Unbound — Logical & Christological

Galatians 3:15–22

Paul continues his argument against the Judaizers—Jewish Christians who wanted to add Old Testament ceremonial practices to faith in Christ. In this passage, he makes a logical and Christ-centered case that God’s promise has always been greater than our ability to keep the law. 9-27 Sermon Video Timestamps & …

1. God’s PROMISE came before the law.

Paul begins with the example of a covenant: once it has been ratified, it cannot simply be changed or rewritten. God made His promise to Abraham long before the law was given through Moses, and the arrival of the law did not cancel or alter what God had already promised. 9-27 Sermon Video Timestamps & …

More importantly, Paul points to the promised “offspring” of Abraham and identifies that offspring as Christ. From the beginning, God’s promise was ultimately pointing toward Jesus. 9-27 Sermon Video Timestamps & …

“The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God.”

The inheritance therefore rests on what God promised, not what humanity could earn through obedience.

2. God’s LAW reveals our need for the promise.

If the promise was already sufficient, why did God give the law? Paul explains that the law was added because of sin. It establishes the boundary, reveals what is right, and exposes our rebellion—but it cannot rescue us from that rebellion. 9-27 Sermon Video Timestamps & …

As Romans reminds us, “the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

The law functions like a mirror: it allows us to see the reality of our sin and our desperate need for something outside ourselves. It can reveal our condition, but it cannot cure it. Ultimately, it drives us toward Christ. 9-27 Sermon Video Timestamps & …

3. God’s SON fulfills the promise the law could never provide.

The law isn’t contrary to God’s promise, nor is the law itself the problem. Its limitation is that it cannot give life or make sinners righteous. It had a legitimate purpose, but it was always pointing beyond itself toward Christ. 9-27 Sermon Video Timestamps & …

Scripture places all humanity under the reality of sin so that the promise might be received through faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t have to measure up because Jesus measured up for us. 9-27 Sermon Video Timestamps & …

As Thomas Schreiner writes:

“To submit to circumcision turns back the clock in salvation history. It is also an attempt to establish one’s own righteousness instead of acknowledging that righteousness only comes through Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s argument is ultimately both logical and Christological: the promise came first, the law revealed our need, and Christ accomplished what the law never could. Rather than turning backward toward legalism or trying to establish our own righteousness, we live on the other side of the cross—trusting the grace of God and continuing in faithfulness to Christ.