Losing a loved one brings an emotional rollercoaster, no matter who we are or what we believe. Saying goodbye to someone who shaped our life—a parent, sibling, or close friend—is always painful, whether they were a Christian or not. We often think the ride ends when they step into eternity, but for many, the twists and turns only begin afterward. The process of settling a loved one’s affairs soon begins, and depending on how clearly their wishes were communicated, tensions can arise. A well‑written will often softens the blow for the family by outlining the desires of the deceased, but even that is not guaranteed. Few things stir family emotions more than money, property, and heirlooms. Some will even go so far as to challenge the validity of a will, claiming it is unfair. Take for instance a recent challenge to a will where four sisters challenged their father’s will because of being left out. Their grounds for this challenge were based upon his mental health when writing the will. Yet once the will is legally confirmed, most attempts to overturn it amount to very little. It becomes the binding authority that declares who the inheritors are. And if a human document holds such power, what are we to make of God’s own will and testament.
The Text
Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. (Galatians 3:15-18)
Human Words
Paul now turns to comparing the Abrahamic Covenant with that of the Sinaitic Covenant in an attempt to demonstrate that the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant cannot be fulfilled based upon the stipulations of the Sinaitic Covenant. As Ridderbos points out:
This would be to do violence to the unconditional character of the promise, and would be like modifying covenants, something which even among people is regarded as unauthoritative and impossible.[1]
While the next expression “I speak in terms of human relations” in the New American Standard Bible is accurate, it seems the New King James Version has the better rendition through “I speak in the manner of men”. Paul uses a similar expression in Romans 3:5 “I am speaking in human terms”. The idea here is that Paul is going to use human covenants to provide an argument for how divine covenants work. If these things are true of human covenants, then they are all the truer of the divine.
As a real life, common example, a covenant (or legal agreement such as a will), when it has been ratified (or legally confirmed), one can’t just legally add to the covenant stipulations or annul them. The agreement is set in stone per say and nothing can change its conditions and agreed provisions.
Abraham’s Seed
In v.16, Paul now turns to a reality from the Abrahamic covenant where promises were made to the patriarch and his seed. These promises are found in Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-21 and 17:1-21 with the mention of the promises to the seed being found in Genesis 15:18 and 17:8 primarily. The point that Paul is attempting to get across to his readers is that the promises of Abraham pointed to Jesus Christ as the sole inheritor of the promises. In Galatians 3:16, Paul attributes the covenant blessings of progeny, the nations and land as being promised to one seed, not a multitude of seeds. This is significantly important. That seed is explicitly identified as our Lord Jesus Christ. It would be Him who would become the culmination of these promises as the ultimate inheritor and beneficiary. We are not looking for a fulfillment of the blessings of Abraham in physical descendants, but it has been fulfilled in Christ, his One true Seed. And as we’ll see later in this chapter, the inheritance is not exclusive to the Jews, but granted to Greeks, slaves, free men, males, females and others, based upon their unity in Christ. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:28-29)
Nullifying the Promise?
In v.17, Paul enters into an explanation of vs. 15-16 regarding the law and the Abrahamic promise. He states that: The law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. When we think in these terms of law and promise, as Ridderbos explains: Law means demand, conditions; the promise, on the contrary, means free grant, guarantee, unconditionality[2]. There was in Jewish thinking this idea that the Covenant of Abraham was given and then the Covenant of law came as an expansion to that first alliance. But for that expansion to happen, it nullifies the first covenant because we are mingling two different covenants by nature; one that is, in essence, unconditional (by promise) and the other that is by conditions (by law). That law which came 430 years later does not invalidate or render it void. If the Sinaitic covenant did nullify the promissory nature of the Abrahamic covenant, then it did indeed nullify it. If you could fulfill conditions such as keeping the law, then the promise would be null and void.
There is also a discrepancy in Paul’s timeline that needs to be addressed. If we are to calculate the time between the Abrahamic covenant and the giving of the law at Sinai, it would be more in terms of 645 years rather than 430 years between these two events. Is there a sense that it is linked to Exodus 12:40 where we read: Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years? Archer argues that we are speaking here of the final appearance of God to reaffirm the Abrahamic promises (which He’d done on several occasions to several people) to Jacob just before he left from Canaan to Egypt in 1876 B.C. (Genesis 46:2-4) which was roughly 430 years prior to the giving of the law[3].
Bad Mingling
Paul now moves in v.18 to give the reason why the promise is not invalidated by the coming of the law. Paul’s point in that if you mingle law with promise then the promise is no longer granted but earned. You’re getting a paycheque rather than a gift. These two covenants are by nature different. In this case, much like a will, you cannot receive your inheritance through your works, but through a promise made by the one who leaves you his inheritance. It was God who committed to granting them the inheritance through His grace, not by their ability to fulfill legal requirements which they failed to do over and over again (and which we would fail also).
Exhortation
One of the most significant and comforting truths communicated in this passage is that God never reneges on His promises. He does not revise them, withdraw them, or forget them. He is unfailingly faithful to bring every one of His words to fulfillment. And for all who are the inheritors of God’s promises in Jesus Christ—whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, regardless of background or station in life—there is absolute assurance that God will grant them the very inheritance He has given to His Son.
The victory of Jesus Christ over sin secures this inheritance for His people. Through His death and resurrection, all who place their faith in Him are declared righteous in God’s sight—a legal righteousness, granted not by merit but by the sacrifice of Christ. Justification is God’s binding declaration that we belong to Him and stand accepted because of His Son.
Because of this, the Christian is called to live with eyes fixed on the fulfillment of that promise. We are to conduct ourselves as those who truly are representative inheritors—people whose lives reflect the character of the One to whom we belong. Our inheritance is not merely a future reality; it shapes our present identity. As God’s children, we are to honor the promises we have received by living in a way that mirrors Christ, as sons of God.
To be an inheritor of God’s promise is to be marked by faith, shaped by grace, and transformed into the likeness of Christ. This is both our calling and our comfort as the people of God.
[1] St. Paul’s Epistle to the Churches of Galatia: New International Commentary on the New Testament, Herman Ridderbos, W.B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1953, Pages 129-130
[2] IBID Page 135
[3] Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Gleason L. Archer Jr., Zondervan, 1982, Page 403