Note 4 at Gal. 3:20: Jesus is the New Testament mediator (see note 3 at v. 19) between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). There are some sharp contrasts between the mediatorship of Jesus in the New Testament and that of Moses in the Old Testament law. First, Moses was only a man, therefore he was limited in His ability to adequately represent God. However, Jesus was uniquely God and man (1 Tim. 3:16), therefore He was a perfect mediator, knowing by experience both sides of the issue.

Secondly, Jesus did what Moses could not do. He went beyond mediatorship to actually become the sacrifice that would satisfy the justice of the one party (God) by bearing the sins of the other party (man). When Jesus rose from the dead, He (the mediator) also became the guarantor that His settlement would work. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25).

Note 5 at Gal. 3:20: What did Paul mean here? A mediator mediates between two parties who are in conflict with each other. Therefore, by using the statement, "a mediator is not a mediator of one," he was saying, "mediators don't settle disputes with themselves. They are the go between for two other parties."

However, the mediatorship of Jesus was very unique. Jesus was God and man at the same time. Therefore, he was reconciling Himself (His humanity side and all His children by faith) to Himself (His divinity side, i.e. His Father). This is what Paul referred to when he said, "but God is one."