Galatians 3:15-29 Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person's will has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, "And to offsprings," as of many; but it says, "And to your offspring," that is, to one person, who is Christ. 17 My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise. 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. 20 Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one. 21 Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. 22 But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Unless your name is Kathy Trapp, you are not in my will. At least not individually! You will not inherit any of my earthly goods when I die. I remember being shocked once to hear a lady describe the way her brother died leaving debts. She and her siblings felt obligated to pay his debts off, a quite considerable sum, as I remember.
But Jesus says, "Yes, you are in my will." I make you debt free before my Father for eternity. Jesus puts all believers into his living will. He is alive and distributes blessings. The law, which describes life for perfect people, cannot be obeyed. No one gets into Jesus' will by performance.But Jesus took our brokenness and sinfulness against God and suffered the consequences. He has clothed us with his holiness, in baptism, and has written us into his will, to live with him forever. God looks at us through the shimmering life of Christ that surrounds us. No one "gets into heaven." No one "does so many good things to merit a reward." By our original nature we get one death, not just physical, but eternal and spiritual. But a "new nature" word has been uttered.Christ's death "wrote him" for a time out of the Father's will. Then came the resurrection. We inherit Jesus' resurrection. God's will is that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, to be clothed in eternal life in Christ. No other way. No one so good to get in! No one so evil to stay out! This Scripture tells us we inherit eternity. For all this it is our duty and delight to thank, praise, serve and obey him, empowered by him, to love others with that forgiving love.In Christ our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Thomas Trapp
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