The document discusses the distinction between the purpose of the Old Testament law and the promise made to Abraham, emphasizing that the law, which highlights sin, does not negate God's promise through faith in Christ. It explores the idea that true purpose in life is to glorify God, rather than conforming to worldly definitions of success. Ultimately, the text affirms that salvation and righteousness come through faith in Jesus, and that all believers are united as heirs to God's promise, irrespective of social or ethnic distinctions.

1. Purpose
Promise
Galatians 3:15-29
Adapted from a
Steve Shepherd sermon
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2. Galatians 3:15 Brothers and sisters, I offer
an example from everyday life: When a
covenant has been ratified, even though it
is only a human contract, no one can set it
aside or add anything to it. 16 Now the
promises were spoken to Abraham and to
his descendant. Scripture does not say,
"and to the descendants," referring to
many, but "and to your descendant,"
(Gen 12:7; 13:15; 17:7; 24:7) referring to
one, who is Christ.

3. 17 What I am saying is this: The law that
came four hundred thirty years later does
not cancel a covenant previously ratified by
God, so as to invalidate the promise. 18
For if the inheritance is based on the law, it
is no longer based on the promise, but
God graciously gave it to Abraham through
the promise. 19 Why then was the law
given? It was added because of
transgressions, until the arrival of the
descendant to whom the promise had
been made.

4. It was administered through angels by an
intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary is not
for one party alone, but God is one. 21 Is
the law therefore opposed to the promises
of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had
been given that was able to give life, then
righteousness would certainly have come by
the law. 22 But the scripture imprisoned
everything and everyone under sin so that
the promise could be given — because of
the faithfulness of Jesus Christ — to those
who believe.

5. 23 Now before faith came we were held in
custody under the law, being kept as
prisoners until the coming faith would be
revealed. 24 Thus the law had become our
guardian until Christ, so that we could be
declared righteous by faith. 25 But now
that faith has come, we are no longer
under a guardian. 26 For in Christ Jesus
you are all sons of God through faith.

6. 27 For all of you who were baptized into
Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female — for all of you are one in
Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham's
descendants, heirs according to the
promise.

7. One of golf’s immortal moments came
when a Scotchman demonstrated the new
game to President Ulysses Grant.
Carefully placing the ball on the tee, he
took a mighty swing. The club hit the turf
and scattered dirt all over the President’s
beard and surrounding vicinity, while the
ball stayed on the tee. Again the
Scotchman swung, and again he missed.

8. The President waited patiently through six
tries and then quietly stated, "There seems
to be a fair amount of exercise in the
game, but I fail to see the purpose of the
ball.“
That was a pretty good response. Purpose
is what we’re thinking about in this lesson,
not the purpose of the golf ball, but the
purpose of our lives.

9. Why are we here? We know how we got
here, but what is the purpose for which
God put us here? Have you come to a
good conclusion for that question?
John W. Gardner (Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon
Johnson) said it’s a rare and high privilege to
help people understand the difference they
can make -- not only in their own lives, but
also in the lives of others, simply by giving
of themselves.

10. Gardner tells of a cheerful old man who
asked the same question of just about
every new acquaintance he fell into
conversation with: "What have you done
that you believe in and you are proud of?"
He never asked conventional questions
such as "What do you do for a living?" It
was always, "What have you done that you
believe in and are proud of?"

11. It was an unsettling question for people
who had built their self-esteem on their
wealth or their family name or their exalted
job title.
Not that the old man was a fierce
interrogator. He was delighted by a woman
who answered, “I’m doing a good job
raising three children;” and by a
cabinetmaker who said, “I believe in good
workmanship and practice it;” and by a
woman who said, “I started a bookstore
and it’s the best bookstore for miles
around.”

12. "I don’t really care how they answer," said
the old man. "I just want to put the thought
into their minds. They should live their lives
in such a way that they can have a good
answer. Not a good answer for me, but for
themselves. That’s what’s important."

13. I would say that the old man hit on a good
thought. What have you done that you
believe in and are proud of? Your
occupational work in this world? Some
may view their work as being more
important than others.
Is it really?
Let me illustrate it this way.
Back in the 1980s I worked as a freight
pilot.

14. It was a hard job because of the heavy
lifting loading & unloading freight, plus
working night hours and not being a good
daytime sleeper. I did make fair wages but,
I didn’t see much of a future in it. I saw this
as a stepping stone to an airline cockpit,
which it was, so I could be a success in
life. But who said we’re supposed to be
’successful’ in life? Where does this idea
come from anyway?

15. I think it comes from the world. We get the
idea that unless we’re making a good
salary with decent hours and also doing
something we like then we’re not
successful. But nowhere in scripture do I
find that we’re supposed to be successful
in the eyes of the world! In fact, if we are,
we may not be right in the eyes of God!
Here is the purpose of life for the Christian
regardless of who we are or what we do for
a living.

16. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NET So whether you
eat or drink, or whatever you do, do
everything for the glory of God.
Here’s what the wise teacher Solomon
said: Now all has been heard; here is the
conclusion of the matter: Fear God and
keep his commandments, for this is the
whole duty of man. For God will bring
every deed into judgment, including every
hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14 NIV

17. Could I fly a plane hauling freight and do
this work to the glory of God? Why, of
course, I could! How? Do a good job. Be
pleasant. Be a good worker and
demonstrate a good spirit to everyone I
came in contact with. And even be a
witness for Christ whenever I could. Speak
a good word for Christ whenever the
opportunity arises.
THIS APPLIES TO ALL CHRISTIANS!

18. And when we get the purpose right, the
promise will be even more meaningful.
What do I mean? When we figure out that
we’re here for the Lord’s glory (and not our
own) then the promise of God will have
even greater meaning for us in life.

19. Now to our text, which is also about
purpose and promise, only it deals with the
purpose of the Old Law and the promise of
God. Is there a conflict between these
two?
Let’s discern what Paul is saying.
1- The purpose of the law
2- The promise of God

20. THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW
19 Why then was the law given? It was
added because of transgressions, until the
arrival of the descendant to whom the
promise had been made. It was
administered through angels by an
intermediary.

21. Mike Yaconelli (Co-Founder of Youth Specialties,
a training organization for Christian youth leaders
and was killed in an automobile accident in 2003 at
age 61) in "The Wittenburg Door" (Christian
satire and humor magazine) wrote: I live in a
small, rural community. There are lots of
cattle ranches around here, and, every
once in a while, a cow wanders off and
gets lost.

22. Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost, and
chances are he will reply, ’Well, the cow
starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and
when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next
tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on
that one, and then it nibbles on a tuft of
grass right next to a hole in the fence.

23. It then sees another tuft of green grass on
the other side of the fence, so it nibbles on
that one and then goes on to the next tuft.
The next thing you know, the cow has
nibbled itself into being lost.“
He said: Americans are in the process of
nibbling their way to being lost. . . We keep
moving from one tuft of activity to another,
never noticing how far we have gone from
home or how far away from the truth we
have managed to end up.

24. I think this is true. Do you remember the
old cigarette commercial (Virginia Slims) that
said, "You’ve come a long way, baby"?
We’ve come a long way from where to
where? We have everything in America,
materially speaking. Just think of what you
now have in comparison to what you had
when you were a kid. It was a different era:
Most of us had either no or black & white
TV, you played outside, you weren’t
worried about many things, life’s pace was
slow.

25. We always had time to be neighborly, etc.
Now, look at where we are today! Not only
do we have everything, but we also do
everything! And everything we do isn’t
good or godly!
For example, the Gay movement, which is
a very acceptable lifestyle by most people
today, was unheard of many years ago. If it
was heard of, it was not called "Gay."

26. Have you noticed the difference in movies
today in comparison to the movies of the
50’s and 60’s? Little sexual activity to
MUCH sexual activity. And more.
You can’t go see an R rated movie today or
else it will be filled with filthy language,
extreme violence or sexual explicitness.

27. What in the world has happened to our
world? We’ve gone from bad to worse in
regard to sinful behavior. And as some
people have suggested, "Is nothing sacred
anymore?" No, not in Hollywood and not in
America.
The thought is this: What is the purpose of
God’s law? Paul said, "It was added
because of transgressions."

28. Mankind apparently didn’t know it had
sinned until God stated his law. Oh, there
was a certain amount of inborn realization
of sin or that something wasn’t right, but
God gave man His law so that sin would
be specifically spelled out, as in, "Thou
shalt not steal. Thou shalt not murder.
Thou shalt not commit adultery" etc.

29. It’s like when children are small. There are
many things they can’t understand and
that’s when moms and dads had to say,
"no, no" until they learned what a "no, no"
meant.
God’s list of "no, no’s" was given in the old
law. And the people needed it to
understand where they had sinned against
God and man. So, in that sense the law
was not bad.

30. But there was a bad side to the law. What’s
that?
Galatians 3:10 NET For all who rely on
doing the works of the law are under a
curse, because it is written, "Cursed is
everyone who does not keep on doing
everything written in the book of the
law." (Deu 27:26) 11 Now it is clear no one is
justified before God by the law, because
the righteous one will live by faith.
(Hab 2:4)

31. The bad side of the law was two-fold:
First - No person could completely fulfill the
law in its entirety. No one could live a
perfect life.
Second - The law made no one just in
God’s eyes. We could only be made
righteous BY FAITH!

32. 21 Is the law therefore opposed to the
promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a
law had been given that was able to give
life, then righteousness would certainly
have come by the law. 22 But the scripture
imprisoned everything and everyone under
sin so that the promise could be given —
because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ
— to those who believe.

33. 23 Now before faith came we were held in
custody under the law, being kept as
prisoners until the coming faith would be
revealed.
Prisoners to the law.
But now that Jesus has been revealed we
live by faith in Him.

34. THE PROMISE OF GOD
15 Brothers and sisters, I offer an example
from everyday life: When a covenant has
been ratified, even though it is only a
human contract, no one can set it aside or
add anything to it. 16 Now the promises
were spoken to Abraham and to his
descendant. Scripture does not say, "and
to the descendants," referring to many, but
"and to your descendant," (Gen 12:7; 13:15;
17:7; 24:7) referring to one, who is Christ.

35. 17 What I am saying is this: The law that
came four hundred thirty years later does
not cancel a covenant previously ratified by
God, so as to invalidate the promise. 18
For if the inheritance is based on the law, it
is no longer based on the promise, but
God graciously gave it to Abraham through
the promise.

36. Our inheritance in Christ depends on faith
in God’s promise, not the law.
A sign in the middle of the Royal Gorge
bridge in Colorado, the tallest suspension
bridge in the world, rising 1053 feet above
the water level: "No Fishing From This
Bridge." How could a person fish from a
bridge that high?
There is no way!
How could a person be saved by a law that
is impossible to obey completely?

37. "How can we achieve a right relationship
with God? Shall we try to achieve it by a
meticulous and even self-torturing
obedience to the law, by performing
endless deeds, by observing every small
regulation the law lays down? If we take
that way we are forever in default, for
man’s imperfection can never fully satisfy
the perfection of God.

38. "We are forever frustrated, forever climbing
up a hill in which the peak never comes in
sight, forever under condemnation; but if
we simply abandon this hopeless struggle
and bring ourselves and our sin to God,
then the grace of God opens its arms to us
and we are at peace with God who is no
longer judge but our father.“
(William Barclay)

39. There is no way that any of us could ever
fulfill or live up to God’s requirement for
righteousness.
IT’S FUTILE. It’s a waste of our time and
money. But as William Barclay said, when
we open up to His promise by faith, we can
become justified before God.
It’s God’s plan and it will be done His way
or not at all! And when we play the game
His way, His blessing and grace floods our
souls and lives!

40. "The inheritance was given to Abraham by
promise; and ours depends on the
promise."
(People’s New Testament)
All hope is in the gospel.
Our only hope is in the gospel!

41. "The principle of law and the principle of
faith are quite opposite; you cannot direct
your life by both at one and the same time;
you must choose; and therefore the only
logical choice is to abandon the way of
legalism and to venture upon the way of
faith, of taking God at His word and of
trusting in His love.“
(William Barclay)

42. Galatians 3:24 NET Thus the law had
become our guardian until Christ, so that
we could be declared righteous by faith. 25
But now that faith has come, we are no
longer under a guardian.
Fred Brown compared the law to a plumb
line. When a builder wants to check his
work, he uses a weighted string to see if
it’s true to the vertical. But if he finds that
he has made a mistake, he doesn’t use the
plumb line to correct it. He gets out his
hammer and saw.

43. The law points out the problem of sin; it
doesn’t provide a solution.
The law is the light that reveals how dirty
the room is, not the broom that sweeps it
clean. (Dr. Phil Williams)

44. 26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of
God through faith. 27 For all of you who
were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor
free, there is neither male nor female — for
all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if
you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham's descendants, heirs according to
the promise.

45. Someone put it this way:
If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator;
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist;
If our greatest need had been money, God
would have sent us an economist;

46. If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer;
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so
God sent us a Savior.
JESUS!
He alone is our Savior.
He alone is our hope!
What have you done for Christ that you
believe in and you are proud of?