we are one in Christ, and we’re in the Body, and then we become heirs of the promises made to Abraham. Because you see God’s promise went way beyond the Nation of Israel, and so that’s where we come in then, as I showed you earlier.

As Abraham was saved by faith + nothing we are also. Did Abraham bring sacrifices for salvation? No. Was Abraham circumcised before he had salvation? No. Was Abraham under the Law? No. So what did Abraham do to merit salvation ? He just simply believed God. So he becomes then the first to really be saved by faith + nothing! Immediately after that sacrifices are coming in again. So now then here we are 2000 years BC and Abraham saved by faith + nothing. And here we are over on this side in our age of Grace, the 1900 + years also saved by faith + nothing. So what does that do? It just simply ties us to the man Abraham and that’s where we’re connected. not through earthly progeny, but only in the realm of the spiritually do we become the children of Abraham. Is that clear?

I hope I can make that plain, that here is where the connection comes in as God made the promises to Abraham 2000 years BC. And yes out of him would come the Nation of Israel. Yes through the Nation of Israel would come the Law, and yes Israel would be the vehicle that crucified the Redeemer, and made our salvation possible. But then Israel slips off the scene and the Gentiles come in and are dwelling on the root and the fatness of Abraham because all of those promises that were made to Abraham have become ours. So we have entered in to the whole concept of being joint heirs according to the promises. Now the subject of joint heirs should bring us back to Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8:14-15a

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons (or the born ones) of God. 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;…”

What did I tell you about the Law? It was a burden. It was severe. And don’t tell me that they didn’t live in a segment of fear. My goodness I bet you more than once they slipped out on a Saturday afternoon and tried to pick up a few sticks for fire, and they were scared to death that someone would see them and they would be stoned to death. But you see we’re not in that situation. Paul says we’re not under that sprit of bondage fear-

Romans 8:15b

“… but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

Let me go back again to our last lesson. Remember when that tutor had that adult son ready to step in and be co-equal with the father? Did the son have to come in like a little puppy dog afraid of old dad? No. He’s prepared; he’s ready to come right in and work along side the father. Why? Because he’s been well-tutored, he’s ready for it. Well that’s where we are. By virtue of the work of the Cross, now God can place us as a full completely tutored son of God and we can come along side with Him. Now that’s our position. Someday if the Lord tarries we’ll be going into the Book of Ephesians, and that is a Book of positions. Where are we as believers? We’re in that exalted position, even though we’re here on the earth and still under the curse, we’re up against all the things that the rest of the world is, and a lot of us are kind of blind to the fact, but in faith we can see that we’re all ready in that exalted position in the heavenlies, and we’re already joint heirs with Christ.

Romans 8:15b

“…but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

Can you picture an 18 year-old son in the Middle East – maybe his father has a jewelry store. Boy those jewelry stores over there will just knock your eyes out. Can you imagine the exhilaration of both the father and the son on the first morning that son comes in and says, “Dad, I’m finally ready and I’m going to run the business with you.” And to see that father just as exhilarated and hear him say, “Son I’ve been waiting for this day.” Can you imagine that? That’s what God says every time a child of God is saved. God the Father says, “I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been waiting for this day.” And He places us right up there in a place of full responsibility. I know we begin as babes and we feed on the milk of the Word, but positionally we’re right up there with God the Son.

Romans 8:16-17a

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17. And if children, (or born ones) then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;…” What’s Christ’s is ours, and on the other hand what’s ours should be His. Do you see that? And then to close.

Romans 8:17b

“if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 3 * BOOK 33

GALATIANS 3:15-29

In this lesson we will continue in Galatians chapter 3, and hopefully compare Scripture with Scripture. Let’s pick up with verse 23.

Galatians 3:23a

“But before faith came, we were kept under the law,…” Here we’ve got to explain something. You’ve heard me teach it and you’ve heard others teach that all the way back to Adam the criteria for salvation was faith. “Taking God at His word.” Faith began just as soon as God dealt with Adam and Eve after they had sinned. Adam had to take God at His word. So what does this verse mean?

Galatians 3:23a

“But before faith came…” Well without doing any violence to Scripture, and I hope it can enhance it, after the word faith I like to put “way.” I think that will help.

Galatians 3:23a

“….before the faith way came we were kept under the law…”

What do we mean by that? I’m always teaching that we’re not under Law, but rather under Grace, and Grace says, “Keep the Law?” No Grace says, “By Faith, and Faith alone + nothing!” So I think that clarifies it, at least hopefully. Before the faith way, before men and women could be saved by faith + nothing, without the Law, but before that came in – and here Paul goes back and speaks as a Jew –

Galatians 3:23a

“…we were kept under the law…”

Now don’t brush off the meaning of that statement, “under the Law.” I don’t know if any of you have ever been under a heavy burden, but I remember when Iris and I were in Haiti a year or two ago we were just amazed at their women. They would unload a ship that had rice on board, and would lay a 100 pound sack on the shoulders of some of these poor little women that you would swear must be 90 years old. They would just take right off with that huge bag of rice. Now most of us would have no idea of what that would feel like, but can you imagine it? That was a burden. Now we speak of the donkeys and oxen of the ancient times as beasts of burden, because they were loaded down with their commodity. And again most of us don’t know what it’s like to carry a burden. It’s just something that weighs you down, but listen that’s what the Law was. It was a burden that just rested on the shoulders of the people that were under it, and they knew nothing of liberty and they knew nothing except constant fear of the Law because of the severity of the penalty for breaking it. So before the faith way Israel was under the burden of the Law constantly 24 hours a day. And they were –

Galatians 3:23b

“…shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.”

One of my favorite statements concerning Scripture and that is “it’s a progressive revelation.” God didn’t tell everything up in front, and so when He gave the Law did He tell Israel and the rest of the world that one day Christ would die and all of a sudden the word, Grace? No He didn’t. So here they went 1500 years under the Law and then progressively God reveals these tremendous doctrines of Grace through the apostle Paul. So paraphrasing verse 23 it says, “So before the faith way came we were kept under the Law shut up during this time with no alternative way out, until the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” There is your releasing then of something that had been kept secret. I’m always referring to Paul’s use of that word, so come back with me to the Ephesians chapter 3 and let’s look at verse 9. This verse says it all in a nut shell.

Ephesians 3:9

“And to make (Paul through his apostleship) all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, (secret) which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:”

Now there is the reason it had to be revealed. It had been kept secret all the way up through the Old Testament, there was not a word about God going to Gentiles with the Gospel of the Grace of God. As we saw a recently in Galatians 3:14 that salvation came to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, but in the Old Testament it was supposed to have been through the Nation of Israel. Israel was to be the light to the Gentiles, Israel was to be the vehicle, but they dropped the ball, they rejected it in unbelief. And then what did God do? He opened up the windows heaven of Grace through the apostle Paul, and revealed to that man these secrets that had been kept in the mind of God all the way up through the Old Testament economy. We are now in a time that these things are now clearly revealed Looking at the fact that Grace has now revealed – another verse comes to mind in Romans chapter 15, verse 4, all of these verses are so appropriate. This is exactly where we’re coming from.

Romans 15:4a

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime (the Old Testament) were written for our (salvation?, No. Our doctrine? No. For our what?) learning,…”

I’m simplistic, and I know I am. But I was trying to explain to someone the other day and said, “Now look, would you expect one of your kids to suddenly jump in a university calculus class, and they’d never had arithmetic in school?” Why that’s ridiculous isn’t it. Who would ever expect somebody to do calculus if they had never even learned the combination back in grade school? Well this is exactly what we do with people. We take them right into the further revelations of Scripture without any concept of what went before. And then we wonder why they have no root, why their faith does not hold, it’s because they don’t understand anything. Ignorance, and we’re all guilty of it. We expect people to all of a sudden latch on to these things without any background. But look what Paul says in this verse – All these things in the Old Testament and you can also include the Four Gospels now as far as I’m concerned, because they’re all hooked to the Old Testament economy.

Romans 15:4a

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we (as believers now) through patience…”

Always remember that the learning process is a slow process. We have to have time and repetition, and then we move on and get a little deeper, and then repetitious some more. Well that’s the way we’ve got to come through the Scriptures, and all of these things have been building, and building so that we, through comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. Now back to Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3:24a

“Wherefore (because of how God is dealing on a progressive revelation.. Wherefore) the law…”

Now you have to be careful when you read your Bible. Sometimes the Law speaks of that whole system of Judaism. The ceremonial law, the civil law, and the moral law. Sometime that’s all lopped into one word. But here I think the apostle Paul is making reference only to the moral Law, the Ten Commandments.

Galatians 3:24a

“Wherefore the law (the Ten Commandments) was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,…”

Now what does that mean? Well for 1500 years Israel was under the Law, and it was a system, by which God was training them and teaching them, and hopefully bringing them to the place where they would be mature understanding believing Jews. That’s what God was hoping for. Now we know it didn’t happen but that was what He was striving for. So the purpose of the Law was to prepare the Nation of Israel for a great opportunity. To be vessels, to be instruments that He could use to bring in the masses of the Gentile world. So even for themselves a nation –

Galatians 3:24b

“…the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified (now not by Law keeping but) by faith.”

Now you want to remember that all the way from Exodus chapter 20 Israel was under the Law, and of course it was still the operation of faith that brought an individual Jew into a right relationship with God, but it was Law and faith, There was no such thing as faith + nothing, as I teach, until the Law was totally, totally satisfied at the Cross. And when Christ died He satisfied the demands of the Law in my place and yours. So Israel for 1500 years was under this Law to bring them to the place where they could have believed who Jesus was. Because all through the Old Testament the prophecies were looking forward to the coming of their Redeemer, King, and Messiah. They should have known who He was. They could have known who He was. The Old Testament was full of it, but why didn’t they? They were steeped in, what? UNBELIEF!

Why didn’t Israel go in and take the promised land at Kadesh Barnea? God told them that He’d “drive the Canaanites out, everything is ready for you. You can go in and take their vineyards, their fields, their harvest, their everything, it’s all waiting for you. I’ll use hornets to drive them out “ God had a system that He was literally going to remove the Canaanite population but leave everything else in tact. All they had to do was just walk in and take over with God’s blessing. Why didn’t they do it? Unbelief. Their unbelief was just simply awful.. God said, “There it is, take it!” And the first step of unbelief was, “well at least let us send in spies.” So God condescended, but that wasn’t His first intent. That was never His first instruction to send spies in first. God said, “Go in and take it!” But in their unbelief they wanted to send in the 12 spies one from each tribe, and if the spies would have come back and said, Yeah we can take it, and had went on in, God would have let them go on in. That’s what He had intended, it was a valid offer to the Nation of Israel. But why didn’t they? Unbelief! The horror of unbelief.

Listen every individual that will one day end up in the Lake of Fire is going to be there for one reason, and that is “UNBELIEF!” The determination of their punishment will be according to the works they have done in this life of course. But the cause of them being there in the first place is one word, Unbelief. As I mentioned to our Saturday night class, why is our own beloved nation almost like a flood turning their back upon this Word? Unbelief. The nation refuses to take this as the Word of God, and we’re suffering for it. Now coming back to our text in Galatians chapter 3. But nevertheless the Law was given that it might bring Israel to the place where they could recognize their Messiah and believe in Him, and trust Him, and they didn’t because of unbelief.

Paul makes a big deal of it, especially in Hebrews chapter 3. He says over and over, “why didn’t they get into the promised land? Why was God so provoked with that generation? And I always point back to Mount Sinai and they had the golden calf, and their gross immorality that they were involved in, but that isn’t what God held against them. But rather God held their unbelief against them. You can go all the way back through Scripture and see these unbeliefs. Why was Esau such a grief of mind to his parents? His unbelief. Because in his unbelief what did he do? He went and married Canaanite women. Ishmael is another example. What was one of the difference between Saul and David? Why didn’t Saul become the great king that David did? Man he was a lot bigger man, he should have been able to kill a hundred men to David’s one, but his problem was also unbelief. Saul even went so far as to go to the witch of Endor to get some information. Unbelief! And you see this all the way up through Scripture, how that mankind refused to believe the Word of God. Now let’s move on with verse 25.

Galatians 3:25

“But after that faith (way) is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

Again I’m going to ask you mentally put the word “way” after faith. Being saved by faith + nothing in what God has said. Once we come to that place in God’s economy in this progressive revelation now then we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Let me explain schoolmaster here. The schoolmaster that Paul refers to is not in the Jewish economy, but rather the Greek and the Roman. And what the Greeks and Romans would do is hire a slave or a servant, and that servant was under the demands of the father to raise that child and tutor that child so that at some designated point out in the future, somewhere probably between 16 – 21 years old the tutor would be able to say, “Master this young man is now ready to come in and work right with you in your business. He’s got everything that he needs to know. He’s been well-tutored, and is prepared.”

Now when that father has agreed that indeed the son is ready then an adoption was instituted. It was not like we think of an adoption of taking a child from some other union, and legally bring him into another. That’s not what the Scripture word adoption meant. It meant to be placed as a full operation son of the father on equal basis with him in responsibility, and function and every other way. Now that’s their term schoolmaster that Paul is using here. This servant who had been hired to bring this child to the place where he could step right in and work with the father. All right do you get the picture? That’s what the Law was intended to do for Israel.

It was to prepare them and bring them to place that when the Messiah would come they were ready. And in faith they could have said, “Yes,” and a few of them did, but for the most part the nation rejected their Messiah. But they had that opportunity to believe everything that Christ was, had they been ready for it, but they were not. And so now it comes into our Gentile economy for you and I and it’s still a valid concept, that the law was given to prepare everything for the coming of the Messiah, that He could fulfill the work of Cross. Yes He had to die, and He had to be buried, He had to be raised from the dead for our justification, but now you see the Law has been satisfied, it has been completely paid in full through the work of the Cross, and we now enter in by faith + nothing. The Law has done it’s job, it’s done, it’s been crucified, and off the scene. Isn’t that beautiful? And all in the pre-determinate counsel of God.

Galatians 3:26

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

So we’re children of God not by keeping the Law, but by faith in Christ Jesus. Oh listen, how many millions of so called Christians are flying in the face of this verse and saying, “Yeah but I’ve got to do this or that. I think I also need to do this.” But you see this verse like all Paul’s verses include none of that. We become the chidden of God by one thing and one alone, and that is by “Faith in the finished work of Christ.” And that of course is what Paul is implying here. Paul never speaks that just believing that He was the Messiah. That was back in Peter’s gospel and his domain, that was before these revelations were given to Paul. When Paul speaks by faith in Christ he’s talking about faith in that finished work of redemption. “The fact that Christ died for you, was buried and rose from the grave for you, and believing that for salvation.”

That reminds me of another phone call I had the other day. The lady was all shook up and said, “Les it’s getting to the place where I just see demons in my home and in my family, and I’m up against the forces of Satan, and it’s just about to drive me up the wall.” I said, “Lady do you know why? You have got your mind in the wrong places. You put your mind on the power of the resurrection and all of this demonic stuff will flee from you. Get your mind on the power of His resurrection and forget about the demons.” Beloved do you know that Paul never once as far as I can know even uses that word. If he does I want you to show me. He never once used the word demons as being active in the life of a believer, but rather all he can talk about is that wonderful power of His resurrection.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 2 * BOOK 33

THE LAW IS CONDEMNATION

Now as we begin this lesson we’re just going to jump right in at Galatians chapter 3 and let’s begin with verse 18.

Galatians 3:18

“For if the inheritance be of the law, (that is the Mosaic Law and system. If everything that is of our spiritual inheritance is concerned with the Law) it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”

But as we saw in the last lesson what did God do with Abraham? Promise, Promise, and Promise. I will, I will, I will, and the Law couldn’t fulfill any of those promises, because all the Law could do was condemn Israel. It didn’t fulfill any promises per say, and so if the Law was going to do the job then it was no more a promise. But God gave the covenant based on promise. In other words when God said it, that settles it, and that’s where we come in by faith. Now verse 19 is a verse I really want to get into, and spend some time on.

Galatians 3:19

“Wherefore then serveth the law? (if it’s part of the promises, and it’s certainly not part of Grace, well what was the purpose of it? Why did God ever give the Law to Israel in the first place? Because God doesn’t do anything without a valid reason, and He did give the Law for a reason) It was added because of transgressions,…”

How many years of human history had transpired from the time of Adam until Moses received the Law? 2500 years mankind went without a written Law till God gave the Law to Moses. So the Law was added 2500 years after the human race had begun because of transgressions, sins. Let’s go back and look how sin ran rampant during that time in Genesis chapter 6. Up until the Law was given at Mount Sinai there was no system of worship. There was no organized religion as we call it. There was no written, “Thou shalt, and Thou shalt not.” And so what happened? Well here we have a good example of that in this chapter.

Genesis 6:5

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Can you imagine that? We’re getting close to that time again, but not that close yet. But evil things were all that people could think about. Things that were evil and wicked, and dishonest, always trying to cook up a crooked deal. You know I get a kick out of our law-making process. Just as soon as our government passes a law, being a democracy that we are in the coffee shops all over America writing on napkins, what are people doing? Figuring out a way to beat the law. Have you ever thought of that? Especially in programs. I’m a farmer and rancher from way back and I guess the farm programs had their place, but, shoot, I can remember they could come out with a new farm plan and those farmers, myself included would sit and try to figure how to beat the government every time.

Well it isn’t just farmer, it’s everybody. They’re always out to beat the system. Well as soon as enough of them get away with it what does the legislature have to do? Pass another law, and it just keeps on feeding on it. See? That’s the human race. Just as soon as people figure out how to beat the system the system has to correct it. Well now we’re up against it with high tech stuff. In fact I was just reading again yesterday, it’s getting easier and easier for people to rob the system through the computers. But back here in Genesis chapter 6 all people could think about was how to be wicked in some other way. Now verse 11.

Genesis 6:11a

“The earth also was corrupt before God,…”

I don’t know if you think of the same things when you see the word corrupt that I do, but I imagine that you do. The first thing I think of is an old rotten potato. Now there’s nothing that smells or looks worse than a rotten potato. In corruption I think of something that is vile, and something that you don’t even want to touch, something that smells to high heaven. The whole world was corrupt.

Genesis 6:11b

“…and the earth was filled with violence.” Corruption and violence went hand and hand, and it’s just different today. In fact what did the Lord say in Matthew 24?

Matthew 24:37

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Well we’re getting close and this is a good description of the earth today. Now come on down to verse 12 of Genesis chapter 6. And you know I’m always saying that when the Scripture repeats something 3 or 4 times in a matter of a few verses, it’s there for emphasis, it’s getting our attention. And here it come again:

Genesis 6:12-13

“And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me: for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

Was there anything to deter violence, and corruption? No. There was no law, there was no system of worship, there was no ritual that men could follow, and this is the end result. Even after the destruction of the flood everything starts cranking up again and it’s heading right down that same old road, until they get to Babel, and then they’re ready to embrace every evil, pagan concept of worship that you can imagine. All the Tower of Babel was a place of worship, and it was pagan, and it was ungodly. Out of it came all the immorality of the mythologies, and gods and goddess and you name it, and once again God just saw it all, and said, “Now this time I’m not going to destroy them, but I am going to do something different.

I’m going to find one man, and He found him. I think Abram was the only man that God could use. God spoke to him and gave him these promises. Then after Abram received all the promises, and I wills of chapter 12, 15, and 17 and so forth, now it comes to the place where God says, “Man has to understand what’s right and what’s wrong, because he doesn’t seem to get it.” So He gave the Law, and He laid it down with authority. “Thou shalt have no other God’s before me.” Well right off the bat what did that fly in the face of? Everything that had taken place at Babel, because Babel was the beginning of all the false worships. Then God comes on through with the rest of the Ten Commandments. Now remember, and very few people understand this. Percentage wise it would be way down but what does Romans 3:19-20 say? These are verses that very few people even know that are in their Bible, and yet they say so much. Remember what we just saw in Galatians. That the Law was added because of sin. It did not take sin away from people, but rather it merely showed them their sins.

Romans 3:19

“Now we know (full knowledge) that what things soever the law saith, (the Ten Commandments in particular) it saith to them who are under the law; (who was that? Israel. Only Israel was put under the Law, but the power of it, the convicting part of it didn’t stop with Israel, but rather went out to the whole human race.) that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

Now you see that’s exactly the opposite of what most people think is the function of the Law. Most people think that the Law was given to help people do right, do the best they could, and God would somehow wink and say, “Yeah you didn’t do too bad, I’ll let you in.” But you see that wasn’t the purpose of the Law. The Law was given for only one purpose and that was to show mankind how far they fell short of God’s standard. No man has ever lived that could keep the Ten Commandments, because it’s impossible. So it was given for that purpose alone. Now verse 20 makes it so clear. Now since all the world has become guilty by the giving of the Law:

Romans 3:20

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Oh if my classes don’t learn anything else in 20 years I’ve been teaching, I would hope that they learn that. That the Law can do nothing but convict a person of their utter sinfulness. So that’s why it was added. Up until this time of the flood God couldn’t impute all that wackiness. He couldn’t put to those people’s account because they weren’t breaking any written laws. Now that’s hard for us to comprehend and I know it is. We say, “Now wait a minute when they come up before the Great White Throne the books aren’t going to be open for them like they will be for every one since the Law?” No not in the same way.

Now they’re going to come before the Great White Throne, and they’re going to be consigned to their place of judgment but God is not going to be able to say, “Look at all the Law-breaking that you did.” Because they had no law, and you can’t break a law if there isn’t one. But as soon as the Law was given then the whole world became responsible. Now there is no question, adultery is sin. Yes, thievery is sin, yes coveting is sin, and all the way down through the Ten Commandments. So now all the world has been made guilty because now there is no excuse, ” Well I didn’t know there was a law against that. Now they know and that’s what it means. Now back to the Book of Galatians. Verse 19 again –

Galatians 3:19

“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed (singular Seed the Christ) should come to whom the promise was made: and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

In other words this whole covenant promise made to Abraham was spiritual. It never left the hands of spiritual beings, and as it was given to Abraham and that’s all it was. It was something that was heavenly in it’s origin, and Abraham merely became the subject of it, but Abraham couldn’t change it, and even though his offspring would break it, and break it and break it, God kept it settled, and He’s never going to go back on it. And that’s why we can say with all the confidence in the world He’s not through with Israel. God hasn’t finished His covenant promises with them. If Israel would be like most of Christendom says tonight that they’re off the board and God is all through with them, then all of the covenants fall apart. Do you understand that? And the covenant won’t fall apart because God is not through with Israel, and He is still going to finish and fulfill those covenant promises. Now verse 20 almost says what I’ve been saying along.

Galatians 4:20

“Now a mediator (a go between) is not a mediator of one, but God is one.”

Well what does that mean? If you’re going to have a controversy between two people and you bring in a mediator, and I guess we’re more aware of that through labor unions and management, and they can’t get together on a contract. So what do they bring in? A mediator. And the purpose of the mediator is to make a meeting of the minds on each side. But God is not going to use a three person mediation. God is a mediator, and the instigator, and the fulfiller, and He alone is involved. Even man can’t touch those covenants, it’s impossible. So that’s what it means then when it says God is ONE. I guess I could put it this way. He is the One and Only involved in a covenant. He gives it, He carries it out, and He’s going to complete it, and man has nothing to do with it. OK now verse 21. And this is a good question isn’t it?

Galatians 3:21a

“Is the law then against the promises of God?…”

If all these promises to Abraham were given without the Law, and they were remember. That was about 500 years before the Law was given to Moses. Does the Law come in and cancel the promises? Why no, it enhances them. Now finish the verse.

Galatians 3:21b

“God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.”

Do you see what that says? That if it was possible for the Law to give eternal life, and the potential was there. Because you see all the demands of the Holy God was in those Ten Commandments. What I’m standing here telling you is, that if a human being could have kept all Ten, would God have had to have let that person into His heaven? Why sure He would, because the Law was perfect, and anybody that could fulfill it he would have met God’s demands, and then God could say, “Come on into my heaven.” But what’s the problem with that? No person can do it. Nobody can keep those Ten Commandments other than Christ Himself. So the Law reverts right back to what we said it was before. It does nothing but condemn the whole human race. Day in and day out the Law is condemning good people and bad. See that’s what so sad, there are a lot of good upright nice people who for the most part keep the Law. They wouldn’t dream of robbing a bank, or committing adultery. They wouldn’t dream of gossiping but somewhere along the line they’re going to fail. And if you fail one Law, then James says, you’ve broken them all. And so we’re Law breakers, we don’t stand a chance, by Law keeping. All right now verse 22. Here is the great answer to the even greater dilemma.

Galatians 3:22

“But the scripture (the Word of God) hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” Now let’s come back to Romans chapter 3 and see how this fits so beautifully again with Galatians.

Romans 3:9a

“What then? are we (Jews, Paul speaks of) better than they? (Gentiles) No, in no wise;…”

Now what did that do the Jewish community? Oh it just sent them into orbit. How dare that man tell people that Gentiles are just as good as Jews. Because you see for almost 2000 years the Jews had heard that they’re special. You’re my covenant people, you have been set apart from the rest of the world. You’re not to intermarry with them. You are to stay within your tribe. And now have this little Jew come out and say, “That there is no difference.” No wonder the Jews plagued the Apostle Paul every step of his way. It just infuriated them that this man was attempting to take the salvation of Israel’s God to those pagan Gentiles. Who ever heard of such a thing. And so what they did was that they followed him from city to city and in anyway they could they tried to defeat him and his purpose. They plagued him until his death. Well this was the crowning reason. Now reading on in verse 22.

Romans 3:9b – 10

“… for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one:”

What do you think the Pharisees thought when they heard that? Oh they could have put him to death, because they were righteous in their own eyes. And here the apostle is making it so plain that no one is righteous, not even the most religious Jew. And of course the crowing verse of all this is verse 23. This is a verse that I’ve used over and over. This is a verse that every person who wants salvation has to start at. My pastor last Sunday put it this way “You can never be saved until you realize how lost you are!” Now you can’t put it any better than that, because that’s what Romans 3:23 says.

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Remember when we were back in the Four Gospels and Jesus gave the analogy of the 99 sheep, and I pointed out that everybody thinks they were safe in the fold according to the old hymn. But the 99 weren’t safe in the fold they were out on the desert without a shepherd, and you put sheep out on the desert as dumb as they are, and what are they? They’re lost in 30 minutes, and they didn’t know it. But that one little lamb that was caught in a crevice someplace bleeding his little throat dry, what did that little fellow know? That he was lost, and in trouble. So which one did the Lord save? The 99 or the one? The one. Why? Because it knew it was lost, and that was the picture. Well it’s the same way today. Multitudes are sitting in their Churches Sunday after Sunday and they think they’re all right, but they will never be saved until they realize how lost they are. Like that little lamb in a crevice that had no hope unless the shepherd comes and find him. Well it’s the same way with lost people today they have to understand that they’re hopelessly lost, and then God can save them and not until. Now back to Galatians once more and looking at verse 22 again.

Galatians 3:22

“But the Scripture (as we’ve just shown you) hath concluded all under sin, (Jew and Gentile) that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ (in other words by believing in His death, shed blood, His burial and His resurrection that those who would believe that for salvation) might be given to them that believe.” What? Eternal Life!

Remember it doesn’t do any good to believe the Gospel until you realize that you’re lost. See this is where it’s so hard, especially for good people. They’ll always say, “Well I’m not that bad, In fact I’m pretty good.” Yeah they are, they’re probably better than I am, but until they realize how lost they are spiritually, until they realize what the Scripture concludes, God can’t save them. They are just without hope, and one day they’re going to wake up and it’s going to be too late. But always remember God has forgiven every sin. He has done everything that needs to be done.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 33

THE TRUE INTENT OF THE LAW

Now before we begin with verse 15 today I want to go back up to verse 13 and pick up the flow.

Galatians 3:13-15

“Christ hath (past tense) 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: 14. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through (not through Israel as the Old Testament had promised, but through) Jesus Christ; (in other words that finished work of the Cross) that we (as Gentiles) might receive the promise of the Spirit through (not through the Law but) faith. 15. Brethren, (Paul was speaking to Gentile believers up there in central Turkey in Galatia, and Paul says -) I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, (or can cancel) or addeth thereto.”

Now that sounds like double talk in a way doesn’t it? But you see what the apostle is really saying is that as he himself is also human, he’s a man like anyone else, and he has an understanding that the Law, so far as humanity was concerned, was weak and beggarly. It just couldn’t get the job done, and that sometimes shocks people. We ordinarily think of the Law from the other side, and that is that it was what? Perfect, Holy, Righteous, and that it is. But from mans point of view it was powerless, and all it could do was point the finger of condemnation at mankind. All right, but since it’s a covenant, and remember a covenant in Scripture is always a one way street. Every covenant in Scripture begins and ends with God, and men can’t touch it. They can’t enlarge on it, they can’t subtract from it, and this is exactly what he is saying. Even though from a mans standpoint it is weak and beggarly – now look at it again in verse 15.

Galatians 3:15

“Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, (and we know it was as it was settled in heaven. So if it be confirmed,) no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.”

Now let me take you back to a scripture. Sometimes things come to mind that I didn’t intend to do and this is one of them. Come back with me to II Samuel chapter 7, and here we find the Davidic covenant. Now that just simply means that it was a covenant that God made with David concerning his offspring, the Nation of Israel. And for sake of time let’s start with verse 14. Where He’s been speaking about the Royal line of the house of David which would lead up to the coming of the King, the Christ, the Messiah. This Royal blood line is going to come down through Solomon on one side, and Nathan on the other. But He’s speaking primarily here of Solomon, and the Lord says-

II Samuel 7:14

“I will be his father, and he shall be my son, If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:”

Now even though it sounds like He’s only addressing Solomon in particular, yet He’s looking at the long view the whole Nation of Israel. That’s who He’s really talking to. He would chasten the Nation of Israel by the nations who were their enemies, and the various other ways that God had of chastening His people. Now continue on.

II Samuel 7:15

“But (now the flip side).) my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.”

Yes He’s going to chasten them, He’s going to deal harshly with them when they come into a place of unbelief, and abject behavior, but in spite of everything that Israel does in opposition to her God His mercy will never depart from them. Why? Because it’s a covenant, and God will never go back on His word, and He has promised that through the line of David coming down through Solomon and Nathan would one day would come the King, the Messiah, and it had to happen regardless of what Israel did in the mean time, the covenant stands secure. Now coming back to Galatians chapter 3. Remember there are all kinds of covenants in the Old Testament. It starts with the Abrahamic in Genesis chapter 12, and then the Davidic that we just looked at. You have the Palestinian that promised Israel the land of Palestine. You’ve got the covenant of the Law which was a covenant, and none of those things could Israel or anybody else add to or take away or ever cancel because it’s made and going to end with God. Now let’s move on to verse 16.

Galatians 3:16

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, (plural) as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, (that is the Seed of Abraham in this case)which is Christ.”

Now I guess we’d better chase that down all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, because after all that’s what the scripture expects us to do. Even if this is old to you, and it’s just review for a lot of you, yet I think that the scriptures demand that we just build line upon line and precept upon precept, and not just wonder what Paul is talking about. Well let’s go back and see what he’s talking about, because it’s all back here. And most of you have grown up with this verse. I think one great old preacher once called this verse “the beginning of the line of scarlet thread in scripture, and now here it is. God says to Satan –

Genesis 3:15

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; (see the language? And the seed of the woman) it shall bruise thy head, (Christ defeated Satan at the finished work of the Cross) and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Satan also got his licks in by virtue of making Christ suffer.)

All right now that’s the beginning of the promise then of the seed of the woman. It would come through the female side of the human race, not from Adam, but from the woman, and we can follow this all the way through scripture. Now if you will come to Genesis chapter 12, and let’s look at a portion of scripture that most of you have worn out your Bible on, and we call it the Abrahamic Covenant. I still maintain that it’s one of the most important portions of the whole Old Testament. If you don’t understand the Abrahamic Covenant then the rest of the Bible is sort of like a mist. You just can’t see it clearly! But once you get an understanding of this covenant, then everything falls into place. Now don’t forget the seed of the woman back there in Genesis 3:15.

Genesis 12:1

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, (in Genesis 11:31) Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

Remember when God says, “I will” what is that? It’s a promise that He’s going to do it, and nothing in heaven or earth will ever stop Him. So He says, “I will shew thee a land.” Now verse 2.

Genesis 12:2-3

“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and (I will) curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Now that’s a bunch of promises isn’t it? That’s a truck load of promises that were promised to this one man. Now on the surface it doesn’t seem that great, but all of human history since 2000 BC is resting on these promises, and God has kept every one of them. Abraham became a great man. He’s still thought of as one of the great men of history. The scriptures uphold him as a great man. God blessed him in his progeny, and God has blessed those who bless Israel. God has cursed those who cursed Israel, and if you think I’m stretching the point, then you don’t know human history. All you have to do is go back into human history, and every nation that has ever come down hard on the Jew has gone down the tube, right on up through our present system of nations. Anyone that has turned against the Nation of Israel goes down the tube whether they like it or not. That’s why I’ve maintained for the past 25 years that as long as America remains a friend of Israel then America is going to be in pretty safe straits. But if we ever turn on the Nation of Israel and stab them in the back then America is going to go down the tube just like all the others have.

Now you might say, “What are you talking about?” Well Spain is probably one of the best examples. Now if you know American history, who were the explorers that really covered a good part of North America? The Spaniards. Spain was riding on the crest of national power and empire, and then in 1492, which was a little before some of the great explorers, remember God’s wheels turn slowly. But in 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella made the decree that every Jew would either be out of Spain, convert to Catholicism, or be dead by such and such a day. So there was a great exodus out of Spain, and it wasn’t but a 100 years and what was Spain? Nothing! Just a blimp on history, and so it’s always been with every empire that has turned on the Jew, down they go, and it all comes back to this covenant promise, that, “He will bless them that bless the Nation of Israel, and He would curse them who curse the Nation of Israel.”

But however way things go one promise is secure and that is through the man Abraham all of the families of the earth would receive a blessing. And that came about with their Messiah. When Christ came and finished the work of the Cross, He became then a blessing out of the line of Abraham, but a blessing for the whole human race, and that’s where you and I are tonight. Remember when I teach Romans chapter 11 that He broke of the branches of natural Israel, and He grafted in the Gentiles? Oh I love that chapter. And when He sat Israel aside for a season, He brought the whole Gentile world into that place of privilege.

Not that they’re all saved, but they’re brought into that place of privilege where they now have an opportunity for salvation based again on the promises made to Abraham.

Oh it’s fascinating when you study this, and the whole human race for the past 1900 + years as Gentiles have been resting and feeding on the fatness of the root of Abraham while Israel has been out there in a dispersion. But the day is coming and I think it is getting close, where God is going to once again going to shut the door on the Gentile world. He’ll break them off from that grafted position, and then Israel will be grafted back in again as Paul says in Romans chapter 11.

At that time the Gentiles will find themselves again where they were before – without a Messiah and outside the covenant promises. Well I hope you have seen the promises of I will, I will, I will and all the way up through Abraham’s life God is constantly promising. Now remember some of these things took years before they were consummated. This is why the poor man grew impatient and finally succumbed to the temptation to use a slave girl. For after all he couldn’t have a nation of people if he didn’t have even one son. So that gave rise to the birth of Ishmael which we will be looking at in a future lesson. Now before we leave the Book of Genesis come on over to chapter 21:12 We’re going to follow this “seed” concept for a little bit. In this chapter Ishmael has reached the age of tormenting little Isaac. Isaac is now about 5 years old, and so Ishmael and his mother Hagar are sent out into the wilderness at God’s instructions.

Genesis 21:12

“And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, (in other words because he had sent Ishmael out into the desert) and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

Now the word “seed” in the Hebrew is like “sheep” in the English. And that is if you’ve got one over there it’s a sheep. If you’ve got 5 or 6 down here it’s still sheep. Well it’s the same way with seed in the Hebrew. So in the Scripture the only way you can tell the difference is by watching the context. Is the Scripture speaking of the many which would be the offspring of Israel, the tribes, and multitudes of people or is it speaking of the singular the “Seed” which was Christ! Now this one in verse 12 is singular. The Lord is not speaking of the millions of people from the 12 tribes. Look at the last part of verse 12 again.

Genesis 21:12b

“…hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy (singular) seed be called.”

So we have this constant promise according to the Abrahamic Covenant that through Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, and the 12 sons would come the Messiah. Not through Ishmael, but through Isaac. Now you see the Muslim world argues with that because they claim that the Old Testament has been polluted, and distorted, and that in reality Ishmael was the promised seed. Well you see that’s how it’s so easy to confuse people and lead them astray. But our Bible being the Word of God that it is, we can rest on it that it was through Isaac that the “Seed” singular would come. Now let’s come back to Galatians chapter 3 again and pick it up in verse 16 again.

Galatians 3:16

“Now to Abraham and his seed (the singular seed, Isaac, and not the whole nation in this setting) were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.”

And so this why everyone of us, regardless where we are in human history, we are all benefiting from this Abrahamic Covenant through whom all the world would be blessed. Now let’s move on to verse 17. Now Paul says –

Galatians 3:17

“And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in (in the person of) Christ, (and now he’s talking about) the law, (the Law was a covenant just like the Abrahamic or Davidic Covenant were covenants. They were agreements that God made and which He could never change or withdraw. It’s settled forever, because God made it, and this Law covenant) which was four hundred and thirty years after,…”

430 years later Israel is going to come out of Egypt and receive the Law at Sinai. Now we’ve got to stop here for a moment because here is one of the places in Scripture where the scoffer likes to scoff and say, “see the Scripture contradicts itself.” Here it says 430 years. In another place it says 400 years. Well what’s going on? Well believe me there’s no contradiction at all. Again let’s come back to Genesis chapter 15, and set the record straight. Here God is speaking before Abraham’s name was changed.

Genesis 15:13

“And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed (now here seed is plural, God is talking about the whole Nation of Israel.) shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs,(speaking of Egypt) and shall serve them; (in slavery) and they shall afflict them four hundred years:”

Now let’s come over to Exodus chapter 12:40.

Exodus 12:40-42a

“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 42a It is a night to be much observed…”

Now that was the night of the Passover when Israel begins to exodus out of Egypt. Now I would like for you come to the Book of Acts chapter 7. Stephen in this chapter is rehearsing the whole history of Israel. Just like Paul does a little later on in the Book of Acts.

Acts 7:6

“And God spake on this wise, That his seed (the offspring of Abraham) should sojourn in a strange land; and they should bring into bondage, and entreat them evil (not 430 but now it’s) four hundred years.”

Is that a contradiction? No! It’s just simply a benchmark from where they measured time. Remember at Ur when God first spoke to Abraham it would seem that Abraham was at that time 50 years old. So he leaves Ur and migrates all the way up the Euphrates valley to this place in Syria call Haran. And there they stop until his father Terah dies. Then after Terah dies we find Abraham and Lot, and Sarah are now ready to move down into the land of Canaan. Now we can pretty much figure out from Scripture that when he left Haran he was 75 years old. So 25 years after the promise God made to Abraham, he still doesn’t have a child. Now when you start going back on the chronology of all of this the 430 years begins from the time he left Haran and came down to Canaan until Moses led the children out in what we call the Exodus for a total of 430 years. Now the 400 years that Stephen spoke of is from the time that Isaac was 5 years old and Ishmael is sent out into the wilderness till Moses leads the people out. So it’s just a matter of a benchmark of time. It depends on from what event you began counting. Are you going to start from Haran or when Isaac is 5 years old?

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 2 * PART 4 * BOOK 33

GALATIANS 3:6-14 – PART 2

Galatians 3:14a

“That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;…”

Now I’m always teaching that this Book is progressive revelation. In other words God doesn’t always reveal everything exactly from the front. He’s going to keep adding revelations to revelations.

Galatians 3:14a

“That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;…” Now in your mind’s eye, through Whom was the blessing originally supposed to come? Turn to Isaiah 42 and find out.

Isaiah 42:1

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment (or rule) to the Gentiles.” Who are we talking about? The Messiah, the Christ! All right let’s follow this up by turning to Isaiah 49.

Isaiah 49:6-7

“And he said, (God did up in verse 5) It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, (He’s talking to Israel the nation) that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 7. Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.” So here we have Israel again as having been raised up by God to be a light to the Gentiles. Now let’s go all the way over to chapter 59 and drop in at verse 20.

Isaiah 59:20-21

“And the Redeemer (The Messiah, the Christ) shall come to Zion, (Jerusalem) and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. 21. As for me this is my covenant with them, (Israel) saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever,”

Now that is in reality the new covenant of Jeremiah chapter 31:31. But as yet it hasn’t been kicked into gear, but it will. Right now it isn’t applicable but it’s in Israel’s future. Look at Isaiah 60:1.

Isaiah 60:1-3

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, (the prophet is talking to Israel, and the light is their Messiah) and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee, 2. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, (that is spiritual darkness) and gross darkness the people: (Israel) but the LORD shall arise upon thee, (Israel) and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (Israel) 3. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, (The Jews, Israel’s) and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

Now let’s go on to the Book of Zechariah chapter 8 for now. Now we’ve covered all these verses before when we studied the Abrahamic Covenant. But repetition is one of the main ways to learn. Now in light of everything that we’ve come through, that the Messiah would be the light of Israel, and Israel in turn would be the light of the Gentiles, then we find here –

Zechariah 8:20-23

“Thus saith, the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities; 21. And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another,(city) saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: (they will be hungry for a knowledge of the Lord. They will say to their neighbor) I will go also. 22. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. (now to show the connection of Israel in this look at verse 23) 23. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days (when Israel would be the vehicle) it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations,now what does that mean? Anybody and everybody but Israel, and they) even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you.”

Am I getting through? How was God going to reach the Gentiles? Through the Nation of Israel. But what did Israel do with that? They rejected it. They said thanks but no thanks.“We’ll not have that man to rule over us, crucify Him!” Now stop for a moment in the Book of Romans chapter 11 and put the top on this study.

Romans 11:11

“I say then, Have they (the Nation of Israel) stumbled that they should fall? (Israel completely out of God’s program?) God forbid: but rather through their fall (when did Israel experience this kind of a fall? When they crucified their Messiah, and rejected His offer of the King and the Kingdom, and the Old Testament promises, then through their fall)salvation is come unto the Gentiles,…” Now back to Galatians chapter 3. Looking at verse 14 again to see why we went back to Isaiah, Zechariah, and Romans.

Galatians 3:14a

“That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles though Jesus Christ;…”

It doesn’t say that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through the Nation of Israel like we just studied in Isaiah does it? What has happened? Israel fell out of the picture when she fell. When she rejected the Messiah she also rejected that glorious opportunity of being a kingdom of priests to the Gentile world. You remember Exodus chapter 19? As they were gathered around Sinai what did God tell them?

Exodus 19:5-6a

“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests,…”

Now I make a big deal of it, that every Jew could have been a go-between, between the Gentile world and their God. What a prospect they had, but they blew it, they dropped the ball, but it didn’t stop God, thank goodness. Because now Paul can write that the Gentiles have received the blessing of Abraham, not through Israel but how? Directly through the Lord Jesus Christ, immediately as soon as they believe! We don’t have to wait for Israel to get her act together. We don’t have to wait for a Jew to come to a particular community and give us the knowledge of their God. Oh God has done something totally different, and that is, “He went straight to the pagan world with the message of salvation through the apostle Paul without Israel as a go-between. Now another verse just comes to mind in the Book of Ephesians in chapter 1.

Ephesians 1:11

“In whom (speaking of Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, (Paul is writing to Gentiles.) being predestinated, according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” Now, then, according to the eternal purpose of God. And here it even makes it more emphatic. Drop down again to verse 11.

Ephesians 3:11

“According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:”

Was God caught off base when Israel crucified the Messiah? No, because it was all in the eternal purposes. Now flip on over to II Timothy chapter 1, and oh this is so beautiful, and I hope you can see it. Do you remember how I’m always using verse 23 in Acts chapter 2, that according to the determinate counsel of God all these things had happened. All right now look at verses 8 and 9.

II Timothy 1:8-9

“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9. Who(God) hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works (does that ring a bell? What have I been screaming the past 3 lessons? Not by works, not by keeping the Law. So not according to our works) but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us (not through Israel, but rather) in Christ Jesus before the world began,”

Oh that’s his eternal purpose. Yes, God made a valid offer to the Nation of Israel. He wasn’t playing games with them, those were valid offers that he made the nation. Even when they could have gone into the promised land of milk and honey at Kadesh Barnea. God told them to go in and take the land and I’ll drive the Canaanites out with hornets. The land is laying there ready it in production, all you have to do is take it over. I’ll drive them out slow so that the weeds won’t take over before you get there. Israel didn’t do it. But was it a valid offer? Absolutely they could have, but what did God know? That they wouldn’t.

So the whole divine purpose of the 40 year wilderness wondering was all in the divine plan. But if wasn’t because God didn’t give them a valid offer. And that’s what I use as my argument, that when Christ came and presented Himself as the King of Israel it was a valid offer. He came to His own for what purposes? To be their Redeemer and King! But as a valid offer the Nation of Israel rejected it, and that fulfilled the eternal purposes, and that was, “Salvation to the whole human race, without Israel, without the Law, without the Temple, without proselytizing, it was salvation by faith and faith alone.” Glorious? Man I think it’s something that we should be more excited about.

You know I’m sort of in the middle. I don’t go along with wild emotionalism, but I also don’t go along with this staid religionism either. My, if anybody has a reason to be happy and joyful I think it’s the believer. But on the other hand we have to do that which is in order. Now back to Galatians chapter 3, and let’s look at verse 14 again. I hope we have time to go beyond this verse but I doubt it. Now remember Christ became a curse, hung on a stake, as it were, like Deuteronomy’s wayward rebel son. All of that for this.

Galatians 3:14

“That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; (and for what purpose?) that we (as Gentiles) might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

So all the purposes of God are coming to fruition in this glorious age of Grace. Not only do we not have to keep the Law, but as a result of our salvation experience, God gives us something 10,000 times better than the Ten Commandments and what is it? The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit becomes our guideline, not the Ten Commandments. So when I say we’re not under the Law, that doesn’t mean that you chuck the fact that it’s wrong to kill and steal, because the Holy Spirit is going to show us that, and that’s the whole difference. In fact come back for a moment to Romans chapter 7, and this says it so beautifully.

Romans chapter 7:6

“But now (Paul lays it out how it has been, and then he uses the flip side, but now) we are delivered from the law, (as Grace age believers) that being dead (spiritually) wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, (What’s the newness of the spirit? The Holy Spirit that guides and directs us, and remember the Holy Spirit never instructs someone to do something that is contrary to the Law. The Holy Spirit will never tell someone to go commit adultery, or steal, or kill, or covet, or do anything wrong.) and not in the oldness of the letter.” The oldness of the letter was the Law. We’re no longer under the Law, but rather Grace, and the Holy Spirit takes the place of the Law. Now back to our text in Galatians.

Galatians 3:14a

“That the blessing of Abraham…”

Has there ever been a man more blessed than Abraham? I doubt it, unless it would be the apostle Paul, but you see the apostle Paul didn’t get through it as easy as Abraham did. Paul suffered so much just like the scriptures says he would. As we were traveling that Mediterranean Sea last week and here we were on a big ship, and poor old Paul was bouncing around on a little boat that wasn’t much bigger than a cork. And yet he suffered so for the sake of the Gospel to get it out to the ends of the Roman Empire. What a lesson, when you see all the immoral remains of that Roman Empire, and to think that that man was in the midst of it constantly, and yet never letting it turn his mind aside, he just preached the Gospel. It was quite a revelation believe me. Now finishing verse 14.

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 (how?) through faith.”

Without any works of the Law, that’s a gift of God that was all part and parcel of that whole plan of redemption that yes we have eternal salvation, but we also have the indwelling Holy Spirit.