Word ministered by brother Pedro Dong and transmitted by the Life for All Institute, live from the auditorium of the Church in São Paulo (São Paulo, SP), on 03/16/2025. Text not reviewed by the author.

We encourage you to watch the full message on the IVPT YouTube channel

 

 

Galatians 3:6-7

1. The context of Paul’s letter to the Galatians dates back to the fact that some Judaizers had come down from Judea to the region of Galatia, bringing another gospel, in addition to the one that the apostle Paul had preached. They preached that in order to be saved, in addition to believing in Jesus, it was necessary to be circumcised according to the custom of Moses. For this reason, Paul wrote to the Galatians so that they would not stray from the truth of the gospel. Paul recounts the calling of Abraham and the events surrounding it to show the truth of the gospel.
   

   Acts 6:8-15

2. This is the difference between the law and faith: Stephen was in the realm of faith where there is power and Spirit. This context shows that the Jewish religion, which has the Law of Moses as its center, has become a dead religion interested only in keeping the law as mere ordinances. God did not give the law for this. The law was given by God to the people, through Moses, with the intention that they would hear and obey the word of God.
3. The Sanhedrin was like a high court where civil, religious, and political authorities sat. Unfortunately, the Jews turned the law that God gave into a simple set of rules. Leadership became something established. When leadership establishes itself, it usually settles into its authority and uses its position of power.
4. The Jewish leaders established themselves in their positions of power and began to reject anything that threatened their leadership, including the prophets sent by God. Thus, throughout the centuries, they opposed any prophets who spoke in opposition to the direction they were giving. The leadership did not listen to these prophets, but rejected, persecuted, and killed them. The law was given as the word of God so that the people of Israel could hear and obey His words. However, there was a deviation, and an authority was formed that, in order not to lose its position of power, fought against the prophets who brought the word of God.
5. The charge against Stephen was primarily that he spoke against the law and customs that Moses gave to the Jews (Acts 6:11-14). The people of Israel did not realize that the Law of Moses was given temporarily. The dispensation of the law would last until the coming of Christ, when the dispensation of faith would begin.
   

   Acts 7:2-5 

6. The God of glory appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, and he settled in Haran. When his father died, God told him to leave his country, his family, and his father’s house, and go to a land that He would show him. He also said that He would make him a great nation and bless him. The Lord did not give him an inheritance, but He promised to give it to him and his descendants as a possession, even though it seemed impossible for him to have children (Acts 7:2-5; Genesis 12:1-4).
7. Abraham was prepared by God. At a time when virtually all nations were pagan and idol worshipers, God appeared to Abraham. When God called him, he did not question the calling, because God had already prepared him. God spoke and Abraham believed. If God had not spoken, there would have been nothing to believe. For faith always comes through the word of God, by hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).
8. Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. When his father died, God brought him to the land of Canaan, which He promised to give him as an inheritance. But when he received the promise, he did not yet possess even a foot of the land. God promised to give the land to him and his descendants, but he had no children and his wife was barren. Therefore, Abraham’s faith pleased God.
   

   Genesis 12:1-4

9. On the one hand, God promised to make him a great nation. On the other hand, God would bless him, make his name great, and he would be a blessing. Whoever blessed Abraham would receive a blessing, and whoever cursed him would be cursed. God promised to give Abraham a great nation, and in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. All the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham. This was the gospel being foretold. From Abraham would come a descendant, this term is singular and not plural. It does not refer to the children of Israel, but to Christ. In Christ all the people and families of the earth would be blessed. The blessing of Abraham is the promised Spirit.
   

   Acts 7:8; Genesis 16:16

10. God had promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants, but he had no children and Sarah was barren. She then suggested to her husband that they “help” God. Abraham would take Sarah’s servant as his wife, who would bear his son. Thus Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 years old. After Abraham used his own efforts to try to fulfill the promise, God did not appear to him for 13 years.
    

    Genesis 17:1-4

11. When Abraham was 99 years old, God appeared to him again and said, “I am Almighty God”. In Hebrew: “El Shaddai”. God told Abraham that He did not need his help, because God is all-powerful and all-sufficient. Everything God needs, He creates and brings to pass. He only wanted Abraham to walk in His presence, and thus Abraham would become perfect.
12. There is no need to strive to be perfect or to train yourself to try to help in God’s plan, you just need to walk in the presence of God. This means hearing, believing, and obeying His word. Whoever walks in the presence of the Lord can be perfect. It is not by our ability, skill and cleverness, but it is by walking in the presence of the Almighty.
    

    Genesis 17:5-14

13. The Almighty God appeared to him and changed Abram’s name to Abraham. The institution of circumcision was to show that Abraham was no longer a common man like the pagan nations, but a holy nation. It was a covenant that affirmed that this chosen people would not walk by their own ability of the flesh, but in the presence of the Almighty. It was not a mere religious formality, but a reality of not walking by their own flesh, by their own strength, but in the presence of the Almighty and being perfect.
    

    Genesis 15:5-7

14. Abraham believed God’s word and set out for the land of Canaan at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:1-5). Abraham believed God, who appeared to him again and promised to give the land to his descendants, and he built an altar to the LORD who had appeared to him (Genesis 12:7). Even though he received no inheritance, not even a foot breadth, and had no children (Acts 7:5), Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:5-7). Faith was given to Abraham in the Old Testament.
15. What truly pleases God is for man to believe and obey His word. The same principle applies to both dispensations: the law and the faith. In the Old Testament, the law was given so that the people would have a reference to follow, but they would still need the word of the prophets. That is why they had the prophet Moses. Through the word that came from him, the people would know how to live and act, when to march and advance. What God desired from that time on was for His people to hear and obey His word.
    

    1 Samuel 15:1

16. When Samuel was sent by God to anoint Saul king over Israel, he said to him, “Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord.” This is the first requirement for a king to be attentive to the word of the Lord. Just as when He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, God told them on Mount Sinai to diligently obey His voice and keep His covenant (Exodus 19:5-6). The rest, God does!
    

    1 Samuel 15:2-3;7-9

17. The word’s order was to kill everyone. However, Saul did not obey and spared Agag and the best of the animals, he did not completely destroy the Amalekites. It is very easy for man to walk by his logic. But, God does not use human logic. There was a meaning when God ordered everyone to be killed, because the Amalekites represents the flesh. God does not want to spare the flesh, but to eliminate it. Christ, on the cross, crucified our old man and the flesh with its lusts. If God says obey, do not analyze it with your human logic, because there is a reason why He decides in a certain way.
    

    1 Samuel 15:17-26

18. Samuel said to Saul, “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?” (v. 19). When we disobey the voice of the Lord and follow our own logic, we are doing evil in the sight of the Lord. Samuel also said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22- 23).
19. Even in the Old Testament, the issue was not to follow the law in a religious and dead way. What is important to God is that His people listen carefully to His word and obey it. What God wants is reality. God has always wanted His people to listen diligently to His word and put it into practice.
    

    Acts 7:38-39; 51-53

20. The people of Israel chose to keep the Law of Moses as a religion by their own efforts rather than to listen to and obey His words. They mocked the messengers, despised the words of God, and ridiculed His prophets (2 Chronicles 36:16). They were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, and they always resisted the Holy Spirit, persecuted the prophets, and killed those who announced the coming of Christ, becoming traitors and murderers of Him.
    

    Galatians 3:7-9

21. In Genesis 12:2-3, when God promised to make Abraham a great nation and all the families of the earth would be blessed in him, He foretold the gospel that He would justify the Gentiles by faith. Thus, all those of faith are blessed with Abraham who believed.
    

    Romans 4:3

22. Romans 4 reveals a panoramic view of God’s plan when He called Abraham. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. The blessing is to believe God. To believe His word with all simplicity, without question.
23. However, the reality of justification by faith would come only with the coming of Christ, through His death and resurrection. The law was never God’s original intention. Faith was always His intention. When God created man and gave him the mission to rule the earth, He gave him the tree of life symbolizing Christ (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:16-17). It is through Christ that we obtain the life of God. Christ was already revealed at the beginning of Genesis.
24. Likewise, faith was given to Abraham long before the coming of Christ. From the beginning, God revealed His intention to give His life to man so that he could establish God’s government on earth. And when God called Abraham, He did so to show that those who believe, through faith, will accomplish this work. When God blesses Abraham, saying that He would make him a great nation, it symbolizes that He wants to establish the kingdom of Christ on earth. But until Christ came, faith would have no reality. From the coming of Christ, His death and resurrection, faith would have reality.
    

    Galatians 3:23-25

25. Paul reveals that God has always wanted a people who would believe in His Word as Abraham did. However, before the arrival of Christ, that is, before faith came, the law served as a tutor, to guard the people and lead them to Christ, to be justified by faith. Once faith has come, they are no longer subject to the law. The law came for a temporary dispensation.
26. Faith was imputed to Abraham while he was still uncircumcised. In 1892 BC, he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of righteousness through his faith, while still uncircumcised, in the promise that he would be the father of all who believe (Romans 4:9-11). The covenant of circumcision took place 24 years after the promise. In other words, Abraham became the father of all who believe, not being under the rule of circumcision, to include all who believe. After 406 years of circumcision, the exodus of the people of Israel took place, and after one year the law was given. Between the calling of Abraham and the law, there is a period of 430 to 431 years, to which the biblical text refers (Gal. 3:17).
27. Christ was crucified in the year 29 AD. From the calling of Abraham until Christ was crucified were 1,921 years. From the creation of man to the calling of Abraham are 2,083 years. Adding these periods together, there are approximately 4 thousand years. Now in the church age, we are already finishing the 2 thousand years. Totaling 6 thousand years. If for God, a thousand years is as one day (2 Peter 3:8), we are already at the end of the sixth day. We are approaching the seventh day, of God’s rest.
28. The heavenly and earthly spheres are completely different dimensions. The law is in the earthly sphere, in the dimension of time and space; faith is in the heavenly sphere, the dimension of eternity. Genesis shows that the earthly sphere has the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Man desired to have the ability to discern good and evil in order to do good for God. But what God wants to give to man is in the heavenly sphere: it is the tree of life. We do not need to worry about how to behave in order to be better. In the earthly sphere there is no point in trying. God wants to take us to another sphere. The hearing of faith takes us to another dimension.
29. When God called Abraham and he believed, he came to belong, by faith, to the heavenly realm. The law was given in the earthly realm. However, the Galatians, who had already been taken by faith to the heavenly realm, wanted to return to the earthly realm (Galatians 3:3). Let us not try to help God, like Abraham and Sarah in producing Ishmael. Let us believe God. Believe His Word with all our simplicity.
    

    Romans 4:9-12

30. Abraham received the promise of God while he was uncircumcised. Therefore, the promise is for us too! Circumcision was a sign and seal of the righteousness of faith. If Abraham had not believed God, which was counted to him as righteousness, there would have been no point in being circumcised. God only made the covenant of circumcision because Abraham first believed in Him. He became the father not only of all the children of Israel, but the father of the faith of all who believe. Abraham is also our father. He is the father of faith, and he is also the father of circumcision, not of followers of a dead religion, with rites and traditions; but of those who walk in the same footsteps of the faith he had before he was circumcised.
    

    Romans 4:13-18

31. No one can receive the promise that God made to Abraham through the law, but through faith. The promise to inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are under the law are heirs, faith is made null and void, and the promise is made of none effect. For this reason, it is by faith, that it may be according to grace, so that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not only to those who are under the law but also to those who are of faith. Abraham believed in God who gives life to the dead and calls into being the things that do not exist. Abraham’s offspring did not exist, and his wife was barren, but God brought them into being.
    

    Galatians 3:10-12

32. No one is able to keep the whole law. If someone breaks just one precept, he cannot say that he is able to keep the law. No man can be justified by the law, because it is impossible to observe the whole law. And it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Hebrews 10:38- 39). Let us continue to live by faith! Let us not trust in our flesh, nor think that by our own ability we will be justified and please God. Our path until the Lord returns is through faith in the word, believing and obeying.
    

    Galatians 3:13

33. Those who are in the works of the law are under a curse. Cursed is he who does not put into practice the words of the law (Deuteronomy 27:26). No one can practice all the ordinances of the law, therefore, all who practice the law are under a curse. Seeking blessing through the law, we are cursed. Christ became a curse in our place, He was hung on the tree (Deuteronomy 21:23) for us, in order to redeem us from the curse of the law, because no man is able to practice all things written in the Book of the Law.
34. Once we have been rescued from the curse of the law, we have access, in Christ, to the blessing that God promised to Abraham. God’s plan is complete! That is why God said to Abraham: “I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). Abraham’s descendant, Christ, was hung on the tree, became a curse for us, and rescued us from the curse of the law.
    

    Galatians 3:14

35. Abraham was called not only to be the father of the nation of Israel, but to bless all nations, all families of the earth. Today everyone can receive the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus: the promised Spirit.
    
36. God first gave the Holy Spirit to the Jews who believed in the Lord Jesus, according to the Father’s promise, that they might be clothed with power on the day of Pentecost (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4). In the same way, God also gave the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles who believed when Peter preached (Acts 10:45-46; 15:8-9). The Holy Spirit was given by God to inaugurate the dispensation of faith and to clothe the church with the Spirit of power.
37. The Holy Spirit descended upon us as the Father’s promise to bless us. But also, to bring this testimony and blessing to all the families of the earth. That is why the colporteurs and the brothers and sisters of the church are on the streets preaching the gospel. We have the responsibility to bring the promised spirit, to bring the blessing to all the families of the earth. We are the channels to reach families and bless them.
38. After Christ’s death and resurrection, He became the Spirit of truth (John 14:3, 16-19), the life- giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45; 2 Corinthians 3:17), able to enter those who believe in Him (John 20:21-22).
    

    Romans 10:4; 8-12

39. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. How can we believe? God does not require any course or task. But it is by receiving the word of faith in our hearts; confessing with our mouths Jesus as Lord, and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead that we are saved. There is no distinction between Jews and Greeks; the same Lord is rich to all who call upon Him. It is so simple!
    

    John 7:37-39

40. The feasts could not satisfy man. They represent human life, man’s search for satisfaction, which he does not find. If we are still thirsty, we can go to Him and drink! Jesus has already died, resurrected, been glorified, and became the Spirit. Whoever believes receives Him as the blessing of Abraham that is in us to supply life.
    

    Ephesians 1:3

41. All of Abraham’s blessing is described here: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). This is the blessing of Abraham, which includes our election, predestination, redemption, headship by Christ, and receiving the Holy Spirit as a promise and pledge. Let us continue to immerse ourselves in the word, make war cries, transcribe, sleep with God, wake up with God, listen attentively to God’s word, practice it, and obey it. In this way, the Lord’s blessing will reach us and, through us, reach other people, and God will fulfill His will on Earth.