Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, Verse 14

Galatians 3:14 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.

Paul completes his argument. In verse 13, Paul shows us that its Jesus who is the key, his death on the cross being the fulfillment of the law’s requirement, and the antidote for the “curse.” He finishes the thought here with the reason whey Jesus became a curse for us – to redeem the entire world. He also connects his first argument -- the one about Abraham in verses 6-9 – with this one. Paul quoted Genesis 12:3 – God made a covenant with Abraham that “all nations” or “all the peoples of the earth” will be blessed through him. Paul connects Jesus to that promise, and the concept he laid out in verses 6-9 – that of faith. We have a nice tidy package here. In verses 6-9, Paul lays the foundation that God’s covenant with us was based on faith (and the concept of the law followed, which is discussed in verses 21-25). In verses 10-14, he shows that relying on the law, rather than faith, brings a curse, and that Jesus redeems us from that curse, and that because God had promised Abraham that the blessing of faith (see verse 9) was to go to “all nations” (see verse 8), then God always intended that “the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus.” God’s plan was always going to be to save us through his son Jesus, and to have faith be the foundation of the covenant. ( Verses 21-25 explains that the law was designed to help us live apart from sin and protect us from the evil of the world – NOT to save us).

It also shows that ethnic diversity was part of God’s plan all along. “ALL NATIONS!” That is, all the people of the earth! The Jews did not have an exclusive deal. Today, no one denomination, racial group, ethnic group, or nationality has an “exclusive deal” or the “upper hand.” God is on the move in exciting ways everywhere, even in places we couldn’t imagine. I recently read an article about a spiritual revival among the Palestinians in Gaza. We stereotypically connect the Palestinian people with Islamic extremists and terrorism, yet, there is a tremendous outpouring of God’s spirit among those folks. (There has always been a large ethnic-Christian minority among the Arab people in Palestine). That is just one small example.

Its interesting. This section of Galatians explains the basic concepts of our faith. Many scholars place this book as one of Paul’s earliest letters. He would expound on themes of salvation by faith rather than works or following the law again and again, most notably (in my mind) in Ephesians and Romans. For me, today, for any person with a living relationship with Jesus, this concept – being saved by faith and not by works – is so basic and elementary, we accept it without thinking. Yet, if we embrace the heart of this concept – that salvation is for everyone – it must cause us to radically change our attitude toward those who are different than we are. And this is not being politically correct – Oh no! It is seeing others through the eyes of God. It comes down to this – attitudes of racism or ethnic prejudice in the church fly in the face of the essence of the message of the Gospel. We need to be careful that we aren’t incrementally giving in to this heresy – becoming “foolish” like the Galatians.

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, Verse 13

Galatians 3:13 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 tree."

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law” Here is the answer at last! For the first time in Paul’s theological treatise in Chapter 3, Jesus is introduced as our “redeemer.” The Jews of Paul’s days understood this concept well – the need for some kind of way to be right with God after failing to fulfill the requirements of the law. The law of Moses provided for a sacrificial system of animal blood offerings in the tabernacle/temple, but it was an imperfect system. It wasn’t complete – it had to be constantly repeated, and even then, under this system we were still doomed – for indeed falling short of the law put us all under a curse. (See Romans 8:3).

“by becoming a curse for us” Paul continues his use of the law of Moses as a proof text, here citing Deuteronomy 21:23. Again, this would have been a well known text to the Jews of Paul’s time, and the use of the term “tree” was common to the Greeks and Gentiles, understood as the pole or beam used to place a criminal in the stocks, impale him, or, for the Romans, to crucify him. In this verse and the next, Paul sums up in two succinct sentences the entirely of the Gospel. Jesus, the Messiah, the God-man, gave his own life for all of us, taking the curse we carry because we are unable to fulfill the righteousness of the law, and actually became that curse himself. By using the actual text of the law to underscore his argument, Paul proves to his audience of Jews and Gentiles who were trying to be like Jews that this was God’s plan all along.

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, Verse 12

Galatians 3:12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."

“The law is not based on faith” Paul continues his second argument/proof by stating the logical conclusion springing from the previous verse. If the law can’t justify, and we are to live by faith, then the law cannot have anything to do with faith. In effect, they are opposites, at least as they relate to justification, or pleasing God. He adds proof and support to this by citing to another popular proof text from the law of Moses (his third in quick succession here in the second argument in Chapter 3), Leviticus 18:5.

“On the contrary” As if to say – “see, it says so right here in the Bible” A clever turn on the traditional rabbinical phrase “the Scriptures say . . . “

“the man who does these things will live by them” Paul is contrasting the “faith method” of Galatians 3:11 with salvation by works. Paul is citing to popular Old Testament texts and connecting them through the key words these otherwise disparate verses share – sort of like doing a comparison with a concordance. This was also a popular standard method for teaching used by the great leading rabbis of Paul’s day. Leviticus 18:5 is just one of over a dozen verses promising blessing, long life, peace, or prosperity for obeying the law. However, all of these texts relate to such blessing and long life in connection with living in the Promised Land – that is, in THIS life, rather than as it related to eternal life. The Jewish interpreters of these scriptures in New Testament times applied these texts to the life in the world to come. Paul is simply showing that this latter view is an incorrect interpretation. The Judiazers probably used this text and others like it to prove their arguments that faith alone is not enough for salvation. This, or course, is one of the classic arguments of history. Indeed, Martin Luther’s discoveries about this issue spawned the Reformation. Paul agrees with his opponents on one level – the righteousness of the law must be fulfilled, but he will argue here (in the next few verses) and later (Galatians 5:16-25) that it is fulfilled only in Christ, by having a relationship with Christ, being IN Christ, and living by His Spirit. Even today, the Judiazing heresy lives on in certain Christian circles, where an inordinate amount of emphasis is placed on scriptures like James 2:17 (“faith without works is dead”), or in a requirement to participate in sacraments or ordinances in order to be right with God, or even in churches where correct theology regarding salvation by grace is taught, but the emphasis is still on “religion,” that is, “being good” in order to be right before God. This is more than the concept that started the Reformation – it is the basic truth every person must grasp in the Spirit – that is, “I cannot be “good” and go to heaven.” Indeed, as proven here, trying to be “good,” relying on “being good” to get into heaven misses the mark. Its faith – again, a RELATIONSHIP with the living God! – that is the answer!

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 11

Galatians 3:11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith.”

Paul continues his second scriptural argument here in Chapter 3 in a logical, proof-type fashion. In verse 10, he invokes the sections of the book of Genesis (connected with the story of the life of Abraham) and Deuteronomy that call down curses on those who disobey even a very small portion of the law. (The curses are many and EXTREME – see Deuteronomy 27). Now, in verse 11, he moves on to another scripture, Habakkuk 2:4. (This was a popular rabbinical technique in those days – connecting one section of scripture to another to prove a point – this would have only enforced the validity of Paul’s arguments in the eyes of the Judaizers).

This is the next logical step. If disobedience to any small, nit-picky part of the Law means we are cursed, then its impossible to please God. (As I noted in the last entry, the Jews of Paul’s day recognized this, and did not expect perfect obedience, despite what the scriptures said about the “curse.”). Well, its at least impossible to please God through obedience to the law. Later in this chapter, Paul will explain the purpose of the Law. But here, he uses the words of the Law (a verse from one of the prophetic books, actually) to show the truth.

“Clearly” The concepts Paul is arguing for have been ensconced in the Scriptures for centuries. I also sense a bit of sarcasm – he’s using a typical rabbinical technique to twist their noses a bit, sort of like saying “the Scriptures obviously say . . ." to point out to the Judiazers that this is God’s plan – as if to say, “if you really knew the Law and God’s Word, this would be plain to you.”

“no one is justified by God before God by the law” This is the logical conclusion of both Duet 27:26, quoted in verse 10, and Habakkuk 2:4, quoted here. If one little slip up leads to a curse, then we can’t be justified through obedience – its impossible, because we’re human – we’re bound to slip up. But the answer then is “the righteous will live by faith.” Paul’s knowledge of the Old Testament is comprehensive. He has quoted the only two verses in the Old Testament that speak of righteousness and faith together. Yet, this reveals the totality of God’s plan, and connects back to Galatians 3:6, with Abraham. From the start, before the 10 commandments were handed down on Mount Sinai, God intended us to come to Him through faith.

“live by faith” Its not a set of rules, its more of the attitude of the heart – even beyond a lifestyle, it’s the essence of life. The word “live” here can also be translated as “justified” – yet, by using a word that can be translated as “live,” again, God wants to emphasize the importance and foundational concept of RELATIONSHIPS. We live by faith. We are justified by faith – but that is not faith in something abstract, or some philosophy, or creed (though we also believe in such things), it is faith in a PERSON who is God – in Jesus Christ!!

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, Verse 10

Galatians 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

Here Paul begins his second scriptural proof. In Galatians 3:6-9, Paul uses scripture – the very law of Moses – to turn traditional notions about Abraham upside down, and show that it was Abraham’s faith in God, and his relationship with God that was the key, and not his obedience to a set of rules. In turn, the concept of being a descendant of Abraham, or to conform our behavior to be like the descendants of Abraham in order to be acceptable to God is also “out the window.” In verse 10, Paul moves on to the concept of a “curse.” The Jews in Paul’s audience would have understood this well – Both Genesis 12:3 and Deuteronomy 28 contain the contrast between those who oppose Abraham, or break God’s covenant with Moses (and are therefore cursed) and those who keep the covenant (and are therefore blessed). James 2:10, and the context there, explains this even better. If a person keeps the entire law, and stumbles in one small point, he is guilty of breaking all of it. Paul comes to the same conclusion here – those who “rely on observing the law” – those who insist that matters such as circumcision, or even generally obeying cultural norms must be observed in order to be saved, are under a CURSE. In other words, it is truly impossible to please God on our own merit.

Interestingly, Jewish tradition has always held that obedience to the law is always imperfect, human beings are bound to make mistakes. God therefore (according to Jewish tradition, at least) does not require perfect obedience as a condition for salvation. Thus, grace always was a component of the Jewish system. Yet, one of the concepts the Pharisees created in the centuries just before Christ came was the “oral tradition,” a set of rules and regulations interpreting the law of Moses. The law on its own was impossible to obey --this was obvious -- but these oral interpretations supposedly made it easier to obey. For example, Jewish tradition, at least as put forth by the temple priests and Sadducees of Jesus time, held that one could not travel on the Sabbath – he had to stay at home, or within a reasonable distance from his home, because of the provisions in Leviticus 23:3 about keeping the Sabbath “where you live,” and keeping it “within your gates” in Deuteronomy 5:4. The Pharisees wanted to keep the Spirit of the law, but decided if you could more broadly define “where you live,” you could keep the law with less effort. So, some rabbis came up with the concept of tying a string or chord around the boarder of the Village, thus making the entire town an enclosure, and saying that defined “where you live.” (This sort of tricky, nit-picky interpretation actually served to complicate things even more, and was often used to the advantage of the leaders of the community at the expense of the poor, minorities, and outcasts – the sort of thing Jesus criticized the Pharisees about). So, while Jewish tradition recognized that human obedience was imperfect, the mindset was to be as perfect as possible within the context of human effort. Then, even if you failed, you could say “Hey, I was close!” But this fails to take into account the issue of the “curse” Paul speaks of here – falling short, even if you’re close, is still falling short!! The Old Testament scriptures that Paul is quoting from are very clear -- to fall short means to be CURSED! (Remember – “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law”).

This is a misconception carried by many modern Christians. Our efforts to please God cannot come from following rules, even after we accept the concept of salvation by grace. Paul will expound on this concept more in Chapter 5 – where the transformed life in Christ is a faith-walk in righteous obedience, not in lock step with rules that cannot be obeyed in the flesh no matter how hard you try.

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 9

Galatians 3:9 "So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith."

Paul completes his first scriptural argument regarding Abraham. Paul, of course, has raised this point first because the Jewish traditions recognized Abraham as the “spiritual father” of Judaism. The Jews of Paul’s time (and even today) believe Abraham’s righteous actions were imputed to the whole nation of Israel (his descendants), and that, in effect, all of Israel was saved through Abraham’s obedience. Paul has also used a common technique used by the Pharisees in New Testament times – connecting one proof text with another (here, in verse 6, he uses Genesis 15:6, and in verse 8, Genesis 12:3). In a sense, Paul is using the very intellectual traditions that the Judiazers probably used to argue their own points against them. Being a former Pharisee himself, Paul knew what he was doing. The average Pharisee-type in the Galatian audience would have respected Paul’s logic and debate techniques at least. The average Greek would have too, probably -- their philosophical tradition was also founded in logic. The applications are clear to us today – the panoply of New Testament scripture makes it seem obvious. But this was something new to first century Jewish believers. God had always intended to reach out to everyone – Jews AND Gentile --- and Paul proves this to a group of people who revered the authority of the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament, written by Moses) by showing them that God revealed this concept to Abraham at the very beginning of the Abraham narrative in the book of Genesis. Jews traditionally believed that the “righteous” were saved in Abraham. They also viewed this connection to Abraham as ethnic and national. The personification of “the righteous” was the nation of Israel. But here, Paul shows (in an argument that logically reflected Jewish intellectual traditions) that “believers” of all stripes, including Gentiles, are “blessed” – saved – in Abraham. Not because of Abraham himself, or what he did, but as a reflection of his example – Abraham believed; so we also believe, like Abraham, in Jesus, and it is credited to us. Later, in verse 15-18, Paul caps off the connection to Abraham,and the "credit" of righteousness through faith, fulfilled only and exclusively in Jesus.

“Man of faith” – Indeed, Abraham is a great example of what it is like to live by faith. He received a promise, and believed it, with little to support it other than his faith – his RELATIONSHIP with God. His faith-journey was filled with mistakes and episodes where he did not trust in God. But in his ultimate test – the sacrifice of his son, and therefore, the death of the fulfillment of the original promise – he knew God was telling the truth, and would be true to the promise. The Book of Hebrews indicates that he knew, even if he had killed Isaac, God would have fulfilled the promise by raising Isaac from the dead, if necessary. Abraham trusted God, because he knew God. Thus, even the example Paul uses to refute the Judiazers focuses on the concept of RELATIONSHIP! Everything involved with God’s Kingdom ultimately comes back to RELATIONSHIPS!!!!!

Galatians Journal: Chapter 3, verse 8

Galatians 3:8 "The 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."

Here, Paul begins a series of proofs using Scriptures familiar to his audience here in Chapter 3.

“Scripture foresaw” It was a common Jewish concept to personify the Scriptures. Paul did this in 1Timothy 5:18 when he said “Scripture says;” and it calls to mind to me when the main character in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye, is always saying “the Good Book Says. .” (And, humorously, he once in a conversation with God, “As the Good Book says … hey, why am I telling YOU what the good book says? . . .”) 2 Timothy 3:16 describes scripture as “God breathed,” and 2 Peter 1:21 describes God’s word as coming from the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 goes so far as to declare God’s Word is “living and active.” This not only plays to Jewish tradition, it emphasizes the divine origin of the Bible, as well as its power. But personifying the Bible also serves to emphasize the vibrant, “alive” quality of the relationship we have with the One who inspired the Scriptures. Once again, its all about RELATIONSHIP!!!!

It is a foregone conclusion for us non-Jewish believers today that God intended to save the Gentiles through Christ, as well as Jewish people. But the Jews of Paul’s day would have had a tough time with that concept, and would have answered that statement with the addition of the need for the Gentiles to come into the obedience of Abraham’s covenant – specifically, circumcision. Paul, of course, refutes this, emphasizing the concept of salvation by faith. Yet, ironically, Paul proves his point by citing to “the Law,” the very vehicle the Judiazers claimed was the path to justification. It’s a simple, straightforward proof, that completely refutes the heresy.

Paul says the Gospel itself – the work that Jesus would accomplish through His death and resurrection – was “announced in advance” through Abraham.

“All nations” – every nationality and ethnicity – the focus of Paul’s message to the Galatians is as much on refuting racism and ethnic/cultural discrimination as it is against legalism. Indeed, the two sins go hand in hand!