Galatians 3:18
18For if the inheritance is of Law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by way of promise.
Truth to Learn
Abraham was promised an inheritance, not through satisfying the Law but through believing God. Our salvation is exactly the same. We are saved by a gift that is promised us without any works of the Law whatsoever.
Behind the Words
The first thing we have to ask ourselves is, “What, specifically, was the promise that God made to Abraham?” The answer is given to us by Paul in his letter to the Romans:
Romans 4:13 13For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
From this we see that the promise was that he (Abraham) should be heir of the world. That is to say, that Abraham and his descendents would inherit the earth.
The Greek word translated “gave” is “kecharistai,” which is a form of “charis” meaning grace. It refers to “an act of freely bestowing a favor on someone else without payment or obligation.” The tense of this word, like others that we have looked at lately, is the perfect tense, indicating completed action in the past with current, ongoing effect. The inheritance that God promised Abraham was given to him in the past and now is in the state of having been bestowed on him, forever.
Meaning Explained
Paul’s argument is that if the inheritance of the world can be obtained through keeping the Law, then it is delivered by obligation, not by way of a promised gift. Since, as we saw in the previous verses, the promise was made to Abraham more than three hundred years before the Law came, the promise is not dependent on the keeping of the Law. It is, as Paul says in this verse, a gift (God gave it to Abraham.) And, as we see from the meaning of the word “gave,” it was presented to Abraham without him having to do anything to earn it or to pay for it. The inheritance was both promised and delivered to Abraham (from God’s perspective) the moment Abraham believed God’s word.
And that’s exactly how it works for our salvation today. This is the crux of Paul’s entire train of thought. The promise that we are saved from our sins is immediately placed to our account the moment we believe God’s Word and accept Christ as Lord and Savior. There is nothing more we have to do because God gave it to us by way of a promise the instant we believed.
So What?
Paul seems to cover these points in excruciating detail, moving ever so slowly through his arguments. The reason is that he wants the Galatian Christians (and Christians today) to completely understand, without a shadow of doubt, that works of the Law have absolutely nothing to do with salvation.
Works of righteousness are the result of salvation, not the source of salvation!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.