Galatians 3:1-14
SS Lesson for 10/22/2023
Devotional Scriptures: 1 Cor 12:7-13
Paul’s letter to the Galatians arose from a real-life crisis. He was confronting a menace to the churches he had planted in the province of Galatia. This danger was the false teaching that it was necessary to keep the Jewish law to be saved. Paul’s argument against this heresy necessarily involved exposition of Scripture. The effect of Paul’s masterful and inspired use of Old Testament passages demonstrated that the gospel was not a radical departure from the Old Testament. Properly understood, the Old Testament also teaches a relationship to God based on faith rather than works. We must keep in mind that the Jews in Paul’s time had a very different understanding of the word law than we do. We tend to think of law as including civil rules and regulations, prescriptions that govern our conduct. While there was an element of that within Old Testament laws, that system was primarily meant to maintain a right relationship with God. To the Jews, these laws consisted of not only regulations concerning relationships but also ceremonial regulations covering such matters as worship and diet. Moral and ethical living was only a part of what the Jews thought of when they used the word law.
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?
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
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."
6 You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.
10 For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. 11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
38 "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
22 But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
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.
25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring — not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
26 When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."
5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
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.
45 While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 "Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."
3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves.
15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Just as Paul dealt with the error of Peter in chapter 2, so he sets forth in the first verse of chapter 3 why the faith of the Galatians faltered: “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”
Here we find several issues emphasized which require a very direct approach by the Apostle Paul. To orient ourselves to the issues which underlie chapters 3 and 4 of this epistle, let us consider these.
First, Paul stresses the gullibility of the Galatians. In certain contexts the word “foolish” can imply a lack of “gray matter”—a low intelligence, but this is not Paul’s point here. The Greek term is the antonym of the word for wisdom. The willfulness of the Galatians in wandering from the truth is evident to Paul. Their foolishness was deliberate and therefore deserving of a rebuke. The bluntness of the word “foolish” is intended, I believe, to jar these saints from their error, and to quicken their interest and attention in what Paul is about to say.
This term “foolish” is not only discomforting; it is humbling. I believe that this error, like most which creep into the church, was held with a fair measure of pride. Error of this kind appeals to one’s pride. The Galatians likely claimed a new level of truth, a higher level of spirituality. This was certainly true of the teachers of this “different gospel.” Paul strategically used the word “foolish” to challenge the pride of those who professed to be newly enlightened.
Second, Paul exposes the guile of the Judaizers who taught this “new gospel.” The term “bewitched” was pregnant with meaning to the first readers of this epistle. A “hex” or “spell” was cast on another by giving him the “evil eye.” In his commentary F. F. Bruce stresses this nuance when he renders the term “hypnotized.” Barclay cites this closing, commonly found in ancient Greek letters: “Above all I pray that you may be in health unharmed by the evil eye and faring prosperously.”
While the Galatians were foolish to have fallen for such teaching, Paul acknowledges that those who taught such heresy were indeed cunning characters. They had, so to speak, cast an evil spell on the Galatians. Their teaching had the effect of mentally disarming the saints so as to convince them of doctrine which should have been seen as false.
Third, Paul seeks to contrast the method with which he preached the gospel to the Galatians with the method of the Judaizers. There is a word-play which was evident to the Galatians. It highlighted the contrast in Paul’s method of proclaiming the gospel with that of the Judaizers. The Judaizers’ gospel had “bewitched” the Galatians by giving them the “evil eye.” Paul’s preaching had converted them by portraying Christ before their very eyes.
The expression “publicly portrayed” is the rendering of one Greek term. Literally, it means, “to write before,” and thus could refer to something previously written. Here the term means to portray before someone’s eyes. There are numerous examples of this usage in the papyri, the ancient Greek documents which have been discovered and translated. There is, for example, in one, the public announcement by a father, stating that he is no longer liable for his son’s debts, and in another, the announcement of an auction. I suspect that this Greek term might be used today for signs which we post along the street to advertise garage sales. Thus, we might view Paul’s presentation of the gospel as deliberately visible.
I believe that by the use of these two expressions (“bewitched” and “publicly portrayed”) Paul is contrasting his methodology with that of the Judaizers. Their method is underhanded, secretive, and subtle. Paul’s method is direct, open, and public. I sense the same contrast that we find in the book of Proverbs. Wisdom is portrayed as publicly calling forth, speaking forthrightly, inviting all to gain knowledge. Folly is more secretive and seductive; her appeal is to that which is either forbidden or unavailable to the masses. Error is sneaky while truth is straightforward. Error is offered to the elite—truth, to the all.
Fourth, Paul once again tells us the central truth of the gospel—Christ crucified. Paul proclaimed Christ. He was always the essence, the focal point of Paul’s preaching. More than this, though, Paul preached Christ crucified (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18; 2:2; 15:3). Many then, as now, would gladly speak of Christ as an example, an inspiring teacher, a man committed to truth and justice. But Paul, however, spoke of Christ who was hung upon a Roman cross and put to death for the sins of men. It is the death of Christ followed by His resurrection and ascension which is central to Paul’s teaching and doctrine. You will not find Christ apart from His cross in Paul’s gospel. To the Jews, the cross was a stumbling block; to the Gentiles, an offense (1 Cor. 1:23). Paul was not a man-pleaser and so the crucified Christ was his message to all men.
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
Last year I learned a little lesson about staying with “the program.” Before leaving on a trip to India, all of my airline arrangements had been made here, in advance. Once I had established my travel plans and purchased my tickets, the airline made no provision for change, and I’m sure there are plenty of reasons for this policy. What this meant was that I had to keep within the schedule at every point. When my wife Jeannette joined me in Bombay, we decided it would be nice to leave a day early and spend one day in Bangkok. To us, it was a very simple matter; all we had to do was leave Bombay one day early, and then catch the same plane we were to meet the following day in Bangkok—really no problem at all—or so we thought. We learned quickly the realities of air travel!
In Paul’s dispute with the Galatians he claimed that in adopting the teachings of the Judaizers the Galatians had departed from the principle of faith by which they had begun as believers. In verses 2-5 Paul asks a simple question, requiring a simple answer; yet the answer had profound implications. The question is a fundamental one, for by establishing one fact Paul can prove the genuineness of his gospel: “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” (v. 2)
When Paul speaks of “receiving the Holy Spirit,” he is referring to the salvation of the Gentiles. In verse 3 Paul makes this very clear by the expression, “Having begun by the Spirit …” There is a very good reason for Paul’s selection of this expression. At the Jerusalem Council, Peter described the conversion of Cornelius and his household (all Gentiles), speaking of the fact that God had given these people the Holy Spirit, since He knew their hearts (Acts 15:8). Peter used a similar expression in Acts 11 when he was called on the carpet by the Jerusalem (Jewish) saints for preaching Christ to the Gentiles. Peter’s response to them was a detailed account of God’s leading, concluding with these words: “If God therefore gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:17).
The fact that God had saved the Gentiles and accepted them, evidenced by the same gift of the Holy Spirit, compelled the Jewish Christians to accept the conversion of the Gentiles. Some of these same Jewish Christians later conceded to the accusation of the Judaizers that the Gentiles, apart from circumcision and the keeping of the law, had an inferior status (cf. Acts 15:1, 5). By referring to their reception of the Holy Spirit, Paul sought to remind the Galatian saints of their equal status in Christ.
In addition to this, Paul sought to remind the Galatian Christians of the means by which they received the blessing of the Holy Spirit. There were two possibilities presented in this context: either they received the Holy Spirit as the result of faith or as the result of works. Faith is referred to by the expression, “hearing with faith,”7 while works are called “the works of the Law.”
The “works of the Law” were those deeds which would be done in compliance with the Old Testament law as demanded by the Judaizers. To suggest that the Gentiles were saved by law-keeping was ridiculous. They formerly had not been under the law, and Paul never required law-keeping for salvation. No, the Galatians had been saved by the hearing of the gospel which was accompanied by faith. The Spirit of God quickened the Galatians and enabled them to understand and respond to the gospel (cf. Titus 3:5). There was no disputing this fact.
The implications of this fact are significant. How could the Galatians be so foolish to suppose that they were saved by faith and yet sanctified by works? If keeping the law cannot save, how can it possibly sanctify? Do you remember the account in chapter 2 of the gospel of Mark in which the paralytic was lowered through the roof? Our Lord’s first words to this man were, “My son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). This statement raised a very logical question in the minds of the scribes and Pharisees: How could any man have the authority to forgive sins, a power which belongs only to God? Jesus responded with a question: Which is easier, to tell a man that his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and walk? If one is able to do the greater, than surely he can do the lesser. On the other hand, to be unable to do the lesser surely suggests an inability to do the greater. Since faith was sufficient to save, it was also sufficient to sanctify. If, on the other hand, law-keeping cannot save (as we have already seen in Gal. 2:16), neither can it sanctify. The opposite sort of reasoning (or the lack of it) exhibited by the Galatians was rightly labeled “foolish” by the apostle.
Verse 3 presses home the point of verse 2. Having begun by faith, why did the Galatians fail to follow through faith to completion of what the Holy Spirit began. Why were they so foolish as to trust in the work of Christ by faith for salvation, and afterward hope to finish the process by a means which was inadequate to commence it? Paul’s argument is based upon a principle which is both logical and biblical: the means for justification is the same means for sanctification.
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6).
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude (Col. 2:6).
Consider this simple illustration of the principle which Paul is addressing. Do you remember how you first learned to swim? At first, if you are like me, you fought the water, trying desperately to keep yourself above. Yet the harder you tried to keep yourself up, the more exhausted you became. Eventually you would drown. Then you learned a very interesting and encouraging fact: While you could not keep yourself above the water, the water itself could keep you up. The first lesson to teach a person to swim is to teach him to float. The more we relax, the more we sense the security of the water to keep us afloat. Once we have learned that we can always trust the water to keep us up, we can then advance to learning how to move about in the water. We can learn different strokes. We can swim on our stomachs or on our backs. We can even swim under the water.
How foolish it would be, once we have learned that the water will keep us afloat, to turn from this truth and once again strive to keep ourselves up by working with all our might to do so. How much wiser to work with the water, rather than against it. The fundamental principle which keeps us from drowning is the same principle which underlies everything we do in the water. Having learned to trust the water to keep us afloat, how foolish to later reject this truth.
Verse 4 raises the subject of suffering. Apparently the suffering of the Galatian Christians was a sore point, one on which the Judaizers must have dwelt. It would seem that the Judaizers had an appealing alternative to suffering and adversity. If the source of the suffering was the persecution of the Jewish unbelievers, as it sometimes was (cf. Acts 14:1-7), the Judaizers might have suggested that keeping the law would appease their anger and thus eliminate or at least alleviate suffering. Another possibility was that the Judaizers tended to oversimplify the Old Testament teaching, concluding that blessing was the result of law-keeping, while suffering was the consequence of neglecting the Law. If the Gentile Christians would only submit to the Law, the Judaizers may have taught, then they would not suffer God’s wrath.
Contrary to the Judaizers’ belief that suffering was an unnecessary evil, Paul and Barnabas taught that it was unavoidable and that the real evil would be to have suffered in vain. Both Paul and Barnabas had taught that suffering was an inescapable part of their Christian experience, something which they must endure (Acts 14:22). While Paul does not consider the Galatians a lost cause, nor their sufferings a vain experience, surely the Judaizers promoted this possibility. What a waste, Paul protested, to have invested so heavily in the gospel, only to cast it all away by a foolish decision to follow the teachings of the Judaizers. The Judaizers thought of suffering as a needless waste, whereas Paul thought of sufferings as wasted by the believer who forsakes grace to put himself under law.
Verse 5 turns from the past to the present. Paul asks a second question. Did the believer receive the Holy Spirit by faith or by works? Paul wants the Galatians to recognize the source of the Spirit’s on-going, gracious, miraculous ministry. By what principle does God so graciously bestow His blessings through His Spirit? Is it the principle of faith or the principle of works? “Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith” (v. 5)?
In verses 2 and 3 Paul focuses more on the beginnings of the Spirit’s working in the life of the Galatian saints. In verse 5, Paul presses his readers to identify the basis for God’s on-going blessings in their lives. If law-keeping is so important—as the Judaizers were insisting it was—then what does law-keeping produce? Is “works” the basis for God’s blessings? Then surely works would be worth the effort (assuming, of course, that they could bring about blessing). It is not behaving that moves God to act graciously but believing. It is by the “hearing with faith” that God’s blessings are realized.
Verse 5 teaches us several truths which I believe we dare not overlook. First, Paul reminds the Galatians of the generosity of God in their lives. The word “provides” in verse 5 fails to convey the abundance of the provision of God as suggested by the original term. Herein lies a clue to the error of legalism, so evident in the teaching of the Judaizers. They tended to look upon God as miserly and condemning. It was as though God hated to bless and that He must be bribed by the good works of men which moved Him (begrudgingly) into action. Grace and generosity are bed-fellows, just as are severity and legalism.
Second, note the emphasis on the greatness of God’s power as He continually bestows grace in the lives of His people. The Spirit who is so generously given, also greatly works among the people of God. The Spirit, which was first made manifest by miraculous signs, is still spoken of as a miracle-working Person. While this should not be taken as a proof-text for those who expect miracles as a norm, neither should those who differ fail to observe that miracles need not cease. The exact nature of the miracles (cf. “works of power,” v. 5, NASB, margin) is not defined, so we dare not speculate. The point Paul is seeking to drive home is that the same God who manifested His power in saving the Gentiles continues to work in them in a mighty, even miraculous, way.
It would seem that this point would strike at the weakness of the Judaizers. The more one is convinced of the greatness of God’s power, the less he is inclined to depend upon himself or his own works. To stress the works of the law implies God’s lack of ability (countered by an emphasis on God’s power) or His lack of willingness (countered by an emphasis on His graciousness) to act. If God is both gracious and great in power, believing is all that is required. Belief (faith) relies on God to act; law-keeping suggests that man has to take matters into his own hands (“God helps those who help themselves”).
Third, Paul views God’s interest and activity in the lives of His people as on-going. Verses 2 and 3 focus upon the initial aspects of the Galatians’ faith; verse 5 dwells on the continuity of God’s working in the lives of these saints. Was it possible that the Judaizers, like some people today, supposed that God intervened in order to save men, but sanctification was something men had to do for themselves? If so, they were wrong, for Paul sees salvation as the beginning of God’s life-long involvement in the lives of His own.
6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
Paul seems to have won the debate already. Had he not demonstrated from the experience of the Galatian Christians that it was faith which was the basis for their salvation just as it was also the basis for their sanctification? The Judaizers, however, could protest on several counts. Was this not an argument based upon experience? The Judaizers might counter that the gospel which Paul preached, was something new and novel—a radical departure from the Old Testament Scriptures and from the “faith of their fathers.” Lest this argument of the Judaizers go unanswered, Paul presses the principle of faith (as opposed to works) to its founder.
Abraham was the founding father of Judaism, so far as the scribes and Pharisees were concerned. The Jews erroneously took pride in being Abraham’s physical offspring, and they were confident of God’s acceptance and blessing on this account (cf. Matt. 3:9; John 8:33). Abraham was the first to be identified in Scripture as saved by faith (Gen. 15:6), and Paul seizes upon this fact to show the Galatians that the principle of faith is not new at all, but as old as God’s first dealings with men. Since the Judaizers appealed to Abraham, Paul did so also to prove that Abraham established the principle of faith, not works.
Verse 6 begins with the words “even so,” integrating verses 6-9 with the argument of verses 2-5. Were the Galatian saints saved and sanctified by faith? So, too, was Abraham as recorded in Genesis 15:6 (years before Abraham or his son was circumcised, cf. 17:22-27). Moses, who wrote the Law, also wrote that Abraham was justified on the basis of his “hearing of faith,” just like the Gentiles had been.
While the Judaizers believed that their physical descent from Abraham was the key to their acceptance and blessing by God, Paul maintained that it is those who by faith are believers in God are really Abraham’s sons (verse 7). It is faith, not physical descent that constitutes a person as Abraham’s son.
The Judaizers saw their physical relationship to Abraham as the basis for their superiority over the Gentiles. Paul has already alluded to this “superiority complex” in chapter 2: “We are Jews by nature [that is, by birth], and not sinners from among the Gentiles” (Gal. 2:15).
In verse 8 Paul reminds his readers of the promise which God gave to Abraham and shows us from this promise that God had included the Gentiles as the recipients of His blessing. God had promised Abraham that in him all the nations would be blessed. Did the Abrahamic covenant give hope to the Jews? Of course it did. However, it also gave hope to the Gentiles—-a fact which the Judaizers had chosen to overlook.
Paul went so far as to call this passage in Genesis the “preaching of the gospel” (Gal. 3:8). The gospel was not new, nor was the principle of faith. It could be seen as far back as the Abrahamic Covenant. Once again, the Judaizers were wrong. With Abraham, all those who are of faith, including the Gentiles, are blessed (v. 9).
(Adapted from URL:https://bible.org/seriespage/cost-changing-course-galatians-31-9)
Who among us does not remember a parent, a teacher, or some other authority figure chiding us saying, “You know better”? Paul addressed the churches with the same lingering concern parents everywhere feel for their children. The Galatian churches were in danger of forgetting the truth of the gospel and embracing a works-oriented striving for salvation. Sometimes our wrong thinking causes us to rely on law or works to please God. But this is not where salvation is found. We cannot gain salvation, forgiveness, or right standing before God by our works. These things are accomplished only through the work of Jesus and the grace of God (Romans 3:23-26). We receive the Spirit because of Jesus’ gift following our faith response, not because we cleaned up our lives or obeyed all the right rules. As we reflect on this passage, we do well to ask whether our lives betray a continued striving for salvation rather than a joyful acceptance of it. Do we live and act based on the truth that Christ’s work on our behalf is enough?