Faithful to His Promise

“To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ. This 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. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.”

(Galatians 3:15-18 ESV)

Although none of us are perfectly honest, we understand the importance of keeping our word. We understand that, if we commit to something, we should follow through with it. And we both value and esteem those who do so.



We also tend to look down on those who are not trustworthy. We look down on those who are not true to their word. Because we do not deem them trustworthy, we do not count them believable or dependable.



We also understand that we cannot change the terms of an agreement once it’s been made. If we agree to a certain purchase price for a car or a house, we cannot change the terms if they no longer work to our advantage. If we agree to trade labor with someone, or to pay him for his services, we cannot later change the terms.



That being said, many Christians make the mistake of thinking that the people of Israel were under a different covenant than we are, today. They mistakenly believe that they were saved in a different way than we are, today.  While we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus, they believe that the people of Israel, that the Jews, were saved through the law.



However, as Paul tells us above, this is not the case. He points out that, although God did give the law to the people of Israel, he had first given his promise to Abraham. And God’s promise is not replaced, it’s not annulled, by the law.



If that were the case, God would not be trustworthy. If that were the case, he has not been faithful to his Word. Because he first gave his promise, that promise must be honored.



The people of Israel, then, were saved in the same way that you and I are saved. They were saved by the grace of God. As they believed the promise of God, their faith was counted to them as righteousness. And the same remains true today.



Although we have the Ten Commandments, although we have the law of God, this is not our means of salvation. They are still applicable today, and they are to guide us today. But they are not, nor have they ever been, the means of salvation.



We, then, can find comfort in the fact that God is true to his Word. As his blessing is found in his promise, we don’t have to earn it in any way. We can simply look to him in faith, which is credited to us as righteousness.