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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Galatians 3:16
Comments
What Paul tells us here is consistent with the first promise made in Eden (Genesis 3:15) and the subsequent promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Every promise in the Bible which relates to salvation is connected to the covenant of grace. This covenant or testament appears in many places in the Old Testament. It is foretold by Jeremiah 31:31-34, quoted in Hebrews 8:8, and ratified by Christ’s death, so that he calls the cup in the Lord’s Supper the blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. It is an everlasting covenant made in eternity past before the creation of the world. Who are the consenting parties to this covenant? Originally the covenant of grace was made between the members of the Godhead. The Father promised to give the Son a people from all eternity, who would be called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. The Son promised to take human nature and become the surety for his people, to earn a perfect righteousness under the law, and to suffer the penalty of the law for their sins to redeem them from death and hell. The Spirit promised to work in their hearts causing them to be convicted of sin, to respond to the heavenly call, to be born again as they repent and believe, and to sanctify them and bring them to glory. Because all consenting parties were members of the Godhead this covenant could not fail. Those who have faith are included in this covenant because they are ‘in Christ’, a phrase that describes the believer’s covenant relationship with Christ. This eternal covenant was expressed to Abraham in the form of a promise because it is a gracious covenant. As far as he was concerned the blessings were free and the only condition was faith, but for Christ it was necessary to fulfil the law perfectly. Paul is pointing out in this verse that the true recipient of the promise was Christ because he met the conditions of the eternal covenant. He is the seed spoken of in Genesis 3:15 and he is ultimately the seed to whom the promises are made in the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham and those who are of faith receive the blessing freely because Christ has earned it for them, for it is Christ who inherits all things. Paul is well aware that when promises were made to Abraham and his seed, that seed often has to be seen as a multiplicity – as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore (Genesis 22:17); indeed he uses the word seed in plural sense in Galatians 3:29. He identifies the seed as Christ to show the strength of the Abrahamic promises: not only were they unbreakable because they constituted a covenant, but that covenant was made with the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The purpose of Galatians 3:16 then is not to deny that there is an element of plurality in the promises, but to interpret the promises so as to show the theological truth that lies behind them which points to the ultimate fulfilment in a single individual.
Application
Questions
As in English and Greek, the Hebrew word ‘seed’ can be a collective noun, a noun which is singular in form but refers to a group of more than one. Although the word is occasionally used to refer to a single individual, most of the promises made to Abraham use it in the collective sense. The Hebrew word on its own is not enough tell us whether it is used to refer to Abraham’s many descendants or to a single individual - Christ. So why does Paul make so much out of this one word? His intention is not to argue that that the word seed is singular in form and therefore should be understood of a single individual, but to guide us in how we should read this word which he knows could be singular or collective: the ultimate reference he tells us is to Christ.
Outline
Purpose
Introduction