Recently, I came across a box of family documents that had been passed on to me by my parents—property deeds from the 19th century, a tax receipt from 1901, and even a copy of my great-great-grandfather’s will. All of them were legal documents, handwritten on now-yellowed paper. They were binding in their time. Yet, they are of no value to me now— merely nostalgia.

As the Apostle Paul instructs the Galatians on the role of the Law in relation to their faith, he adds an “everyday” illustration (vv. 15–18). To complement his string of Scripture citations (vv. 11–13), he offers a more mundane example of a legally binding contract, a “human covenant” (v. 15). Paul likens human wills—official documents that could not be altered or ignored—to the Abrahamic covenant, intended by God to remain unchanged. It was to be passed from generation to generation, culminating in its fulfillment in Jesus Christ (v. 16).

Paul wants to be very clear (v. 17). When God gave the Law to Moses 430 years after His covenant with Abraham, He did not intend for the Law to supersede the covenant (v. 17). The Law did not fulfill the covenant or change God’s relationship with His people. His promise to them remained. God’s covenant with His people was about their inheritance, family identity, and belonging, not money or possessions. Paul underscores that receiving that inheritance did not depend on their obedience to the Law. It was based solely on the character of God (v. 18).

As the Gentile Galatian Christians were longing to be included in the family of God, Paul wanted them to understand that the way of inheritance was only through Jesus Christ—His promise and God’s grace.

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