Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20080622.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Galatians: Defending The Truthfulness Of Paul's Teaching On God's Grace
Part VI: God's Use Of Old Testament Abraham's Experience To Verify His Truth On Grace
(Galatians 3:6-9 et al.)
  1. Introduction
    1. One of the most "frequent accusations against the Bible is that it contains two different concepts of God. The Old Testament allegedly presents only a God of wrath, while the New Testament allegedly depicts a God of love," cf. Josh McDowell , A Ready Defense, 1991, p. 407. Along with this view is the criticism that Christianity is a relatively new religion, founded much later than Judaism, that is thereby erroneous.
    2. Paul's recalling how Old Testament Abraham was justified effectively counters such claims (as follows):
  2. God's Use Of Old Testament Abraham's Experience To Verify His Truth On Grace, Galatians 3:6-9.
    1. We have learned in this series that in writing to support his Gospel of justification by faith alone in Christ alone, Paul sought to counter efforts by Judaizers who had impressed Galatian Christians to submit to Jewish circumcision under the Law (allegedly) to be justified by God, cf. Galatians 1:8-9 with 5:2; 6:12.
    2. Now, all Hebrews came from Abraham, the man God first called to be circumcised, Genesis 17:10-14.
    3. Thus, Paul showed how Abraham was justified by faith alone opposite the Judaizers' view, Galatians 3:6:
      1. Galatians 3:6 alludes to Genesis 15:6 where Abraham believed God, and was justified for that faith!
      2. The Old Testament Scriptures then reveal this justification occurred before Abraham was circumcised:
        1. The Genesis 15 events that mention Abram's justification occurred when he was childless, 15:2-5.
        2. However, when Abram was circumcised in Genesis 17:24-27, he was circumcised along with his thirteen year old son, Ishmael, who had been born to Abram by Hagar, cf. Genesis 16:1-16.
      3. So, Abram was justified by faith and not by circumcision in accord with Paul's Gospel and opposite the false faith-plus-circumcision gospel of the Judaizers!
    4. Paul then argued that the true children of Abraham are those who are children by faith, Galatians 3:7, 9.
    5. This claim is supported by Paul's use of the Old Testament Scriptures that foresaw God would justify the Gentiles through faith, Galatians 3:8a: he alluded to that part of the Abramic Covenant in Genesis 12:3b KJV that declared that " . . . in thee [Abram] shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Galatians 3:8b)
    6. In its context, this Genesis 12:3b promise reveals God's gracious blessing to all men must come by faith:
      1. Well before Abram's time, Noah's second eldest son, Ham had wrongfully mistreated Noah, so Noah had appropriately put a divine curse on Ham's son, Canaan, Genesis 9:22-27.
      2. Noah then pronounced a blessing on his other sons, Shem and Japheth, for their seeking to oppose Ham's wickedness (Genesis 9:23, 26-27) while failing to put a blessing on Ham's line, Gen. 9:24-27.
      3. Thus, a vast inequality of blessing existed in the human race that came from these few men! (Gen. 10)
      4. However, Genesis 12:3b promised that all the families of the earth that had come from these few men would be blessed in Abram, a descendant of Shem (Genesis 11:10-26), so God would have to bless apart from physical lineage to offset the lack of blessing in Ham's line and the curse on Canaan 's line!
      5. The only way such a great blessing was possible was through the spiritual realm by faith in Christ:
        1. On the cross, Christ became cursed for all men of every line from Noah, Rom. 3:23; Gal. 3:13.
        2. Thus, by faith in Christ as Savior from sin, the blessing of Abram promised in Genesis 12:3b to all the families of the earth comes to anyone, for he then receives the Holy Spirit, Galatians 3:14!
        3. [An Old Testament type of such blessing exists in Melchizedek: as a king-priest believer in the Most High God, and showing in his vocabulary (Gen. 14:19-20) that calls God "El-Elyon" and "Possessor" of heaven and earth that he was of the cursed Canaanite line, he was nevertheless blessed of God to become head of the priestly order of Christ, Savior of the world, Heb. 6:20-7:7; 1 John 4:14! [cf. Roland DeVaux, Ancient Israel, p. 310; Theol. Wrdbk. of the O. T. , vol. II, p. 804]
Lesson: From the TIME of the INCEPTION of the Abramic Covenant, God in GRACE planned to justify all men by Abram's seed through faith in Christ, a truth verified in the Old Testament itself!

Application: Be assured that (1) the Gospel of God's GRACE in Christ is NOT NEW, but (2) it was planned from the inception of the Abramic Covenant by an Old Testament God of GRACE!