“What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made.” Galatians 3:19
If we cannot keep the law as God requires or be acceptable in His sight by our obedience, what is the purpose of the law given to Moses on Mt. Sinai? “It was added because of transgressions.” Not only does it curb course outbursts of sin; it also reveals our utter sinfulness so that we might place our faith solely in Christ Jesus, the promised Seed of Abraham. It then also guides us in living for our Savior.
Your law condemns me, O God. Grant to me pardon and forgiveness through faith in the death of Your Son, Jesus Christ, in my stead, and move me, with the help and aid of Your Spirit, to live in accord with Your holy will. Amen.
“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.” Galatians 3:16-17
God’s covenant promise to Abraham was to bless all the nations of the earth in one of Abraham’s offspring (Gen. 22:18). This promise was fulfilled when God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to fulfill all righteousness and to make atonement for the sins of all. The law given 430 years later on Mt. Sinai does not nullify God’s promise to Abraham in Christ Jesus.
Grant that I trust in Your promises, O Lord, and look not to the law for salvation but to Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Amen.
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Galatians 3:13-14
Though the law curses and condemns us all because of our sin and disobedience, Jesus Christ, by His perfect obedience and by His innocent sufferings and death for the sins of all, has redeemed us from the curse and condemnation of God’s law that we might also partake of the blessings of forgiveness and life credited to Abraham through Spirit-wrought faith in Christ.
Thank You, O Christ, for redeeming us from the law’s curse and granting us forgiveness and life through faith in Your name. Amen.
“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’” Galatians 3:10-11
The law curses and condemns all who rely on their own works under the law, because the law requires perfect obedience, and any violation of its parts demands death. Therefore, not a single one of us is justified in God’s eyes by keeping the law; we can only be justified through faith in Christ Jesus and His perfect obedience to the law and His atoning sacrifice for our sins.
O God, grant that I acknowledge my sin and guilt under the law and look in faith to the perfect righteousness of Christ and to His holy sacrifice for sin that I might be counted just and righteous in Your eyes through faith in Him. Amen.
“But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.” Isaiah 6:13
When God carries out judgments against those who ignore His Word and reject Him, He still preserves a remnant that repents of their sinful ways and looks to Him for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of His Son and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Grant that I hear Your Word, O God, and walk in Your ways, trusting in Your Son and His cross for pardon and forgiveness, that I not be swept away in Your judgment but be preserved unto life everlasting. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
