Numenorian said...
"The only reason we can have the audacity to trample on repeated covenantal promises is because we assume Old Testament revelation is trumped or reinterpreted by the New. But Paul did not teach that."
Paul is clearly teaching in Galatians chapter 3 that Christ and Christ alone is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Promise.
He says the same thing in Romans chapters 9 and 11 in explaining the differences between Israel of the Flesh and Israel of the Promise.
Why are you attempting to infer Paul was wrong in Galatians 3:16?
When we come to a verse or passage that does not agree with what we want to believe, we are to change what we believe instead of attempting to say there is some wrong with the text.
I have had to change my views many times, due to this same thing.
I discovered that many times what was coming from the pulpit, did not match God's Word.
Even though I loved those men, I had no choice but to reject their words and accept the Bible instead.
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I am in no way suggesting Paul is wrong in what he says in Gal. 3:16. What I am insisting on is respecting the whole context of Scripture. We don't just overturn something that is repeated again and again to the fathers, that their DESCENDANTS would multiply and the possess the land. And we simply cannot evade the fact that the fathers were promised a REAL LAND, WITH PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS, PREVIOUSLY OCCUPIED BY REAL PEOPLE GROUPS. IT IS UNREASONABLE THAT THE FATHERS WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD GOD ANY OTHER WAY.
“On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.". Genesis 15:18-21
So, the land belongs to Israel by covenant. BUT.....the Law of Moses was ordained by God to be a flesh filter. It is absolutely impossible to perform in the flesh. Them Law was always what the prophets pointed back to in order to show the people they stood in covenant jeopardy, and exile was looming.
“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:3-4 NASB
Have you ever wondered why, in response to Hananiah's false prophecy, Jeremiah said this?:
“Yet hear now this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people! The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence. The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent."”
Jeremiah 28:7-9
Why did Jeremiah/the Lord throw the burden of proof on the prophet of peace? You would think this burden of veracity would fall on all prophetic expressions - we'll know they're true when they happen.
I offer this reason: the prophet of judgment - the biblical prophets - stood on the foundation of the Law of Moses, and at any time, in any generation, they could raise that plumb line to show that the people were in breach of the Mosaic covenant. As long as they were preaching from this foundation, no further proof was necessary. And of course, this is assured by the reality of human depravity.
Therefore, for an unrighteous people, there is a dilemma: how can they remain in the land when to remain, they are required to do justice and righteousness? It is patently impossible,and God has ordained it so...to crowd the nation to Christ.
So let's be agreed. BELIEF IN THE GOSPEL IS AN INDISPUTABLE NECESSITY FOR JEW AND GENTILE, BECAUSE THE GOSPEL ALONE PROVIDES US WITH THE EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OUR GREATEST NEED:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
Romans 1:16-18
“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;”
Romans 3:9-11
“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26
Why was Paul not ashamed of the gospel? Because it demonstrates the righteousness of God, in congruence with the Law and the prophets. We must not take Paul's gospel out of context, introducing discontinuity that he does not.
“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy scriptures,"
Romans 1:1-2
“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested,
and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.”
Romans 16:25-27
The apostolic preaching of the gospel was founded on the prophetic message, which was based on covenant and the Law of Moses:
“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”
Isaiah 8:20
Any preaching of the gospel that is based on a foundation other than this apostolic and prophetic foundation is at best, suspended in mid-air, and at worst, false, as replacement teaching is.
So, returning to Gal. 3:16, I do not infer that Paul is wrong. I maintain it is being taken out of context, both the wider context I've given above, which I know is biblical, and the narrower context of Romans 9-11 and Galatians 3.
Previous to Gal. 3, in the first two chapters, Paul has taken pains to show that his apostolic ministry was based on Divine calling, and his gospel is authoritative, issuing from heaven, not from men.
In ch. 2, he begins to document his opposition to the "false brethren" who were distorting the gospel of Christ, and in ch. 3, addresses the believers who have been bewitched into believing this different gospel. The issue is how are we to go on living, having begun in the Spirit? The Galatians were being deceived into believing that they could be perfected by the flesh, circumcision being chief in the Judaistic instruction. Over against that, Paul asserts faith and walking by the Spirit as the only way to please God.
Notice that the Judaizers weren't the only ones using the Jewish scriptures; Paul too preached to these Gentile believers from them, but he appealed to older parts, to the Abrahamic covenant, which predates the Law. Paul says that, anticipating Gentile salvation, the gospel was preached beforehand to Abraham - "all the nations shall be blessed in you".
Over against this salvation by faith that Abraham experienced (receiving righteousness from God being the essential thing then and now), Paul expounds on the effect of being under the Law: curse. But over against the curse, Jesus hung on the cross to redeem us from that curse, that the blessing of Abraham - the promise of the Spirit by faith - might come to the Gentiles.
Right here, please observe the difference between what Paul says over against those who rush to say "We're all one in Christ now. There's neither Jew nor Greek." First of all, here and throughout the book of Romans, Paul continues to address two different communities within the Body (Rom. 2:17, 24, 3:1-9, 4:1-3, Rom. 7:1; ch. 9-11 [to Gentiles]).
Secondly, notice his tone: "that in Christ Jesus, the Gentiles MIGHT receive..." Sometimes, there is a grating tone in the quick summary "God's no respecter of persons. We're all one in Christ." The words are all true, but there's something wrong in the attitude, a certain lack of recognition of the privilege of being grafted in to the rich root of the olive tree. It is like the guys hired at the eleventh hour, who are paid exactly the same, having to broadcast in no uncertain terms that "we're all equal".
For lack of this recognition, much of the Gentile church has become arrogant. We don't recognize PRIVILEGE and seem to assume that Israel has been cut off due to some special obstinacy and unbelief that is somehow not common to man.
Looking at the immediate context of Gal. 3:16, we need to note a few things:
“Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.”
Galatians 3:15-18
Previously I have argued that Paul always speaks from the context of the covenant, Law and the prophets, and in Galatians 3, he is NOT clearly teaching that Christ is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant because:
1. He is arguing that, if men don't set aside or add conditions to a covenant once it is ratified, HOW MUCH LESS DOES GOD! We should fear to teach such a thing.
2. Corporiety is a cardinal perspective of the Scriptures. We're one in Adam, believers are one in Christ, we're one with previous generations (Matt. 2:29-32, Heb. 7:9-10, Exodus 20:5), and Abraham's seed includes both Christ and his earthly descendants. If he understood one thing, he would have understood "seed" to mean his offspring. Paul knew all of this well.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, it broke his head: how then can God's promises be fulfilled? Of course, Abraham understood God to mean his physical descendants!
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED."” Hebrews 11:17-18
Therefore, we must dig deeper to find the meaning, since we cannot take one verse to nullify a vital teaching of Scripture.
With reference to Abraham's descendants, God first uses the word "seed" in Genesis. It is not a novel concept Paul is introducing in Galatians. On the other hand, when does He ever say "seeds" with respect to human beings and their descendants? Even with respect to vegetation, it is a rare usage.
“indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply YOUR SEED as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and YOUR SEED shall possess the gate of THEIR enemies.”
Genesis 22:17
So Jesus is in the lineage of Abraham. Do we think that, because of this statement, Paul is teaching that God has erased all the genealogical lines between Abraham and Christ, and made them irrelevant?
[What I believe I am butting up against is a prevalent view of the biblical story which casts the main story of the Scripture in terms of these events - creation, fall, redemption, consummation. This schema of the foreground of the biblical narrative was fashioned by the Ante-Nicene fathers in answer to the pagans, the Gnostics, and the Jews. It was a mighty service to the early church, but has had some deleterious consequences.
In this manner, this prevalent way of seeing the biblical foreground story becomes backhandedly gnostic, not in terms of creation (the early fathers, particularly Irenaeus, dealt masterfully with that error), but in terms of history. Now that salvation in Christ has come, and Israel has served its purpose as the matrix for His birth, Israel in the flesh can just drop out of the picture. Their history now fades to the background; the figures and stories of the Old Testament become relics, like sepia-coloured pictures of great-grandparents on the mantle - nice to know about, but irrelevant for today.
Check any book of Christian theological foundations and see if the subject of Israel is given any authoritative weight in the discussion of any theological subject - hamartiology, soteriology, even eschatology. The revelation of God in and through the history of Israel, that is everything between the fall and redemption in the above schema, is reduced to mere background information. That's the whole Old Testament, save for the first few chapters of Genesis.
In terms of Galatians 3 (and Romans 9-11, which I have no time to get into today), this is the reason why I see people coming away from verse 16 asserting that there is no other seed but Jesus. They have rendered the Old Testament covenants, law, and prophets as mere supplementary background information, with nothing of authoritative value to say.
But Old Testament history is GOD'S HISTORY with Israel. How dare we!
“In all their affliction HE WAS AFFLICTED, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.”
Isaiah 63:9]
3. Past Gal. 3:16, Paul explains himself.
First of all, he is speaking about the corporate reality of "seed", which includes all the descendants, and that includes Christ. Jesus was Jewish! Do we want to try and expunge all of His lineage back to Abraham? David was in there, and Jesus called Himself the Son of David. Every time He did, He was referencing His lineage and covenantal connection.
To attempt to expunge Old Testament history leads to many problems, not least of which is to go in the gnostic direction, claiming all this history is sinful and irrelevant. (And some in the church still hold gnostic views about creation, that God is just going to wipe it out and start over). It leaves the proclamation of the gospel suspended in mid-air, and Christ is taken out of context.
4. Paul explains: the later revelation of the Law does not invalidate the Abrahamic promise of land and descendants. Why? Because God had PREVIOUSLY GIVEN HIS WORD.
But how could the Law potentially invalidate the promise? By finding fault with the people, as has been shown above. God needed to place His people on the foundation of the New Covenant, which is envisioned in the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham has not yet possessed one foot of that land, but was a stranger and sojourner in it, with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise (Heb. 11:9). But as "God is not a man, that He should lie", one day, he will.
So the land promise, the progeny promise, the promise of a king forever over David's realm will all be accomplished as per the covenant. Jesus will reign, and there will be no end to the increase of His government.
And our salvation is assured because God has not permitted the Law to invalidate the promises of inheritance, whether land on earth or the heavenly thing, because at the end of the day, He provides, not us, and takes nothing from man (Gen. 22:14).
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, "BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. "AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE."”
Hebrews 8:7-12
