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. — Galatians 3:15-18

First, I tried to emphasize this as I read it, but the word "promise" is repeated four times in this text. And what Paul is doing is reaching way back for evidence to prove that God always had intended to reach unbelievers (or Gentiles). So he skips way back 430 years to a time before the Law to a moment a "promise" was given. But not just any promise — the promise of promises. One of the greatest moments in the Jewish faith. The time God made a promise to an unbeliever who took God at his word by faith. Abraham was the man, the original father of their faith. And by arguing from this man, moment, and promise, Paul illustrates that there is something that binds the faith predating the Law. Something that cannot be ratified or changed by man after that moment. Something that has consequences on the interpretation of the Law. And it is a promise to bless "all nations."

So what does this illustrate?

That man is sometimes deceived in how he arrives at the truth. Sometimes we see something one way, and then we cannot see it any other way. We get blinded by our truth. And there is not a better man to talk about this than Paul. He was a man blinded by religious beliefs, deep indoctrination, and religious education. He was blinded by this until God blinded him. And then, when he regained sight, he started seeing truth differently.

I think during those silent years when Paul was in Arabia (Galatians 1:17-18), and back in his hometown of Tarsus (Galatians 2:1), he was doing a lot of relearning of the Scripture. I think how he argues in this text is evidence of that. Paul wasn't a stupid man. He was highly educated and trained. He was a razor-sharp lawyer. So he returned and restudied and unlearned his truth while relearning the truth. And I bet it was challenging to see God's truth in a new way. I bet there are times he saw things he had never seen before because he was blinded by his version of the truth. But once he saw the truth for what it was, the truth was evident, and he made a self-adjustment.

Therefore what I take away from the text today is this — keep searching for the Truth. Not your truth, or someone's version of the truth, but God's truth. I don't have it all right all the time. But Scripture is my plumbline, level, and measuring stick because it's right every time. And daily, men like you and I have to keep letting God's truth measure us because he is always right, and I am usually wrong.

ASK THIS: What truth are you avoiding, ignoring, dismissing, or canceling?

DO THIS: Stop avoiding it. Embrace it and live by it.

PRAY THIS: God, I confess you are the Truth, and I am not.

PLAY THIS: Matthew West - Truth Be Told.

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