Yeah, But God Promised | Sermon | The Grove Church, Port St. Lucie

How to Reconcile God's Law and God's Grace

Christian Freedom: Galatians, Week 9 | All sermons

"The law imprisons. The promise frees."

Summary

In this message on Galatians 3:15-22, David Hancock, pastor of The Grove Church in Port St. Lucie, Florida, works through one of the most demanding passages Paul ever wrote: how God's law and God's grace fit together. Scripture holds two kinds of covenant. At Eden and at Sinai God made two-party agreements that we broke. In Genesis 15 God made a one-party promise to Abraham, passing through the halved animals alone while Abraham slept, binding Himself to restore the inheritance even at the cost of His own life. The law that came 430 years later could not annul that promise; it was given to expose sin and prove we were already imprisoned. Christ kept the law perfectly, entered the prison of sin and death from the outside, and rose to bring us into what was promised.

Key Takeaways

Even a human contract cannot be annulled once ratified, and God is the promise-keeping God whose word cannot be broken.
The law was never given to save. It was given to expose sin as sin and to show that we were already captives.
Prisoners cannot collect an inheritance, which is why the door had to be opened from the outside.
Christ kept the law in our place and entered the prison of death so the unbreakable promise could be kept.

Read Galatians 3:15-22 (ESV)

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. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Talk about it

1. Think of a promise someone made to you that they kept at real cost to themselves, or one they broke. What did that promise, kept or broken, do to your trust in them? When you hear that God has made you a promise, is your first instinct confidence or suspicion? Why?

Two Covenants: What Is the Difference Between God's Law and God's Promise?

The sermon began on the first three pages of the Bible, where God and humanity live in covenant: a two-party agreement whose breaking cost us Eden, blessing, and unity with God. Centuries later God cuts a very different covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 15, God alone passes between the halved animals while Abraham sleeps; it is a one-party promise, sealed in blood, that God will restore the inheritance of land, people, and blessing even if it costs Him His life. Then, 430 years after the promise, God gives the law at Sinai, a two-party covenant delivered through angels and a mediator to a people so terrified of God's holiness that they beg Moses to go up the mountain alone.

Talk about it

2. In Genesis 15 God passes through the pieces alone while Abraham sleeps; nothing is asked of Abraham but belief. When you picture your standing with God, do you picture a one-party promise God swore to keep, or a two-party deal you have to hold up? How does your answer show up in the way you pray after you have sinned?

3. At Sinai the people begged Moses to go up in their place, saying, "do not let God speak to us, lest we die." People often say that if they could just meet God the way Moses did, they would believe. Are you sure you would go up the mountain? What does Israel's terror reveal about what we already know is true of ourselves?

Is God Stuck? How Can the Law and the Promise Both Be True?

Paul argues from a human example: even a man-made covenant, once ratified, cannot be annulled, and God is the promise-keeping God who cannot break His word. Yet this creates what looks like a dilemma. God promised Abraham the inheritance unconditionally, but the law that came 430 years later imprisons everything under sin, and prisoners cannot collect an inheritance. The law was never given to save; it was given to expose sin as sin and to show us we were already captives. The resolution is Christ, who kept the law perfectly and then entered the prison of sin and death from the outside, to keep a promise that could not be broken and to break us out of a prison we could not escape.

Talk about it

4. The Galatians had been tricked into thinking they could keep the law well enough to earn the inheritance. Where are you quietly running a two-party deal with God, trading your obedience for His blessing? What happens to your assurance in a week when you fail badly?

5. The sermon said too many people think they are Christians because they are good people, when the law's purpose was never to save but to imprison. Has being decent, moral, or religious functioned as your ticket with God? What would it take for you to stop negotiating and simply receive?

Yeah, But God Promised: What Do You Say When Shame and Guilt Speak?

The choice before every listener is this: trust the promised inheritance, or keep negotiating a two-party deal you cannot win. The cost of the promise is humbling, because it means receiving something you did not earn; we prefer a system where we can claim we played a part. But the promise also gives us words for everyday life. When shame says hide, when guilt says pay, when someone condemns you, when your marriage strains or tragedy comes, faith answers, "Yeah, but God promised me."

THE SERMON'S ILLUSTRATION Return to the sidewalk outside the stadium. The weeping girl learns her worth is settled by the God who dwells in her and will not stop loving her. The defiant girl is right that grace covers her, but grace is not the end of the sentence; it is the beginning of a new one, and the Spirit who moves in changes who she is dressing for. And the grieving father is promised that one day everything sad will come untrue.

Talk about it

6. The humbling cost of faith is receiving something you did not earn. Which is harder for you, keeping rules or receiving a gift? Why do you think that is?

7. The sermon gave a practice for the week: when shame, guilt, condemnation, or doubt speaks, answer out loud, "Yeah, but God promised." Which of those voices is loudest in your life right now? What specific promise of God will you answer it with, in those words, this week?

The Heart of It: What Did Christ Receive as His Inheritance?

Verse 16 holds a detail that changes everything: the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring, singular, who is Christ. So the Father did not only promise us an inheritance; He promised Christ one: us. To claim us, Christ became the greater Mediator. He entered the two-party agreement we broke, kept the law in our place, and carried our guilt into the prison of death. When He rose, He received us as His inheritance, brought us into new life with Him, and sent His Spirit to dwell in us. And right now He stands before the Father after every one of our sins and says, they are mine and I am theirs, now and forevermore.

HIS INHERITANCE What could Christ the King receive that He does not already have? You. The Father has promised the Son that you are His inheritance. Always remember what you are to Christ, and let that guide the rest of your life.

Talk about it

8. When Christ rose, He received His inheritance: you. You are not only receiving something from God; you are what the Father promised the Son. How does that reorder where you have been looking for your worth this week?

9. Right now Christ stands for you after every sin and tells the Father, "I covered their sin and gave them my perfect law keeping." What failure are you still holding against yourself that Christ has already answered for? What would change if you let His testimony, rather than your record, have the last word?

Vision for the Christian Life

For the church to become a gate to Eden on the Treasure Coast: a people who are themselves land, people, and blessing because the living God dwells in them, and who answer shame, guilt, doubt, and tragedy with one unshakable word: yeah, but God promised.

Questions This Sermon Answers

What is a covenant in the Bible?

A binding agreement sealed in blood. Scripture shows two kinds: a two-party agreement, where both sides must keep their end (Eden, Sinai), and a one-party promise, where God alone binds Himself (Genesis 15). Everything in this passage hangs on not confusing the two. Notice that nothing was asked of Abraham but belief; he slept through the whole ceremony.

What does Galatians 3:22 mean when it says Scripture imprisoned everything under sin?

Verse 22 says the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin. Not just individuals; everything. The law works like a jailer who proves the whole world is already in the cell, so that the only door out would have to be opened from the outside.

Who is the "offspring" in Galatians 3:16?

Paul points out that the promise was made to Abraham and to his offspring, singular rather than plural, and identifies that one offspring as Christ. The inheritance was never promised to a crowd of law keepers. It was promised to one person, and everyone who belongs to Him receives it in Him.

Why did God give the law if it cannot save?

The law was added because of transgressions, to expose sin as sin. It was never a second route into the blessing, and it was never able to give life. Its work was to prove that everything was already imprisoned under sin, so that the promise would be received by faith in Christ rather than earned.

Discussion Questions for Small Groups: Galatians 3

Think of a promise someone made to you that they kept at real cost to themselves, or one they broke. What did that promise, kept or broken, do to your trust in them? When you hear that God has made you a promise, is your first instinct confidence or suspicion? Why?
In Genesis 15 God passes through the pieces alone while Abraham sleeps; nothing is asked of Abraham but belief. When you picture your standing with God, do you picture a one-party promise God swore to keep, or a two-party deal you have to hold up? How does your answer show up in the way you pray after you have sinned?
At Sinai the people begged Moses to go up in their place, saying, "do not let God speak to us, lest we die." People often say that if they could just meet God the way Moses did, they would believe. Are you sure you would go up the mountain? What does Israel's terror reveal about what we already know is true of ourselves?
The Galatians had been tricked into thinking they could keep the law well enough to earn the inheritance. Where are you quietly running a two-party deal with God, trading your obedience for His blessing? What happens to your assurance in a week when you fail badly?
The sermon said too many people think they are Christians because they are good people, when the law's purpose was never to save but to imprison. Has being decent, moral, or religious functioned as your ticket with God? What would it take for you to stop negotiating and simply receive?
The humbling cost of faith is receiving something you did not earn. Which is harder for you, keeping rules or receiving a gift? Why do you think that is?
The sermon gave a practice for the week: when shame, guilt, condemnation, or doubt speaks, answer out loud, "Yeah, but God promised." Which of those voices is loudest in your life right now? What specific promise of God will you answer it with, in those words, this week?
When Christ rose, He received His inheritance: you. You are not only receiving something from God; you are what the Father promised the Son. How does that reorder where you have been looking for your worth this week?
Right now Christ stands for you after every sin and tells the Father, "I covered their sin and gave them my perfect law keeping." What failure are you still holding against yourself that Christ has already answered for? What would change if you let His testimony, rather than your record, have the last word?

Related Messages in This Series

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Pastor David Hancock is the Lead Pastor of The Grove Church in Port St. Lucie, FL, a church where believers and skeptics wrestle honestly with faith and doubt.

Wrestling with a question this raised? You can text in your question on any Sunday and hear it answered after the sermon. Or come sit with people asking the same things. Plan Your Visit

Read the full sermon manuscript

Last year I was in Gainesville for some sporting events at my old school, the University of Florida. As we approached the stadium there was a man with a megaphone and a sign that said Repent. He had a message, not about Christ, but about the clothing the college girls were wearing. He even seemed to be calling out specific girls for looking promiscuous but in a pretty more derogatory way.

I want you to imagine two different women and how they could have responded to this man calling them out in front of hundreds of people. One girl immediately filled with shame, runs off weeping. She has a backstory of being neglected and unseen but if she carried herself a certain way she felt admired.

Another girl is called out and instead of weeping she says, yeah, but God is gracious, you know nothing about God. You are the problem with Christians today. Don't judge me. Maybe I shouldn't wear this, but God still loves me.

But the man, who seems to be the villain of this story, has a story of his own. Something terrible happened to his daughter when she was in college, so he is driven to find a way to bring some good out of the pain.

We can find something right and wrong in each of their stories. Why do we feel the tension of sympathy and frustration with all of them? How do we make sense of that? We are in our series called Christian Freedom from Paul's letter to the Galatians and today we find out how to reconcile God's Law and God's Grace.

Before I read our verses I need to tell you a quick story. My son just got a new bible, his first adult bible, and on Monday night I was outside with my church warden tobacco pipe, writing the rough draft of a book I've been working on far too long.

My son came out with his new bible and he asked, hey dad, where is the part of the bible you preached about last week? I told him, it was in the book of Galatians. He searched the beginning to see where Galatians was in the Bible, and when he opened it up, he opened it right up to Galatians. He was so excited. After he read the verses, he said, you talked that long on only 5 verses?

Then he asked about the verses for this week's sermon, and before he started reading, I told him, these verses are going to be hard to understand. I spent over 4 hours today trying to fully grasp them and organize them into an outline for the sermon. First, I couldn't figure out the verses I should end on. In the Greek, they don't have paragraphs, they don't even have spaces between words, just a straight line of capital letters, so sometimes you have to question where the paragraphs end. Second, two major biblical stories are mentioned in passing, so if you don't know those events these verses don't make sense. Third, it's really hard to understand the relationship between the Promises of God and the Law of God, and how they relate. It's been a long debate for centuries. But I ended those four and a half hours with confidence that I understood our seven verses.

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. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not. For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

We have two major biblical events occupying our verses. The first one Paul is referencing is the Promise God made to Abraham. The second is 430 years after the promise to Abraham and it's the giving of the ten commandments to Moses.

But more than these stories, to understand the depth of what Paul is saying we have to understand the first three pages of the bible.

In fact, all of scripture has those three pages in the background. They are worth knowing well. So let's start there.

On page two of the bible, we meet the land called Eden, or paradise.

It was a land of blessing.

Blessed means to have the love, joy, and peace, the strength, the stamina of an abundant life, the life that can only come when God is near.

There was also unity between humanity, no division, no separation, just the good life for all.

To keep and grow this good life one thing was required. A covenant kept by us.

Think of this covenant as an agreement between us and God. Two parties are involved. That's important. The covenant was, eat of all the trees of the garden except one.

It seems as soon as God said that, we couldn't take our eyes off of it.

Like someone tells you, don't look, and you have to look.

We ate. We broke covenant with God. Watch what happens next.

God came to look for Adam and Eve in the garden to bless them with the joy, peace, and love of His presence, but they hid from God in shame. This is what we have become, people who run from the God who gives blessing.

Next we lost the land that gave us paradise.

Last we lost unity with God and each other. Since then, humanity has been filled with jealousy, envy, and strife toward each other, and distrust toward God.

But before we were driven from the land God made a promise, that through the seed, the offspring of Eve, all would be restored.

How? It starts with one man in our verses. Abraham. God says to Abraham, leave your homeland and go on an adventure to find the land I will show you. Immediately, we are supposed to be thinking of the lost land of Eden, a hope that it can be restored.

But the inheritance, the land of Eden, is not just for Abraham. God says to him, through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed, and you will be a father to many nations. Through him, all the nations gathered in this land, blessed by God, united as one.

But along the way Abraham has doubts that God will do this. He hasn't even had a child, so how can he be the father of many nations if he can't even have one child?

What happens next is shocking. The original readers of Genesis might have even been appalled or repulsed by what they read.

God said to Abraham, take some animals and cut them in half. Strange to us, but the original readers know just what is going on. There is a covenant being cut. A promise, sealed in blood, but it's different from the first covenant. This isn't a two-party agreement. This is more like a will or testament. It's only one party, God. God makes a promise to Abraham. Abraham falls into a deep sleep and dreams of God passing through the dead animals. God is making a promise that no matter what, He will give Abraham the inheritance, the land, people, and blessing, even if it costs God His life. That's what is shocking to the readers, that God, greater than Abraham, would enter into a one-party agreement with Abraham and make a promise that can't be broken, even if it requires God to die.

Notice, nothing is asked of Abraham but belief. Abraham is even sleeping through the whole ceremony.

That's the first major event in our verses. Now the second.

Verse 18 points to something 430 years later. What is it? The giving of the ten commandments on Mount Sinai to Moses.

God's people are wandering in the wilderness, and God calls His people to come up to the top of Mount Sinai to meet with Him. This is exciting, they are going to get to meet God. Who else would you rather meet than God Himself?

I remember an interview with the actor Paul Rudd. He was asked, if there was anyone you would want to meet in history, who would it be. He said Jesus. The people with him laughed, but he defended himself. Why is that weird? Don't you want to know?

So God invites His people to do this, to meet Him. Surely they are going to go running up, right?

Well, apparently not, because God's people say to Moses, No, you go.

They are terrified of God's presence. His holiness is too great. This is the God who hung the stars, who controls the storms, who judges the living and the dead. This is the God who commands the sea, who is like a consuming fire. This is the God that Adam and Eve hid from.

So the people say, Moses, you speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.

People tell me all the time, if I could just meet God like Moses, I would believe. Are you sure, or would you be too terrified to go?

So Moses goes up alone to meet with God.

Often people think it's just Moses and God up there.

Oh no. Scripture tells us the chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands of angels, the Lord is among them and flaming fire is in His right hand. The scene is a monstrous army of angelic beings coming down to meet with Moses, and God is holding fire in His hands.

Can you imagine standing before this?

It's there that God cuts another covenant with Moses and His people.

But this is another two-party agreement like in the garden. God speaks to Moses through the angels, and to the people through Moses. There is a mediator, Moses, between God and His people.

The agreement goes something like this: keep the law and you will be blessed, break it and you lose everything.

Okay, we have an interesting situation here. God has caused a problem for Himself. Backed Himself into a corner. How so?

God made a promise to us that can't be broken. He promised that by faith all the nations of the earth will be blessed, we will return to the land, unity with God again, and good will toward all men. The good life will be ours.

But at the same time, the law God gave means the good life can't be ours, the inheritance can't be given.

God is stuck. Or is He?

Paul starts off and says, to give a human example. What does that mean? He is saying, look at how we humans work. We make legal agreements, and even a human covenant can't be changed. If I sign something I'm held to it. I can't annul it once it has been ratified, as verse 15 says.

I agreed to pay the bank for our home, and if I don't pay, the bank takes my home.

Verse 16 says God made a promise to Abraham and his offspring.

The implication is, if we are held to the promises we make in a contract, how much more is God. He is the promise keeping God, and if He breaks a promise it means He isn't God.

But then in verse 17 we arrive at another covenant between God and man. God has promised here that if we break the law, the inheritance, the land, nations, and blessing is lost.

But Paul goes on and says the law can't make void the promise already given.

So Paul asks the next logical question. Why is the law given? Because of transgressions. In other words, to expose sin as sin.

Then he asks in verse 21, is the law contrary to the promise? Does this mean the law is working against the promise? Are there two ways into the blessing? No. The law was never going to be what gives life.

So what is the purpose of the law here? To imprison us. Or better put, to show we were already imprisoned by sin. So the law has imprisoned us and is keeping us from the inheritance, from the blessing, from the nations gathering, from Eden.

So now we arrive at the problem for God. He made a promise to bless us with His great inheritance, but the law imprisoned us, keeping us from the promise.

What's the resolution? How could there be a way out?

The resolution is in Christ alone. Here is why.

Christ enters the prison of sin and death from the outside. He has perfectly kept the law, but enters the prison of sin and death, to keep the promise by breaking us out of the prison we can't escape from.

Christ is our only hope. The law is there to reveal that. Christianity through all its pages keeps insisting on this too. Why?

He lived the perfect life but entered the prison of sin and death on the cross, to come into the prison and take hold of us, and in the resurrection He would break open the doors of the prison, set us free, and bring us into the inheritance.

The law forces the greatest display of love and promise keeping the cosmos will ever know.

And in the New Testament, inheritance has grown into more than a physical land.

It becomes a kingdom, an invisible one, that will one day turn completely physical right here on the earth. The New Testament calls it the new heavens and the new earth. The overlap of the spiritual and the material.

We have our people, the gathering of all nations under the banner of Christ the King, and we all become co-heirs with Him.

More than land and people we have a blessing. A blessing that explodes into a new reality where we receive the Spirit of the living God.

To have the Spirit means the living God lives in us.

God is joy, peace, and love, so we have all of those in us no matter what we face.

Even more: with God in us, we become the land, people, and blessing. Where God is, there is paradise.

Remember the girl who wept in shame because of the man who said repent? What does faith in God's promise do for her? She intimately knows the unfailing, never-ending love of God. Her value is found in the new reality that the living God dwells in her. What could make her more valued and worthy than the God of all things living in her and loving her fully?

The girl who said, yeah but God is gracious, is not wrong that grace covers her. But grace isn't the end of the sentence, it's the beginning of a new one. The Spirit doesn't just forgive but changes you, and who you dress for and live for.

And the man who experienced great grief now knows that one day everything sad will come untrue and the pain will somehow be redeemed and bring true goodness, and until then he is given peace that God is redeeming all things.

No matter what happens in your life you can say, yeah but God promised me.

Here is the choice you must decide today. Will you trust in the promised inheritance or stay negotiating in the two-party deal you can't win?

Paul's conclusion in verse 18 is that the inheritance can't come by the law. He is saying this because the Galatians have been tricked into thinking they can actually keep the law enough to get the promised inheritance.

Paul's point to them and to us is that too often we rely on the law that was never given to save. It was given to imprison us so we can see our need for Christ.

Too many people think they are Christians because they are a good person. The purpose of the law was never to save you but to imprison you, to show you that Christ was the only answer to the promise.

What will you rely on, law or promise?

The cost of the promise is receiving something you didn't earn. This is the humbling cost of faith. We want to be in a two-party system because then we can say we played a part in earning the inheritance. Trust in the promise by faith.

If we can humble ourselves and receive the gift. The word for gave in verse 18 is connected to the root word where we get grace. Grace is to be spoiled with a favor you didn't earn. That is Christianity. A gracious gift God gives to keep the promise He made. God gave us the inheritance by grace through faith in the promise of God.

The promised kingdom of God now, a family of every nation that is closer than brothers called the church, and the blessing of God's joy, peace, and love now, is all given by grace.

What does faith in the grace that gives the promise look like in everyday life?

When you feel shame you say, yeah but God promised I don't have to hide in this prison anymore, I can come running into His presence.

When you feel guilty you say, yeah but God promised I'm forgiven.

When someone condemns you, you say, yeah but God promised I'm loved by the maker of heaven and earth.

When you doubt your ability to do what God has called you to, you say, yeah but God promised He would be with me and give me wisdom to do what I'm called to do.

When your marriage is falling apart, yeah but God promised me.

When you are facing tragedy, you say, yeah but God promised me.

When you face heartbreak, you say, yeah but God promised me.

This doesn't mean pain and heartbreak aren't in your cards. But it does mean you have the strength to face them, joy and peace through them, and the courage to love.

Always remember who you are and whose you are.

You have the living God in you, and He is helping you through it all.

Yes your story is hard, but God has made a promise to you.

And more than that, there is one more truth.

Notice that in verse 16 it says God made a promise to Abraham and his offspring, and that the offspring is one. Christ. God made a promise to give Christ His inheritance. This is fascinating. God didn't just promise to give us an inheritance but also Christ.

What could Christ the King of everything receive that He doesn't already have?

You. The Father has promised Him you as His inheritance.

Was there something He must do to get you? Oh yes. He must become the mediator of a better covenant.

Look what He does.

He enters into the two-party agreement that we broke, to keep it in our place, and stands between God and us to testify that He suffered our judgment and kept the law in our place.

He came to carry our sin and come into the prison of death.

There He died holding our guilt and shame.

And when He rose, He received His inheritance: you.

Then He brings us into new life with Him.

And when He ascended into Heaven, He sent His Spirit to dwell in us.

And right now He stands for you after every sin and tells the Father, he is mine and I am his. I covered their sin and kept the law perfectly for them. They are ours.

Always remember what you are to Christ, and let that guide the rest of your life.