Dedicated to Truth

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Dedicated to Truth -> Sabbath School Lesson Study -> Lesson 6 Gal. 3:15-20 The Priority of the Promise
Post Info TOPIC: Lesson 6 Gal. 3:15-20 The Priority of the Promise
Dedication


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 303
Date:
Lesson 6 Gal. 3:15-20 The Priority of the Promise
Permalink  
 

  3:15   Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulls, or adds more to it. 
  3:16   Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 
  3:17   And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 
  3:18   For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 
  3:19   Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 
  3:20   Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 

 

FROM LESSON:

"A covenant is typically a mutual agreement between two or more people, often called a“contract” or “treaty”; in contrast, a will is the declaration of a single person. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, never translates God’s covenant with Abraham with the Greek word used for mutual agreements or contracts (syntheke). Instead, it uses the word for a testament or a will (diatheke). Why? Probably because the translators recognized that God’s covenant with Abraham was not a treaty between two individuals, where mutually binding promises are made. On the contrary, God’s covenant was based on nothing other than His own will. No string of “ifs, ands, or buts” was attached. Abraham was simply to take God at His word.

Paul picks up on this double meaning of “will” and“covenant” in order to highlight specific features of God’s covenant with Abraham. As with a human will, God’s promise concerns a specific beneficiary, Abraham and his offspring (Gen. 12:1–5, Gal. 3:16); it also involves an inheritance (Gen. 13:15,17:8, Rom. 4:13,Gal. 3:29). Most important to Paul is the unchanging nature of God’s promise. In the same way that a person’s will cannot be changed once it has been put into force, so the giving of the law through Moses cannot simply nullify God’s previous covenant with Abraham. God’s covenant is a promise (Gal. 3:16), and by no means is God a promise-breaker (Isa. 46:11,Heb. 6:18). 



__________________
Dedication


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 303
Date:
Permalink  
 

God’s covenant with Abraham was not a treaty between two individuals, where mutually binding promises are made. On the contrary, God’s covenant was based on nothing other than His own will. No string of “ifs, ands, or buts” was attached. Abraham was simply to take God at His word.
 


I'm uncomfortable with the above.
True, God's will is supreme, and God is the One with all the blessings and goods to give.  Yet, God's promises are given on condition of obedience. We must surrender to Him if we are to be beneficiaries of all His blessings.


There are "ifs", "ands", and "buts" in God's plan.

Matt. 16:24   Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

And Paul, after listing many sins writes:

Eph. 5:6   Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 
  5:7   Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 

 

 

The beneficiary of God's covenant was Abraham and his children. AND we are told that Abraham's "children" are those who are in Christ.

Scripture says of Christ:

Hebrews 5:8   Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 
  5:9   And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 


The inheritance goes to the children .  The inheritance goes only to the Sons and daughters of God.

And who are the Sons and daughters of God?

Romans 8:14   For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 



__________________
Dedication


Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 303
Date:
Permalink  
 

Genesis 17 

the Hebrew uses the word "bĕriyth" which is translated as covenant.  It means a covenant, alliance, pledge usually between two parties.

 

In the New Testament

the Greek word "diathēkē" is used and sometimes translated as "covenant", sometimes as "testament".

Galatains 4:24 calls both old and new covenants "diatheke".

This of course creates a problem for those who try to place a radical difference between the old and the new covenant, saying the one was based on man's promises to do God's commandments, while the second only concerns God's promises.

 

There was a difference between Old and New, but it wasn't that the second one frowns on getting a committement while the first was dependant on human committment.

The big difference is that the Old Covenant was built on shadows.

The New Covenant is built on the realty of Christ.



 



__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
Dedicated to Truth -> Sabbath School Lesson Study -> Lesson 6 Gal. 3:15-20 The Priority of the Promise


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard