Frameworks:
Galatians 3
See
preliminaries in chapter 1
CHAPTER
3
[Chapter
Synopsis: He had preached Christ crucified to the Galatians
but they now appeared to have reverted to salvation by good works
instead of salvation by faith in Christ alone. He explains about
covenants, the inadequacy of the Law and how faith was the key,
not works, to make us children of God]
v.1-5
The Galatians' backward path
v.6-14
Back to the basics of faith
v.15-22
The Covenant Promises & the Subsequent Law
v.23-29
Now all Children of God
v.1-5
The Galatians' backward path
[Passage
Synopsis: how Paul had preached the gospel but the Galatians
had backed away from it to rely on works]
v.1
(Right! Let's confront
your folly. We clearly preached that Christ died for your sins
to justify you) You
foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes
Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
v.2
(at the beginning, did
you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the Law or simply believing
what we preached?) I
would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?
v.3
(are you actually going
backwards in your beliefs?) Are
you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you
now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
v.4
(was all you experienced
with us in vain?) Have
you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?
v.5
(supernatural life and
ministry by keeping the Law or by the Spirit?) So
again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among
you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
v.6-14
Back to the basics of faith
[Passage
Synopsis: he has to restate salvation by faith in Christ
and the Cross and not the Law]
v.6
(go back to the beginning:
Abraham was justified by believing? right?) So
also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
[Gen. 15:6]
v.7
(his real children are
therefore faith people ) Understand,
then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.
v.8
(the fact that this would
apply to the whole world was told him) Scripture
foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced
the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed
through you.” [Gen. 12:3; 18:18;
22:18]
v.9
(it's faith-believers
who are blessed by God) So
those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man
of faith.
v.10
(the Law only brings
a curse [failure + guilt = judgment]) For
all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it
is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything
written in the Book of the Law.” [Deut.
27:26]
v.11
(no one relying on the
Law is put right in God's eyes) Clearly
no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because
“the righteous will live by faith.” [
Hab. 2:4]
v.12
(faith and the Law don't
go together because it requires impossible obedience ) The
law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person
who does these things will live by them.” [Lev.
18:5]
v.13
(Christ saved us on the
Cross by taking our punishment) Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for
us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.
” [Deut. 21:23]
v.14
(he bought us from
sin and judgment so we could receive all God has for us)
He redeemed
us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the
Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive
the promise of the Spirit.
v.15-22
The Covenant Promises & the Subsequent Law
[Passage
Synopsis: how the Law did not supersede the covenant
promise to Abram but emphasised our need of the promise, so faith
still prevails]
v.15
(consider [for us] a
will that can't be put aside) Brothers
and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as
no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been
duly established, so it is in this case.
v.16
(God's promises [which
can't be put aside] referred to Christ and all who follow him)
The promises
were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say
“and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”
[Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 24:7] meaning
one person, who is Christ.
v.17
(the Law coming a lot
later didn't put aside those promises) What
I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not
set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus
do away with the promise.
v.18
(the inheritance of the
promises doesn't rely on the subsequent Law) For
if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends
on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through
a promise.
v.19
(why the Law? it was
like an Addendum to the Promises, pointing sinners to their need
until Christ came) Why,
then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions
until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law
was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.
v.20
(Moses was the middle-man
bringing the Law, but the promises comes directly from God)
A mediator,
however, implies more than one party; but God is one.
v.21
(the Law isn't against
the promises because, unlike the promises, it can't bring life)
Is the law,
therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For
if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness
would certainly have come by the law.
v.22
(the Old Testament condemns
all failure to keep the Law, but faith in Christ releases every
believer) But
Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so
that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ,
might be given to those who believe.
v.23-29
Now all Children of God
[Passage
Synopsis: whereas the Law acted as our guardian, now
we are sons who inherit]
v.23
(before faith we were
locked up in the Law) Before
the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law,
locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.
v.24
(it watched over our
failures until Christ came to justify [and thus release] us)
So the law
was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified
by faith.
v.25
(faith has released us
from the watchful eye of the Law) Now
that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
v.26,27
(so now we are
'in Christ') So
in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for
all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ.
v.28
(so there are no distinctions
between any of us believers) There
is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there
male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
v.29
(‘in Christ' we are faith
people, following Abraham's example and heirs [receivers] of the
promises he was given) If
you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise.
Continue
to Chapter 4