Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach

DISCOVERING THE NEW COVENANT
of transgressions ‘till the Seed should come to whom
the promise was made: Gal. 3:18, 19.
Paul is saying that the Law was added well after the
promises to Abraham, until Christ. There was a definite
beginning and ending of the Law. This is crucial to
understand in order to follow Paul’s argument. Now notice
verses 23 and following:
But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the
law, kept for the faith which would afterward to be
revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to
Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith
has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Gal. 3:23-25
Paul continues with his discussion, ending Galatians 3
with the famous statement in verse 29.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed,
and heirs according to the promise. Gal. 3:29.
What Paul is saying here is that the promise of Christ
came before the Law. It is independent of the Law. The Law
was added to show us our need of Christ. It was our tutor to
bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Clearly
Paul is pointing out that the Law was a temporary institution
to show us our need of Christ. But when we accept Jesus, we
are under the covenant, which was pre-circumcision and pre-
Law, the covenant with Abraham. The Christian now stands
with righteous Abraham, an heir of the promise, bypassing
the entire Law era! I had never seen the significance of this
passage before! I had to read and re-read it. I encourage you
to sit down with the book of Galatians to read and digest it
for yourself. The message is so powerful and liberating! It
also sets the stage for understanding the rest of the book.
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