Galatians 3:16

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Parenthetical. NOW, [ de (G1161)]. 'This, however, is not a case merely of a covenant, but of a promise; yea, of promises: nor was it made merely to a man (Galatians 3:15), Abraham, but to Christ' (Ellicott). The covenant of promise was not 'spoken' [so errethesan, "made"] to Abraham alone, but "to Abraham and his seed;" to the latter especially-namely, Christ (and that which is inseparable from Him, the literal Israel, and the spiritual, His body, the Church). Christ not having come when the law was given, the covenant could not have been then fulfilled, but awaited the coming of Him-the Seed, to whom was spoken....

16._Now to Abraham, and his seed_. Before pursuing his argument, he introduces an observation about the substance of the covenant, that it rests on Christ alone. But if Christ be the foundation of the bargain, it follows that it is of free grace; and this too is the meaning of the word _promise_. As the law has respect to men and to their works, so the promise has respect to the grace of God and to faith. _He saith not, And to seeds. _To prove that in this place God speaks of Christ, he calls attention to the singular number as denoting some particular seed. I have often been astonished that Christians, when they saw this passage so perversely tortured by the Jews, did not make a more determined resistance; for all pass it slightly as if it were an indisputed territory. And yet there is much plausibility in their objection. Since the word _seed _is a collective noun, Paul appears to reas...

15-18 The covenant God made with Abraham, was not done away by the giving the law to Moses. The covenant was made with Abraham and his Seed. It is still in force; Christ abideth for ever in his person, and his spiritual seed, who are his by faith. By this we learn the difference between the promises of the law and those of the gospel. The promises of the law are made to the person of every man; the promises of the gospel are first made to Christ, then by him to those who are by faith ingrafted into Christ. Rightly to divide the word of truth, a great difference must be put between the promise and the law, as to the inward affections, and the whole practice of life. When the promise is mingled with the law, it is made nothing but the law. Let Christ be always before our eyes, as a sure argument for the defence of faith, against dependence on human righteousness....

Verse 16. _NOW TO ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED_] The promise of salvation by faith was made to Abraham and his posterity. _HE SAITH NOT, AND TO SEEDS_] It was one particular kind of posterity which was intended: _but as of one-which is Christ_; i.e. to the spiritual head, and all believers in him, who are children of Abraham, because they are _believers_, Galatians 3:7. But why does the apostle say, _not of seeds, as of many_? To this it is answered, that Abraham possessed in his family _two seeds_, one _natural_, viz. the members of his own household; and the other _spiritual_, those who were like himself because of their faith. The promises were not of a _temporal_ nature; had they been so, they would have belonged to his _natural_ seed; but they did not, therefore they must have belonged to the _spiritual_ posteri

NOW TO ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED - To him and his posterity. WERE THE PROMISES MADE - The promise here referred to was that which is recorded in Genesis 22:17. “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” HE SAITH NOT, AND TO SEEDS, AS OF MANY, BUT AS OF ONE ... - He does not use the plural term, as if the promise extended to many persons, but he speaks in the singular number, as if only one was intended; and that one must be the Messiah. Such is Paul’s interpretation; such is evidently the sentiment which he intends to convey, and the argument which he intends to urge. He designs evidently to be understood as affir

EXPOSITION GALATIANS 3:1 O FOOLISH GALATIANS (ὦ ἀνόητοι Γαλάται). In thus apostrophizing them, the apostle brands their present behaviour, not any lack of intelligence on their part in general (comp. Luke 24:25). "Foolish"—to allow yourselves to be thus robbed of your happiness. The transporting feeling of elevation and joy with which, in Galatians 2:19, the apostle describes himself as crucified with Christ to the Law, and as living in Christ and through Christ, makes him the more keenly sensible of the senseless folly shown by the Galatians in taking up the observance of the Law. WHO HATH BEWITCHED YOU, THAT YE SHOULD NOT OBEY THE TRUTHS? (τ

NOW TO ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED WERE THE PROMISES MADE,.... The promises design the promises of the covenant of grace mentioned in the next verse, which are exceeding great and precious, better than those of any other covenant; and which are all yea and amen in Christ, and are chiefly of a spiritual nature; though all the temporal blessings of God's people come to them in a covenant way, and by virtue of the promise; for godliness has the promise of this life, that God will verily feed them, withhold no good thing from them proper for them, sanctify all their afflictions, support under them, and never leave nor forsake them: but the promises here intended principally are such as these, that God will be their God, and they shall be his people, the promise of Christ as a Saviour and Redeemer of them; of the Spirit as their sanctifier, and the applier of all grace unto them; of justification by...

Paul, writing, to those changeable Galatians, who had so soon deserted the faith, says to them in this chapter Galatians 3:1. _O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you._ Paul does not compliment them on being a very «thoughtful,» «educated» «cultured» people; he does not care an atom about that matter, but because they had forsaken the simple truth of the gospel, he says, «O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?» Those are hard words, Paul! Why did he not say, «Who has led you forward into more advanced views?» Not he; he calls it witchery, the work of the devil, and it is nothing better; and the wisdom of it is no better than the trickery of some old witch. If you take your eyes off Christ, it must be witchcraft that makes you do it. There is

II. CONTRASTS BETWEEN LAW AND GRACE CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The gift of the Spirit not by the works of the law, but by hearing of faith. (Galatians 3:1)_ 2. Righteousness not bestowed by the law, but by faith. (Galatians 3:6) 3. The law curses; the curse born by Christ. (Galatians 3:10) 4. The law cannot annul the covenant of promise, (Galatians 3:15) 5. Wherefore serveth the law? (Galatians 3:19) 6. Faith having come--no longer under the law, ...

The promise having once been given, no subsequent enactment like the Law can interfere with it. (Similarly Heb. emphasizes the priority in time of Melchizedek to Aaron.) Even in human affairs, a scrap of paper which records an agreement is not torn up without tragic and memorable consequences. (It has been thought that a _will_ is specially referred to, and in the Gr. rather than the Rom. form; _perhaps_ confirming the view that the epistle went to S. Galatia.) Elsewhere (Galatians 4:24) there are two covenants and (2 Corinthians 3:14) one is old (_cf._ Jeremiah 31:31, and often in Hebrews). Here, _the_ Covenant OT promise or NT fulfilment contrasts with the alien institution of Law. (2) The