Galatians 3:17-18 17This 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. 18For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
Paul’s argument is simple in these verses, with an implied message to the Galatians. His point is that the giving of the law did not supersede or replace the promise God made to Abraham. The critical theological issue is how the law relates to the promise. Paul will address that issue in the following verses, but basically, the law shows how the people of Israel were to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). God had rescued them from Egyptian slavery, but they did not know God and did not know how to act as the people of God.
The promise came first, 430 years before the law. The law was one step in the process of working out this promise. This step defined the people of Israel as a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6) and showed how they were to act as holy people, especially in a new land full of idolatry and immorality. The law was a defining element for the people of Israel. The law was the stipulation component of the covenant God made with Israel on Mount Sinai.
The law was never meant to be the way the people became righteous. God did not change his plan of salvation in the New Testament. Salvation was always by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Obedience to the law was the way the people showed their faith in God. At the heart of this was worshipping God only and then living in holiness defined by certain activities described in Leviticus and other parts of the Pentateuch. The inheritance of which Paul writes in v. 18 is the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Paul is writing about the promise of the gospel that began back with Abraham. This promise is that we can be made righteous through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
This promise cannot come through human effort, and this effort includes trying to keep the law, which is impossible. God made a promise to Abraham, and God keeps his promises. We can be assured that this promise is for all people because it included “all nations.” It is for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. The Galatians should begin to realize through Paul’s argument that they cannot be made righteous by law, even as reductionistic as being circumcised. God’s promise is bigger than all of this. It is all inclusive and inviting. In these verses, Paul has laid out another reason why the Galatians are making a huge mistake in following the teachings of the Jewish agitators.
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