Paul explained how we are justified by grace through faith, not works of the law. How is Abraham a model for Christians? Who are the real children of Abraham? What about Christians who insist on the works of the law? Is the law continued in spirit, discontinued in the letter, and thus transformed as the law of Christ? Let’s find out in Galatians 3.
How did we receive the Holy Spirit?
You irrational Galatians! Who put a spell on you? Jesus Christ was put on display as crucified before your eyes! I just want to know this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the Law or by believing what you heard? (Galatians 3:1-2 CEB)
So then, do we obey the letter of the law after receiving the Holy Spirit?
Are you so irrational? After you started with the Spirit, are you now finishing up with your own human effort? Did you experience so much for nothing? I wonder if it really was for nothing. (Galatians 3:3-4 CEB)
Abraham was before the law. How can we learn from him?
Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? (Galatians 3:5-6 ESV Genesis 15:6)
Who are the real sons of Abraham? Could this also give a different view of apostolic succession, rather than an unbroken line of ordinations, an unbroken line of faith, a continuation of the apostles’ teachings? Do we teach the apostles’ doctrines?
The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. (Galatians 3:7 NLT)
Was this foretold?
Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and told the good news ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. (Galatians 3:8 HCSB)
Abraham was blessed long before the external works of the law. Do we receive a similar blessing with Abraham?
So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. (Galatians 3:9 KJV)
What about Christians who insist on the works of the law?
For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to do them.” (Galatians 3:10 NASB)
Can we rely on the works of the law to be justified?
Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” (Galatians 3:11-12 NIV)
Did Jesus pay the price to free us from the curse pronounced by the law?
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”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14 NKJV)
Was the promise to Abraham set aside by the law?
Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case. God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ. (Galatians 3:15-16 NLT)
How many years before the law was the promise to Abraham made?
What I am saying is that the Law cannot change or cancel God's promise made 430 years before the Law was given. (Galatians 3:17 CEV)
Was the inheritance by the law?
For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise. (Galatians 3:18 WEB)
Until Christ?
Why was the law added 430 years later? Until when was the law supposed to last?
What is the use of the Law? It was given later to show that we sin. But it was only supposed to last until the coming of that descendant who was given the promise. In fact, angels gave the Law to Moses, and he gave it to the people. (Galatians 3:19 CEV)
Can obeying the law make us right with God?
Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham. Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. (Galatians 3:20-21 NLT)
Who can be free from sin?
But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. (Galatians 3:22 NLT)
Were we in protective custody until Christ?
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:23-24 ESV)
Until Heaven and Earth Pass?
Do Romans and Galatians contradict Jesus who said that not one jot or tittle of the law would pass until heaven and earth pass (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:13; 5:1-4)? The phrase “the Law and the Prophets” refers to the two grand divisions of the Old Testament. The word “fulfill” does not mean do away with but rather to fill to the full.
Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality. (Matthew 5:17-18 CEB)
Does preserving the Old Testament include keeping even the least of its commandments? Jesus did not say the Ten Commandments, nor the 613 Commandments of the Old Testament, but “these” that is, these My commandments.
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19 NKJV)
Is there a clue to answer the seeming contradiction?
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20 NIV)
Resolving the Puzzle
Is the law still relevant until heaven and earth pass away or only until Christ? Is there a contradiction? Jesus explains how the spirit of the whole law still applies in Christian living. Romans and Galatians discuss the outward works or letter of the law such as circumcision, days and foods. Another passage explains the difference.
He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life. (2 Corinthians 3:6 HCSB)
Jesus clearly contradicts dividing the law into parts like a moral law that stays and civil or ceremonial laws that are erased, by saying that not a jot or tittle will disappear. How? Is the law continued in spirit, discontinued in the letter, and thus transformed as the law of Christ? The biggest clue is that we are circumcised of heart, not flesh. Are we thus God’s children through faith?
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian. You are all God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:25-26 CEB)
Are baptized Christians really one in Christ?
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-28 HCSB)
Does Abraham’s promise from before the law was given, also apply to us?
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29 KJV)
We are justified by grace, not works of the law. Abraham is a model for us. Before the law he was declared righteous by faith (Romans 4:9, 13). Through faith we are the real children of Abraham. Christians who insist on the works of the law are under a curse. The law is continued in spirit, discontinued in the letter, and thus transformed as the law of Christ. Do we fulfill the law by keeping the letter of physical observances or by acting in love towards God and our neighbor? You decide!
