I have had many questions as I study through Galatians that I have had to stop and answer before going on to the next verses, and Galatians 3:19-20 is my stopping place today. Verse 20 made no sense to me until I stopped, prayed about it and meditated over it. The verse says, "Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is on." Finally the Lord brought me clarity as I read the commentary in my Reformation Study Bible. The conmentary said, "The promise given to Abraham, however, required no mediator and therefore takes precedence over the covenant at Sinai."
The covenant with Abraham required NO mediator. God Himself spoke directly to Abraham. God was the only one involved in the covenant with Abraham. It was the Covenant of Grace that He Himself initiated and kept perfectly.
The Covenant of Works with the Children of Israel required a Mediator, Moses, because God spoke to the Children of Israel through a Mediator and established the Law which they had the responsibility to keep, which they failed miserably to do.
Why then the Covenant of Works? Why then the Law? According to Calvin the Law does three things for God's people: It mirrors God's righteousness and our sin, it restrains evil in the land, and it guides believers into good works. And, of course, as it mirrors our sin it shows our great need of the Savior Jesus Christ who was the only one who kept the Law perfectly, and which also shows us the Covenant is one and God is one in His perfect plan of salvation.
