Last year my beloved San Francisco Giants traded for first baseman Rafael Devers with the Boston Red Sox. Although he has begun hitting more of late, his batting average is still at a career low and some of the possible clubhouse issues that were rumored about with his previous team are coming out a little bit.
Here is another issue…the contract which the Giants inherited from Boston still has 199 MILLION on it for the next 7 years…that’s right, this contract is fully guaranteed until the year 2033. That is an eternity in the world of sports not to mention an absolute boatload of guaranteed cash. That’s right…in baseball, contracts are fully guaranteed. The Giants cannot get out from under it unless they are able to dump the contract onto another team.
Paul writes in Galatians 3:15-18 15 “Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.“
It is almost as if Paul is writing about the Devers contract in vs 15 when he says that even a man’s contract (or covenant) that when signed is guarantee. You can’t change it. There it is and the Giants are stuck with it…they cannot change it at all.
How much more so does this apply to promises that God has made to man!
The argument that Paul is making here is that when God made the promise to Abraham, it was made not just to Abraham and his descendants inn a plural sense but his Descendant in a singular sense…and that is defined as Christ.
In Galatians 3:7 Paul talked about Abraham’s offspring as plural but here he adjusts to make it singular. Also let’s be clear that this was not just a temporary promise made until the time of the law…the promise of God is not just a stopgap measure.
Oh, and here is an interesting take. Galatians 3:28-29, which says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” puts all believers in Christ, so we also are included in the singular seed which is Christ.
What is the conclusion to this? For Paul it is pretty simple and clear. The law came 430 years later and it does not change the terms of the original agreement/covenant. if it did, then the previous covenant of promise would be null and void.
The original was confirmed and ratified by God and the later arrival of the law did not change the original covenant. And I think it is worth noting that the greatness of the interval (again, 430 years) between the promise made to Abraham and the coming of the law increases the authority of the law.
Paul’s final point is that the inheritance that God promised through Abraham is still valid and has not been changed by the law. it is still through faith and has not been altered to law.
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