The Promise Still Stands
Deeply Rooted Series Part 7
Have you ever had someone make you a promise and then later their actions made you question if it was still good? Maybe life shifted, circumstances changed, or they simply did not come through.
That tension sits underneath this passage in Galatians and is exactly what Paul is addressing. He has already made it clear that salvation comes by faith and not by works, but that raises an important question. If God made a promise to Abraham, then why did He later give the law through Moses? Did the plan change? Did God revise His promise?
Paul walks the Galatian church back to a foundational truth. God does not change what He has established.
Trust God’s Promises (Galatians 3:15–18)
Paul begins by pointing out that even human agreements, once confirmed, are not easily set aside or rewritten.
If that is true for people, it is even more true for God. The promise given to Abraham was never temporary or dependent on human performance. It was always secure.
Paul makes it clear that the promise was not ultimately about land, heritage, or lineage.
At its core, it was always pointing to one person, and that person is Jesus Christ. Before His birth, the promise pointed forward to Him. Before the cross, it anticipated Him. This means that the promise depends on the One who made it and not on the one receiving it.
If our salvation depended on our consistency, our discipline, or our record, none of us would have confidence. The reason the promise still stands is because God is faithful.
Know the Law’s Purpose (Galatians 3:19–20)
Paul then answers the question of why the law was given. He explains that it was added because of transgressions.
The law exposes sin, defines it, and reveals how far we fall short of God’s standard.
It functions like a mirror that shows what is wrong but cannot fix what it reveals. The law is not the cure, it is the diagnosis. It removes any illusion that we can make ourselves right before God. It shows us clearly that we cannot save ourselves. The law was never meant to be a ladder that we climb to reach God.
It was given to show us that the gap is too great so that we would stop trusting in our own effort and turn to Christ instead.
Hope in Jesus (Galatians 3:21–22)
Paul makes it clear that the law and the promise are not opposed to one another.
The law is good, but it cannot give life. It cannot make us righteous. Scripture shows that all are under sin so that the promise might be given through faith in Jesus Christ. This is not meant to leave us without hope but to point us toward the only One who can save.
We do not need better instructions. We need transformation. We need forgiveness. We need righteousness that comes from outside of ourselves.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise and the answer to what the law could never accomplish. Through Him we receive life, freedom, and a restored relationship with God.
Deeply Rooted Believers Don’t Build Their Lives on Effort.
They hold onto what Paul has made clear: God’s promise cannot be undone!
The law reveals our need but cannot save us. Jesus fulfills what we could never achieve on our own.
This calls us to stop striving and to start resting in what Christ has already done. It calls us to stop building our identity on performance and to stand firmly on the promise of God.
When doubt tries to creep in and makes us question whether God will come through, we are reminded that He already has through Jesus.
Deeply rooted believers build on promise. Not on what they have done, but on what Christ has finished.
The promise still stands because Christ still reigns.