Galatians 3.15-29

Have you ever experienced a broken promise?

Do you know what it feels like to have a promise made to you only to have the promise maker break that promise to you?

Here’s a more personal question…

Have you ever made a promise to someone only to break the promise you made to them?

Life is filled with promises made and promises broken.

I don’t believe there is a more public example of broken promises than those that exist in the realm of politics.

Every politician and every political party makes promises to you, promises that they know they can not ultimately keep.

Here are a few examples from the last 100+ years in the United States of America:

Woodrow Wilson won re-election in 1916 with the slogan “He kept us out of war,” only to enter World War I a year later.

Lyndon B. Johnson promised in 1964, “We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.” During his presidency, the U.S. entered the Vietnam War and Johnson did not seek reelection.

Richard Nixon in 1968 claimed to “have a secret plan to end the war” and promised to find a way to “peace with honor” in Vietnam, but American troops were not withdrawn until 1973 — a little more than a year before Nixon resigned.

Jimmy Carter campaigned on solving the energy crisis, but his speeches about conservation and attempts to add solar panels to the roof of the White House weren’t good enough. He was unable to get support for a gas tax, and the energy problem only worsened during his presidency.

Ronald Reagan promised to make a constitutional amendment allowing school prayer during his campaign, and although he proposed the amendment in 1982, it never went anywhere.

George H. W. Bush famously promised in 1988: “Read my lips: No new taxes,” only to sign a bill raising taxes during his first and only term.

Bill Clinton campaigned on a renovation of the health care system before he took office in 1993. Although he attempted health care reform — “Hillarycare” — it ended in failure.

Politifact tracked Barack Obama’s 533 promises and found that he broke 52% of his promise while in office as the President of the United States of America.

In our Biblical text for this morning, from our very slow crawl through the New Testament book of Galatians, we are going to hear the Apostle Paul speak about the difference between God’s Law and God’s Promise.  More specifically, we are going to hear that we only have hope in life because God is both the Promise Maker and the Promise Keeper.  He will never leave us or fosake us.  He will ensure that we will be brought home into His Kingdom of Heaven.

Continuing on in his letter to the churches in the region of Galatia during the mid-first Century, the Apostle Paul says this:

[15] To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. [16] Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. [17] This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. [18] For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

[19] Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. [20] Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

[21] Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. [22] But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

[23] Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. [24] So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. [25] But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, [26] for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. [27] For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (ESV)

The driving force behind Paul’s words in this section of his letter is the desire to make the purposes of God’s Law and God’s Promise clear to the churches that he is writing to.

Let’s start with the purpose of God’s Law.

In Confirmation, I have the students memorize the following paragraph because it is pivotal for understanding our Christian faith.

The paragraph that explains the purpose of God’s Law goes like this:

The Law is that part of God’s Word which tells us what we must do and what we must not do.  It has two, possibly three uses: 1) to curb our natural tendencies by telling us what we must do under penalty of punishment or failure; 2) to convict of sin by describing where we have failed to keep the law, thus showing us our need for a Savior; and 3) to coach the believer regarding what Christ has given the believer to do.

There are three uses of God’s Law according to the Bible.  None of those uses of God’s Law provides you with a way to earn forgiveness of sin or reconciliation with God.

That’s means, God’s Law does not have the power to save you. 

Over and over again, Scripture makes it explicitly clear that due to the corruption of sin in the human heart, it is impossible to please God by keeping His Law.

The purpose of God’s Law is to show you what he wants you to do and not do.  The purpose of God’s Law is to show you that you do not measure up to God’s standard of holiness.  The purpose of God’s Law is to show you your need for His help.  The purpose of God’s Law is to lead you to your need for His Savior—Jesus.  And, the purpose of the Law is to guide you in living your life in a Godly and Christ-like way after you come to faith and find yourself believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Hebrews 11.6 speaks this truth when it says, 

[6] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (ESV)

Next, the Apostle Paul addresses the purpose of God’s promise.

What is the purpose of God’s promise?

The purpose of God’s promise is to give you hope for today, hope for tomorrow, and hope for a peaceful eternity with God.

God’s promise gives you this hope by assuring you that through Jesus’ life lived perfectly, death to pay the price for sin, and resurrection from the grave to beat the power of sin and death to separate us from God, you are forgiven of your sin, set free from condemnation, and rescued from destruction.

In this Scripture, Paul gives the history of God’s promise.

Paul makes a few things clear. 

First, Paul mentions that God’s promise came to humanity before God’s Law.

Second, Paul mentions that the fact that the Law came after God’s Promise doesn’t make God’s Promise void.  

And, third, Paul mentions that God’s promise was made official through a covenant made with Abraham.

Let’s discuss the absolute Good News of the covenant and the covenant process.

The Hebrew term בְּרִית bĕriyth for “covenant” is from a root with the sense of “cutting.”

In the ancient world, the process of making a promise official was to cut animals in half and walking between them.  This was a pledge, from the promise maker to the promise receiver, that if the promise keeper broke their promise may such a fate as being cut in half befall them.  

When God makes His promise to humanity, through the Father of God’s people, Abraham, God chooses to pass through the cut animals Himself.  He doesn’t ask Abraham to walk through the pieces and promise to be forever faithful in keeping God’s Law because God knows that sin has corrupted humanity and neither Abraham nor any other human could ever keep a promise to perfectly live according to God’s standards.

If the human, Abraham, was asked to make and keep a promise to God, we would all be damned to Hell because we are breakers of God’s Law by nature.

The Good News we have today and always is that God is the promise maker and promise keeper.

Even when you are a promise breaker, breaking your promise to love and honor God with your heart, mind, body, and soul, God keeps His promises to you.

God promises you that He will do whatever it takes to rescue you from the condemnation and destruction of sin.  

And, God did that by entering our world in the flesh of Jesus Christ to be condemned and destroyed for you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to love you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to forgive you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to save you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to be gracious and merciful to you.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to lead you and guide you through His Word and His Law.

In Jesus, God keeps His promise to be with you always, to the very end of the age.

Even when we forget God and turn away from Him, God’s promise to us is never broken.  God  never forgets us and God never turns away from us.  

As 2 Timothy 2:13 tells us:

[13] if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself. (ESV)

The original owners of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company had the reputation for being people of integrity. The following story reveals their commitment to do the right thing—even when it cost them:

Northwestern Mutual was founded as the Mutual Life Insurance Company of the State of Wisconsin on March 2, 1857. Originally located in Janesville, Wisconsin, the fledgling company relocated to Milwaukee in 1859. Shortly after, the company experienced its first two death claims, when an excursion train traveling from Janesville to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, derailed, killing 14 people, two of whom were policy owners. With losses amounting to $3,500 and having funds of only $2,000, company President Samuel Daggett and Treasurer Charles Nash personally borrowed the needed funds to pay the claims immediately.

Later when asked why they didn’t simply default on the payments, they replied it would not have been the right thing to do to their fellow man. They both agreed they would rather see the company fail than neglect their obligation to those who trusted them to keep their word.

Lewis Smedes, the late Professor of Theology at Fuller Seminary,  says:

Yes, somewhere people still make and keep promises. They choose not to quit when the going gets rough because they promised once to see it through. They stick to lost causes. They hold on to a love grown cold. They stay with people who have become pains in the neck. They still dare to make promises and care enough to keep the promises they make. I want to say to you that if you have a ship you will not desert, if you have people you will not forsake, if you have causes you will not abandon, then you are like God.

What a marvelous thing a promise is! When a person makes a promise, he reaches out into an unpredictable future and makes one thing predictable: he will be there even when being there costs him more than he wants to pay. When a person makes a promise, he stretches himself out into circumstances that no one can control and controls at least one thing: he will be there no matter what the circumstances turn out to be. With one simple word of promise, a person creates an island of certainty in a sea of uncertainty.

With simple words of promise, “I will never leave your or forsake you”  and, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith,” God, our Father in Heaven, creates a island of certainty in a sea of uncertainty for you.

Hebrews 10:23 says:

[23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (ESV)

And, Hebrews 13:8 says:

[8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (ESV)

This morning, as you stare into the mirror of the law, you see that there is no hope of you ever being an exact replica of God in thinking, speaking, and doing.  That type of Law abiding life is impossible because the original sin into which you are born.  You enter this life, at the exact moment of conception when male sperm combines with a female egg, already corrupted by the sin passed onto you by both parents.

So, being grace-filled and merciful toward you, God promises to do for you what you cannot do for yourself.  God promises to live the uncorrupted life for you in the human life of the God-Man, Jesus, that is required for entrance into His Kingdom.  And, God promises to give you full credit for that perfectly lived life simply through faith in Him and His Son Jesus who did it all for you.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

May 11, 2025.

Prayer:

Mighty God,

Your Word penetrates our hearts and exposes the truth about our thoughts and intentions. It uncovers our self-confidence and self-centeredness, as well as. the secret sins that we hide so successfully from one another. The truth is that we cherish and love many evil thoughts in our hearts, even when outwardly we pretend to be full of spiritual desires. We harbor hatred and anger for those around us, along with jealousy and pride. We judge and condemn others in our hearts, or we envy them and lust after them. Even our good deeds are deeply stained by wrong motives.

We often wait to serve others until people are watching us, so that we may be admired and glorified. We speak your truth impatiently and harshly in order to prove ourselves. Father, forgive us not just for our sinful actions but for our corrupt and perverse hearts.

Jesus, 

thank you that you came to deliver us from our sinful self-centeredness. Your heart was always perfectly aligned with the Father’s Word. Your thoughts as well as your actions were always pure and undefiled, filled with love for those around you and compassion for lost people. You worked hard in the Father’s service, but you also rested confidently in the Father’s power. Even though you are the LORD of Glory and eternally deserving of praise, you never glorified yourself. Instead, you laid aside your glory and became a humble servant, defeating the forces of Satan through your own death and winning victory in our place.

Holy Spirit, 

teach us not to trust in ourselves or in earthly sources of power and strength. Enable us to trust completely in Jesus, our great High Priest, who faithfully intercedes for us. Help us not to be unduly discouraged by the heavy load of guilt that so easily clings to our hearts. Instead, whenever we see clearly the sins of our hearts, enable us to fly to the Scriptural truth that in Christ the penalty of those sins has been paid for, once for all. Remind us that we are now clothed in Christ’s perfect righteousness, and that therefore there can be no condemnation left for us. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.