Now in this part of my study I will be dealing mainly with Gal 3:18 - 3:26 and a couple of other scriptures.
Gal 3
18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but god gave it to Abraham by promise.
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.
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
In the first few verses we see that the law and the promise are two totally different things. Both covenants were blood covenants, the first was animals' blood being used over and over to atone for their sins and the last was the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of man and the Son of God in the which he lives forever to stand in for his people, a one time sacrifice that will never be repeated. The first blood covenant had all kinds of types and figures of the Lord Jesus Christ and that is why a lot of the law is over since the types and figures have been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 19 Paul asks what is the purpose of the law and he said it was added till the seed should come and we know that seed was Christ and it is verified in verses 24-26 showing that the old covenant law kept them in line till Christ should come and give people new hearts or circumcised hearts, real hearts of love and compassion when the Lord Jesus Christ comes in, the old is gone and the new is come. Now God is doing a new thing in the earth, much better than the old way even though it was all planned from the beginning of time but God works in time because he works in and through us, those who are his people.
Then in verses 28, 29 he shows that there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond or free, male or female but all the same in Christ Jesus. He closes this part showing that if we are Christ's seed then we are Abraham's seed or children of the promise not children of the law just as Abraham wasn't of the law since the law did not exist at his time.
Now I want to take you through a few more scriptures to verify what I am saying here.
Hebrews 10
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. he taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
I will break a little of this down for you. God is saying under the old covenant the animal sacrifices could not take away sins, it covered them up temporally to be repeated later on. The old covenant was in force only till the new covenant was ratified by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in verse 9, he plainly said he takes away the first to establish the second (covenant) As I tell people a lot of the time since they are confused on this issue. Jesus Christ walked in old testament times or under the old covenant, the new was not brought into play until his death, burial and resurrection. It was a blood covenant and Jesus had to shed his blood on the cross to bring his new covenant into being. Now we have the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, all that receive this gift, which is his sacrifice on the cross become new creatures, born of him.
The word also says in …
II Cor 5
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
If verse 17 was not there we would be in trouble since it shows the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus Christ. he makes us brand new, we were spiritually dead to God but now we are alive in him because of his gift of righteousness, that being him. He moves into our lives when we accept him as Lord and Saviour and now we need to live in that new life by experience daily by submitting to God, resisting the devil, laying hold on eternal life which is walking in the faith.
Here we see that when we were dead in trespasses and sins, God sent Jesus Christ to be the "lamb" that will shed his blood one time never to be repeated. He will make us alive in our spirit man when we were dead in sins and because of sin. He makes us new creatures, the old is gone and the new has come. Now we need to be submitting to him daily to walk in victory. When we are born again we do not put our sword of the Spirit down, we use in continually in this war zone called planet earth we are living on. We are either a bad witness or a good one but we are a witness so we decide daily who we are going to walk with either Satan or God. Our choices will determine our daily outcomes.
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