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The Amish Voice 4
A CLOSER LOOK:
(3:8-9)
Abraham
: the Scripture...preached the gospel to Abraham
(Ga.3:8). What does this mean?
God had promised Abraham an earthly son and a great earthly
nation. But behind God’s promise lay something more than just an
earthly, human fulfillment. Abraham’s son, Isaac, was a type of the
real seed that was to come, and the Jewish nation was a type of the
real nation that was to be born. (See Ro.4:1-25; 9:7-13; He.11:9-19.)
Paul gives at least two proofs for this typology.
1. The word
seed
is singular, not plural (Ga.3:16). God’s promise
does not point to a great crowd of people but to one single person.
That person is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the
promise to Abraham. And the nation promised is the new nation of
believers that God is creating to inherit the new heavens and earth
(see Ga.3:16; Ep.1:9-10; 2:11-18; 3:6; 4:17-19).
2. The major events of Isaac’s life parallel the life of Christ.
First, Isaac was miraculously born (Ge.15:2-3; 18:11; see
Ro.4:18-22;He.11:11).
Second, Isaac was to be offered up as a sacrifice (Ge.22).
Abraham was willing to offer up Isaac, and God accepted
his willingness and motive as an actual fact. The word of
He.11:17 tells us this: “by faith Abraham...[who] re-
ceived the promise offered up his only begotten son.”
Third, Isaac was delivered from death by a miracle of
God (Ge.22:10-13). Abraham knew that God was able to
raise up Isaac from the dead in order to fulfil His prom-
ise, if need be (He.11:19).
3. SCRIPTURE SAYS THE LAW PUTS A MAN UNDER A
CURSE (vv.10-12).
Note a critical point: in this verse the word
curse
means to be con-
demned and doomed to punishment by the righteous judgment of
God. How do we know this? By verse 13 where it is said that Christ
bore the curse of the law for us (the condemnation, doom, death, and
punishment due us for having broken the law). The law carries with it
a curse. A person either keeps the law or else he is cursed; that is, he
is to stand before the Judge and bear the punishment of a lawbreaker.
The curse (penalty or punishment) for violating the law is...
the mark of death (2 Co.3:7).
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ro.6:23).
the mark of condemnation (2 Cor.3:9).
“And the commandment, which was ordained to
life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew
me” (Ro.7:10-11).
Why does the law put a curse upon men? There are two clear reasons.
1. The man who approaches God by law is cursed because he does
not keep the whole law. Note a crucial fact: there is a righteous-
ness that is of the law (Ro.10:5; Ga.3:12). That righteousness
promises life to any man who can obey the law perfectly. If a
man can meet every requirement of the law during his lifetime
and never once fall below God’s holy standard, then that man can
escape the penalty for sin, which is death. However, every think-
ing and honest man knows that he cannot keep the law of God in
every single detail—not all the time. He knows that he some-
times comes short in…
Every thinking and honest person knows that he is nowhere close to
being perfect nor to attaining perfection. He knows that he fails and
comes short too often. He knows that what this verse says is exactly
true: no man can continue in and do
all things
which are written in the
law of God.
“For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the
law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by
them” (Ro.10:5).
2. God’s chosen way for approaching Him is to “live by faith.”
Scripture declares as clearly as it can: no man is justified by the law
in the sight of God. As stated above, God is perfect; He is perfectly
righteous. No man can achieve perfection; therefore, no man can live
in the presence of God. No matter how good he is or how much good
he does, he cannot achieve perfection. The fact is evident; for if a man
had achieved perfection, he would be perfect—living forever in a
perfect state of being, even on this earth.
But note this: God is love. So what God does is take a person’s
faith and count that faith as righteousness, as perfection. Therefore, a
man is able to live in God’s presence by faith or justification. The
point is this: God’s way for a man to approach Him is the way of
faith: “The just shall live by faith.”
Note also that the law is not of faith, but any man who attempts to
live by the law will be allowed to so live. But the man must realize:
he shall be judged by the law.
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be jus-
tified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Ro.
QUESTIONS
:
1. What does the promise that God made to Abraham mean to
your Christian walk?
2. What particular character traits do you find in Abraham’s life
that you would like to have as your own? What do you need
to do in order to achieve this for your life?
behavior
emotions
motive
worship
service