Galatians 3:15–29 · Verse Study
The New Covenant, Portrayed Before the Old Covenant
The New Covenant — promised to Abraham, named through Jeremiah, established at the cross. Connection between Abraham and Jesus Christ. Shows the New Covenant was the main focus of God. Where was Jesus portrayed?
Three cards. Read these first and the verses will make sense.
The Whole Argument in One Line
What Paul is provingGod made a covenant with Abraham 430 years before the law was given — and a later law cannot cancel an earlier ratified covenant.
- Promised to Abraham — the New Covenant promise, the gospel announced beforehand (Gen 12:3; Gal 3:8) — and portrayed in his story: a covenant cut in blood, a substitute provided (Gen 15; 22)
- Named through Jeremiah — “a new covenant” (Jer 31:31)
- Established in Christ’s blood (Luke 22:20)
Three verbs, three dates, one grace. Galatians 3 is about the first of the three.
Six Words to Keep Straight
Mini glossary| Word | Meaning here | Verse |
|---|---|---|
| The promise | God’s sworn word to Abraham — Paul’s technical term, ἐπαγγελία, used 10× in this chapter | 3:16–18 |
| The covenant | The same thing, seen as a legal instrument — Paul uses the words interchangeably in vv. 15–18 | 3:15, 17 |
| The law | Sinai; what Scripture later calls the old covenant. Added 430 years after the promise | 3:17, 19 |
| The New Covenant | Announced by Jeremiah, ratified in Christ’s blood. Not named in Galatians 3 — but portrayed by it | Jer 31; Lk 22 |
| The Seed | Christ — Paul insists on the singular | 3:16 |
| The inheritance | What the promise delivers — the land, widened to the world; received now as the Spirit | 3:14, 18 |
The Timeline
Promise, law, and everything after| Approx. | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| c. 2091 BC | The New Covenant promised to Abraham — sworn by God’s own oath — “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Paul calls this the gospel, preached beforehand. The NT reads the one line three ways: the Seed is Christ; the blessing arrives in Christ Jesus; Peter, quoting it, says God “raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you” Also: Gen 22:18 · Gal 3:14, 16 · Acts 3:25–26 · Heb 6:13–18 · Luke 1:72–73 | Gen 12:1–3; Gal 3:8 |
| c. 2081 BC | The covenant cut — God alone walks the blood-path while Abram sleeps | Gen 15 |
| c. 2067 BC | Sealed with circumcision; “to your Seed” spoken again | Gen 17 |
| c. 2050 BC | God swears by Himself at Moriah after the ram is provided | Gen 22:16–18 |
| c. 1876 BC | Jacob’s household goes down to Egypt — the last ratification, and on the common reckoning where Paul’s 430 years counts from | Gen 46 |
| c. 1446 BC | The law given at Sinai — the old covenant | Ex 19–20 |
| c. 600 BC | The New Covenant named — “the days are coming… a new covenant, not like the covenant I made with their fathers.” The promise now carries its name | Jer 31:31–34 |
| c. AD 30–33 | The New Covenant ratified — “this cup is the new covenant in My blood” | Luke 22:20; Heb 9:15–17 |
| c. AD 30–33 | The Spirit poured out — “the promise of the Holy Spirit” received | Acts 2:33 |
Read the column and v. 17 is simply visible: the promise is announced first, the law arrives centuries later. The New Covenant is announced ~800 years after Sinai and ratified at the cross — the last thing on the list, not the first. What came first is the promise, and Paul’s name for it is the gospel.
On the dates
Approximate; they follow the early-exodus reckoning from 1 Kings 6:1 (exodus c. 1446 BC). A late-date scheme puts it nearer 1250 BC and shifts the patriarchal dates with it. The starting point of Paul’s 430 years is also debated — Abraham’s call vs. the final confirmation when Jacob went to Egypt. Nothing in the argument depends on settling either: on any scheme the promise precedes the law by centuries and the New Covenant follows it.
Six movements. Tap each open, then tap the gold phrases inside the verses. Each has a "go deeper" link if you want the Greek.
Even a human contract can’t be altered once ratified — and God’s covenant already named its one Seed.
15Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.
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What was actually promised?
| Where | What God said | How the NT reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 12:1–3 | A great nation, a blessing, a name — and “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” | The gospel, preached beforehand Gal 3:8; fulfilled in the risen Christ Acts 3:25–26 |
| Gen 12:7; 13:15 | The land, to Abraham’s seed | Widened to “the inheritance” Gal 3:18; heir of the world Rom 4:13 |
| Gen 15:5 | Descendants as the stars — “so shall your seed be” (zeraʿ, collective: many) | Read as the many, not the One — a countless family by faith Rom 4:17–18; Gal 3:7; and the many are Abraham’s seed only because they are in the one Seed Gal 3:29 |
| Gen 15:6 | “He believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” | The pattern of justification by faith Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6; Jas 2:23 |
| Gen 17:4–8 | Father of many nations; an everlasting covenant; “I will be their God” | The covenant the law cannot annul Gal 3:17 |
| Gen 22:16–18 | Sworn by God Himself: “in your Seed all the nations shall be blessed” | The Seed is Christ Gal 3:16; the oath sworn to Abraham Heb 6:13–18; Lk 1:72–73 |
- Three strands — seed, land, blessing to the nations — spoken on several occasions. Hence “the promises” (v. 16) then “the promise” (v. 17): many speakings, one promise.
- Paul does three things with it — narrows the seed to one (v. 16); widens the land into “the inheritance” (v. 18; note v. 16 quotes a land text, and Rom 4:13 says heir of the world); names what arrives now — the promise of the Spirit (v. 14), where the chapter began (v. 2).
- Held together in one verse — sealed with the Spirit of promise, the deposit of our inheritance Eph 1:13–14. The Spirit is the promise arriving; the inheritance is the promise completed.
Ratified 430 years earlier — so a later law has no legal power to cancel it.
17And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
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Promised, portrayed, named, established — keeping them straight
| What it is | Where | |
|---|---|---|
| The promise | God’s covenant with Abraham, cut in Genesis 15, ratified by His oath alone — ἐπαγγελία | Gen 15; 22 |
| The law | Given at Sinai 430 years later. What Scripture calls the old covenant, and Hebrews calls a shadow. Added, not foundational | Heb 8:5; 10:1; Col 2:17 |
| The New Covenant | Promised through Jeremiah, ratified in Christ’s blood. Not a new idea — the promise brought to fulfilment | Jer 31:31; Lk 22:20; Heb 8 |
Galatians 3 names only the first two. The New Covenant is where the promise lands, not a rival to it. Abraham had the gospel preached to him before Sinai existed Gal 3:8 — the New Covenant was never God’s plan B.
Jesus was portrayed through Abraham
Paul supplies the verb twelve verses earlier — προεγράφη, “Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified” Gal 3:1: placarded, set out in public view. That is what Genesis 15 and 22 do — a covenant cut in blood, a substitute in the son’s place — without yet naming what they picture. And the grace the New Covenant delivers — justification by faith, the Spirit, blessing to the nations — was pledged to Abraham Gal 3:8, 14.
The law is the diagnosis, never the cure — the X-ray, not the surgery.
19What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
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“Added because of transgressions” — what the law was for
Paul answers with one commandment: “I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’” Rom 7:7
- Why the tenth? Nine name acts you could avoid outwardly; coveting has no external act at all — it is wanting. The one commandment no performance can satisfy.
- The Decalogue is the covenant document — “He declared to you His covenant… the Ten Commandments… on two tablets of stone” Deut 4:13; Ex 34:28. Paul points at the same stones 2 Cor 3:7.
- But νόμος in Paul is wider — “all things written in the book of the law” Gal 3:10; circumcision obligates a man to keep the whole law Gal 5:3.
| The law’s job, stated four ways | |
|---|---|
| “By the law is the knowledge of sin” | Rom 3:20 |
| “Where there is no law there is no transgression” | Rom 4:15 |
| “Sin is not imputed when there is no law” | Rom 5:13 |
| “Apart from the law sin was dead” | Rom 7:8 |
Which is v. 19 and v. 22 in this chapter: added because of transgressions; the Scripture confined all under sin. The law names what is wrong with precision, and has no power to put it right.
A note on verse 20 — the hardest verse in Galatians
“A mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one” — a mediator implies two parties with obligations (Moses stood between God and Israel), whereas the promise had no mediator because God alone gave it. That fits Paul’s argument — but hold it loosely; the chapter’s case does not rest on it. It rests on v. 19: προσετέθη, the law “was added,” and added “till the Seed should come.”
Law and promise aren’t rivals — they do different jobs.
21Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
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The law’s guard duty always had an end date — and Christ is it.
23But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
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“No longer under a tutor” — the law’s authority has ended
Paul’s marriage picture: a wife is bound to her husband while he lives; once he dies she is free from that law and may marry another Rom 7:1–3.
| Verse | What it says |
|---|---|
| Rom 7:4 | “You also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another” — the release cost a death |
| Rom 7:6 | “Delivered from the law… serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” |
| Gal 3:25 | “After faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” |
| Rom 6:14 | “You are not under law…” |
Two things easy to run together: the law’s authority over the believer has ended — total (Rom 7; Gal 3:25). Its testimony to Christ has not — v. 24 here, Luke 24:44, Rom 3:21 “witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.” Dismissed as a master; still reliable as a witness.
A guard put in place, then dismissed on schedule — the law was never the destination. It shows the New Covenant was the main focus of God all along.
παιδαγωγός — tutor, or escort?
Not a teacher but a household slave who walked a child to school and kept him out of trouble — temporary custody, not instruction. In v. 24 εἰς Χριστόν can be read as purpose, “to bring us to Christ” (NKJV), or time, “until Christ” — matching v. 19’s “till the Seed should come” and v. 23’s “before faith came.” Both readings land in the same place: the arrangement had a terminus, and Christ is it.
Faith makes you a son; sonship makes you an heir — and it all belongs to one Seed.
26For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
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All of it, to one Seed
| Spoken as | Received as | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The promise | the Spirit — deposit of the inheritance | vv. 14, 22 |
| The blessing | justified by faith, as Abraham was | vv. 6–9, 14 |
| The land | the inheritance — heirs of the world | v. 18; Rom 4:13 |
| The Seed | Christ Himself — the one it was all spoken to | v. 16 |
- Direction of v. 16 — the promises were made to the Seed, who is Christ. Not made to us and routed through Him.
- The chain — blessing in Christ Jesus (14) · promise by faith in Jesus Christ (22) · sons in Christ Jesus (26) · baptized into Christ (27) · “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs” (29)
You are not an heir alongside Christ; you are an heir because you are in Him. He is not the channel the inheritance passes through. He is the heir, and you are in the heir.
Optional. Everything here is parsing you can check in any lexicon; where a reading goes beyond parsing, it says so.
Three Registers of “Promise”
ἐπαγγελία · epangelia| Form | Where | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| Plural, articular | 16, 21 | the promises as spoken — the occasions |
| Singular, articular | 14, 17, 22 | the promise as one standing covenant word |
| Singular, anarthrous | 18, 29 | promise as principle — the system you inherit by |
Verse by verse
| Verse | Greek | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 3:16 | αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι | THE promises — spoken to Abraham |
| 3:17 | τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν | THE promise the law cannot nullify |
| 3:18 | ἐξ / δι’ ἐπαγγελίας | no article — “of promise / through promise,” as principle |
| 3:21 | τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ | THE promises of God |
| 3:22 | ἡ ἐπαγγελία | THE promise given to believers |
| 3:29 | κατ’ ἐπαγγελίαν | no article — heirs “according to promise” |
- With the article — a definite, spoken word: one identifiable covenant God gave Abraham on record (Gen 12, 15, 17, 22).
- Without the article, always after a preposition — promise as a principle. v. 18 sets it against law as principle: ἐκ νόμου vs ἐξ ἐπαγγελίας — two operating systems for receiving an inheritance.
- The plural marks the many occasions God spoke it; Paul uses the plural the same way elsewhere for the aggregate of what God said to the fathers Rom 15:8; 2 Cor 1:20.
- Watch v. 16 — relaxed about promises plural, adamant that Seed is singular. Many speakings converge on one promise, as many seeds converge on one Seed — and by v. 17 he is back to the singular on both.
Promise or Covenant? Watch Him Switch Words
διαθήκη · ἐπαγγελίαAcross four verses Paul names one thing with two words and never changes what “it” refers to. He reasons from covenant law and concludes about the promise — which only works if they are the same instrument.
| Verse | Word used | What he says with it |
|---|---|---|
| 3:15 | διαθήκη — covenant / will | even a man’s, once ratified, no one annuls or adds to |
| 3:16 | αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι — the promises | were spoken to Abraham and to his Seed |
| 3:17 | both together | the law cannot annul the διαθήκη, so as to make the ἐπαγγελία of no effect |
| 3:18 | ἐπαγγελία — promise | “God gave it to Abraham by promise” |
- v. 17 is the proof — one sentence, both words, one referent.
- The double sense of διαθήκη is the hinge — “will / testament” in v. 15 (Greek law made a ratified will unalterable) and “covenant” in v. 17 (what God made with Abraham).
“Promise of ___” — What the Qualifier Is Doing
Four relationships, one English "of"| Phrase | Reading | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Who promises — source | ||
| τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ | the promises God makes | Gal 3:21; Rom 4:20 |
| τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πατρός | “the Promise of My Father” — the Father as giver | Lk 24:49; Acts 1:4 |
| What is promised — content | ||
| τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ πνεύματος | the promise which is the Spirit | Gal 3:14; Acts 2:33 |
| ἐπαγγελίαν ζωῆς | the promise of life in Christ Jesus | 2 Tim 1:1 |
| τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ | the promise of His coming | 2 Pet 3:4 |
| Who receives — recipient | ||
| αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι τῶν πατέρων | the promises made to the fathers | Rom 15:8 |
| τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἐρρέθησαν | dative, not genitive — “were spoken to Abraham” | Gal 3:16 |
| Reversed — promise as the qualifier | ||
| τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας | the promised Spirit | Eph 1:13 |
| ἡ γῆ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας | the promised land | Heb 11:9 |
| τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας | children of promise | Rom 9:8; Gal 4:28 |
| κληρονόμοι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας | heirs of the promise | Heb 6:17 |
- The payoff — “the promise of the Spirit” (v. 14) is content, not source: the Spirit isn’t the one promising, He is the thing promised. Eph 1:13 settles it by flipping the phrase — τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, the promised Spirit.
- “Promise to Abraham” isn’t a genitive at all — Paul uses the dative τῷ Ἀβραάμ with a passive verb, “were spoken to Abraham.”
- Four roles, one promise — God the source, Abraham the addressee, Christ the co-recipient, the Spirit the content.
Spoken Once, Standing Forever
The perfect tenses| Verse | Form | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | κεκυρωμένην | a covenant that has been ratified and stands ratified |
| 17 | προκεκυρωμένην | ratified beforehand — the same word with “pre-” in front |
| 18 | κεχάρισται | from χαρίζομαι, the grace word — God grace-gifted it, and the gift still stands |
| 19 | ἐπήγγελται | “to whom it stands promised” |
| 24 | γέγονεν | the law “has become” a tutor — a role it took on, not one it always had |
| 19 | προσετέθη (aorist) | the law’s own verb: it “was added” — a plain past event |
Five perfects in fifteen verses. The perfect describes a past action whose result still stands — which is the argument: the promise was spoken once and has never stopped being in force. Set against them, the law’s verb is aorist. One tense stands; the other was inserted.
What Abraham believed, what he was shown, and what Jesus and the apostles said he saw.
“He Believed God” — Believed What?
Genesis 15:6Gen 15:6 is the first appearance of believe and of righteousness in the Bible, quoted four times in the NT. Believed what? The verse before answers: God had just shown him the stars — “so shall your seed be.” Abraham believed the promise.
| What the NT adds | Where |
|---|---|
| The Seed he was promised is Christ — the content of what he believed held Christ, even without the name | Gal 3:16 |
| The God he believed is the God of resurrection — “who gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they did”; at Moriah he reckoned God able to raise the dead | Rom 4:17; Heb 11:19 |
| The reckoning was written for us — “not for his sake alone… but also for us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” | Rom 4:23–24 |
Abraham believed the promise — and the Seed of that promise was Christ, and the God he trusted was the God who raises the dead. Paul says ours is the same faith, in the same God, reckoned the same way.
The Vision Behind the Verse
Genesis 15When Paul says “confirmed,” he has a ceremony in view. In Abraham’s day a covenant was cut: animals split, halves laid opposite each other, and both parties walking the path between — a self-maledictory oath: “may this be done to me if I break my word.”
| What happened | Where |
|---|---|
| Abram prepares the animals and lays out the pieces — then falls into a deep sleep and never walks the path | Gen 15:10–12 |
| A smoking firepot and a burning torch — God’s own presence — pass between the pieces alone | Gen 15:17 |
| God had no one greater to swear by, so He swore by Himself | Heb 6:13–18 |
Abraham is not a covenant partner; he is a covenant recipient. One party takes both sides of the oath — which is why this covenant cannot fail. It rests on God’s character, not anyone’s performance.
What Abraham Saw
The gospel was never a late ideaGalatians 3:8 says the Scripture “preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand” — προευηγγελίσατο, literally pre-gospelled him. Paul is not being loose. Abraham’s own life is full of it.
I · Spoken to him
| Verse | What it says |
|---|---|
| Gen 12:3 | “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” — the sentence Paul calls the gospel |
| Gal 3:8 | Scripture preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, foreseeing God would justify the Gentiles by faith |
| Gen 15:6 | “He believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” — justification by faith before any law existed |
| Gen 22:16–18 | God swears by Himself: “in your Seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” |
| Heb 6:13–18 | Having no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself — two unchangeable things, strong consolation |
| Gal 3:16 | The promises were made to Abraham and to his Seed, who is Christ |
II · Shown to him
| Verse | What it says |
|---|---|
| Gen 14:18–20 | Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram — read by Hebrews 7 as a figure of Christ’s priesthood |
| Gen 15:17 | The blood-path God walked alone while Abram slept — a covenant resting on one party’s oath |
| Gen 22:8, 14 | “God will provide for Himself the lamb” — “in the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided” |
| Gen 22:13 | The ram caught in a thicket by its horns, offered “instead of his son” — the substitute Abraham did not supply and could not have found |
| Heb 11:17–19 | He reckoned God able to raise the dead — and received Isaac back “in a figurative sense,” a resurrection in picture |
| Heb 11:8–10 | He lived in tents, waiting for the city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God |
III · What Jesus and the apostles said he saw
| Verse | What it says |
|---|---|
| John 8:56 | “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” |
| John 8:58 | “Before Abraham was, I AM” |
| Heb 11:13 | He died in faith, having seen the promises afar off, assured of them and embracing them |
| Acts 3:25–26 | “You are sons of the covenant God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed” — then Peter names the fulfilment: God “raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you” |
| Rom 4:13 | The promise made him heir of the world — not merely heir of Canaan |
Things to Discuss
Bring your thoughts to the study- Why is the old covenant not called the promise? (v. 18)
The New Covenant — promised to Abraham, named through Jeremiah, established at the cross.
Galatians 3:15–29 · NKJV