Galatians 3
Galatians 3:1-29
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?
2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
6 just as Abraham “BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”
9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT CONTINUE IN ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM.”
11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “THE MAN WHO DOES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.”
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
15 Brethren, 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.
16 Now 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.
17 And 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.
18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
19 What 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.
20 Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
21 Is 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.
22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There 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.
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
There are so many systems that are referred to as ‘faiths’, where belief in a process of actions aligns their believers a lifestyle of rituals. There is faith, but the faith is in the ability of certain actions to achieve a status or result. Where faith in Christ diverts from this, and especially as Paul is referring to it, is that our belief is in what He has already done to achieve our status and acquire our inheritance. Faith is no longer in what we can do, but in what He has already done. So, where the degree of devotion to a “faith” religion is reflected in faithfulness to a regimen of rituals, faith in Christ will be reflected in a life that is completely transformed from attempts at ascension, to living where we’ve already been raised to in Him. While this will be obvious in a behaviors and actions that demonstrate the reality of this transformation, those actions and behaviors themselves will never be the reason for our righteous position. As the focus and grasp are on knowing and experiencing who He is, what He’s acquired for us, and His purpose in our life, it will align steps, thoughts, words and movements with the holiness that faith in Him produces – more like fruit from a vine than the construction of hands.
Our way of life is based upon rewards and punishments of actions. When we come to Christ, we come with that perspective to be replaced with faith alone in Him. This will be part of the ongoing transformation that never ends as we continue in Him. There will always be this sense of accomplishing something even in the actions that come from knowing Him. True worship will take us, though, from this focus on what we can produce to what He has already produced in and through us. What a wonderful release comes in this true faith from the limitations and inconsistencies of our own performance to the unlimited power and beauty of the life of God in us, unhindered and unrestricted by a “faith” in our own movements.
Verse 26 says we are all sons of God by faith in Jesus! Prise God! It is not of ourselves; it is of our faith in Jesus! We need to act like a child of God, walking in His promises and love.