The foundation of all true Biblical exposition is this simple, yet profound truth: the whole Bible centers in Christ. Having seen that the 3rd chapter of Galatians sets forth the work of faith as contrasted with the limitations of the law, now ponder its teachings concerning our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In the opening of his discussion Paul says:

"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?" (Gal. 3:1).

The clear implication of this statement is that the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ should have guarded the Galatians from falling into the snare of those who thought that they must keep the law to be saved. But to know Christ is curative as well as preventive of heresy, and so in order to help them recover from this snare Paul again points them to Christ, and in so doing he presents Him in three aspects.

First, he shows them Christ, the Substitute for the sinner.

Before he does this, however, he shows them why a sinner needs a substitute.

The law brings all men under a curse. This we are told in Galatians 3:10:

"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Gal. 3:10).

Let us think carefully of what we read here. The law expresses the righteous demands which God makes of man. If a man could and would meet those demands perfectly, of course there would be no condemnation for him. But notice that to be acceptable with God, man's obedience must be perfect — no less! He must continue in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them. No man ever has perfectly met the righteous demands of God's holy law except the God-man, Christ Jesus, and no mere man of himself can perfectly meet those demands. The record is:

"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

And because all have sinned and come short, the Scripture says:

"As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse" (Gal. 3:10").

In full agreement with this is the testimony of Romans 3:19:

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

Herein lies the need of a substitue. Either a man must bear God's judgment against his own sin or someone else must bear it for him.

Thank God! in Christ Jesus we have the substitute we need. And so in the Scripture we are told:

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. 3:13).

On the cross Christ voluntarily assumed the responsibility for the sins of all men. There, with His own consent, the Heavenly Father laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isa. 53:6). There He who was without sin was made sin for us (II Cor. 5:21). There He was wounded for our transgressions; there He was bruised for our iniquities (Isa.. 53:5). For "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (made alive) by the Spirit" (I Peter 3:18).

To what end was this amazing sacrifice of the Son of God? The Scripture which we are studying tells us that this was done:

"That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Snirit through faith" (Gal. 3:14). Second, Paul presents Christ as the Seed of Abraham.

Note the testimony of verse 16:

"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ."

Here is a delightful bit of Christian evidence. It shows clearly that not only the words of scripture were inspired of God but the number of the noun was inspired of Him as well. The fact that He spoke of Abraham's promised seed as a seed in the singular is brought forth as proof that the Seed whom He had in mind was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He was speaking not of Abraham's seed in general but of one particular individual among Abraham's numerous descendants. He is the promised Seed of Abraham.

Let us digress for a moment to note that not only was the promise made to Christ as the Seed of Abraham, but "it was confirmed in Christ." By this expression in verse 17, reference is made to the scene when God made a covenant with Abraham according to the custom of those days.

The story is narrated in Gen. 15: 8-18. In preparation for this covenant, Abraham divided a heifer, a she-goat, and a ram, and of the halves of these slain animals he made a lane with a slain pigeon over against a slain turtledove. The custom of those days was that when two men made a covenant they walked arm in arm together down that bloody lane (See Jeremiah 34: 18). When Abraham was instructed to prepare these animals, he understood exactly what was on foot. He knew that a covenant was about to be made. Perhaps he expected to walk down that lane with God, but if he did he was badly mistaken, for when the time came for the actual making of the covenant, Abraham was put into a deep sleep and here is what transpired:

'And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces" (Gen. 15:17).

The blazing furnace was the symbol of God the Father— "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. .12:29), and the burning shining lamp is a symbol of God the Son Who said "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). That covenant was a covenant between God the Father and God the Son. Its fulfillment depended not on Abraham, but upon the Lord Himself. It was not a covenant of works but a covenant of grace.

Now to return to the fact that Christ was the Seed of promise. We read in Gal. 3:19 that

"The law was added because of transgression until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made."

And again in verse 22:

"But the Scripture hath concluded under all sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

So we see that Christ was the Seed of Abraham to whom God's promises were made and in Whom those promises were fulfilled. Just what is involved in this promise, we shall see as we consider the next aspect in which he is presented to us in this chapter.

Third, Christ is presented here also as the Saviour of sinners. As our Saviour, He fulfills in three essential things the promise given to Abraham and his seed.

As our Saviour, Christ justifies those who believe in Him. This we are told in verse 24.

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

To be justified is to be righteous in the sight of God. Sinners though we are, when we come to Christ and trust Him as the Saviour of our souls, God declares that we are righteous before Him — Righteous with His own righteousness; for Christ having borne our sin now gives His own righteousness as a gift to all who trust in Him:

"Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Rom. 3:22).

As our Saviour, Christ makes us children of God. We read in Galatians 3:26:

"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."

This involves the miracle of the new birth, and involves the gift of eternal life. Such are the blessings to which the Spirit of the living God invites us when He says:

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

Finally, when we trust Him as our Saviour, Jesus Christ identifies us with Himself. That is, He makes us one with Himself. This is the clear teaching of verses 27-29:

"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond or free, there is neither male or female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."