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Galatians 3

W
The Whosoever Study Bible
Whosoever will, may come.
the epistle of paul the apostle to the galatians
Paul · c. 52–55 AD
Chapter the Third

The Paidagogos: Thread 5's Dispensational Hinge

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 
Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 
So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 
And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 
Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 
For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 
Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 
And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 
DOCTRINAL VERDICT
TIER 1: THREAD 5'S CLEAREST NT STATEMENT

Galatians 3:24 is Thread 5's clearest NT statement. The law was a paidagogos (not a teacher but a temporary guardian) until Christ. The until is the dispensational argument: the law had a defined period and a defined purpose. When Christ came, the guardian's role was finished.

Galatians 3:24, The Law as Temporary Guardian
HOW TO USE
PROVISIONIST · DISPENSATIONAL · PRE-TRIBULATIONAL
Chuck Smith · Sunday Nights, 1979 to 1985 (C2000)
Galatians 3
Tape C2272 · 47:49
Permission granted by The Word For Today
Chuck Smith · Sunday Nights, 1985 to 1999 (C3000)
Galatians 3
Tape C3666 · 57:55
Permission granted by The Word For Today
Chuck Smith · Sunday Mornings, 1985 to 1999 (T3000)
The Curse of Sin, Galatians 3:10-14
28:34
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Chuck Smith · The Book of Galatians
Galatians 2:20-3:2
51:29
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Chuck Smith · The Book of Galatians
Galatians 3:1-5
50:45
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Chuck Smith · The Book of Galatians
Galatians 3:1-14
43:30
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Chuck Smith · The Book of Galatians
Galatians 3:6-9
46:10
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Chuck Smith · The Book of Galatians
Galatians 3:14-21
46:45
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Chuck Smith · The Book of Galatians
Galatians 3:19-25
42:55
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Chuck Smith · The Book of Galatians
Galatians 3:24-29
46:52
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Raul Ries · Through the Bible
Galatians 3:1-8
46:25
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Raul Ries · Through the Bible
Galatians 3:6-29
46:14
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Questions answered from Galatians 3

Short answers from Always Ready that cite this chapter

Chuck Smith on Galatians 3

Verse by verse, taught on Sunday nights: the C2000 series, 1979 to 1985, and the C3000 series, 1985 to 1999. Permission granted by The Word For Today.

Sunday Nights, 1979 to 1985 (C2000)

Chapter introduction

Shall we turn now in our Bibles to Galatians chapter three. Background: Paul the apostle had been in the area of Galatia. Galatia was a general area like a county or a state. It was not a city. There were many churches established there. After Paul's departure, other teachers came in declaring that the people could not be saved by a simple faith in Jesus Christ, but must also to that faith add the obedience to the law and the rituals of the law of circumcision. And many of the people in those churches that were brought to the gospel of Jesus Christ through Paul's preaching were taken in by these other teachers that followed Paul, and so a division developed among the brethren there in that area.

These false teachers that had come in had spoken against Paul's authority as an apostle. And they were actually advocating the necessity of proselytizing into Judaism in order to be saved. Keeping of the law and a righteousness which is predicated upon following or observing these particular rules. So, Paul at the end of chapter two said, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness could come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (Galatians 2:21). Great powerful words, but very true words.

You see, if I could become righteous by keeping a set of rules, then Jesus would not have to die. The fact that Jesus did die declares that no man can be righteous by his own effort or by his own works. God has established a basis for righteousness, but it is not upon works; it's not upon obedience to the law, but it is upon our faith in Jesus Christ.

Verses 1–3

So Paul then opens chapter three,

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (3:1-3)

So, Paul takes them back to the very beginning of their salvation, when they first believed in Jesus Christ, and through their faith in Jesus Christ were accounted righteous before God, before they had done any works at all, God accounted them righteous. Now someone has come along and said, "If you want to really be righteous, then you can't be doing that. If you want to really be righteous, then you've got to be doing this." And they started establishing sort of rules for righteousness, which we are so often prone to do. Now, if you will read ten chapters of the Bible every day, and read a morning devotional, and spend a half hour in prayer, surely you will be much more righteous than the person who doesn't do those things. You see, we're prone to put on that kind of a addition to a person's faith.

>"By the works of the law, no flesh can be justified" in the eyes of God (Galatians 2:16). If we could become righteous by obeying the law, any law, any set of rules, then Christ is dead in vain. And so the Galatians were taken in. They were bewitched by the teaching. It sounded so reasonable. But Paul then said, "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" Now it's a rhetorical question, because the obvious answer is that they received the Spirit by faith. Now, this epistle to the Galatians is important, because there is, it seems, even to the present time, a great tendency to turn towards works as a basis of my relationship with God. And that's always a dangerous basis for your relationship with God, because our works are not always approved, even by ourselves.

When I was a child growing up in a Pentecostal church, desiring rightfully that fullness of God's Holy Spirit upon my life, I spent many a night in what they called tarrying meetings, as I was tarrying for what they called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now, in those churches where I grew up, there were oftentimes what they called testimony meetings. And quite often in the evening, "Anybody have a testimony tonight for the Lord?" And usually there was a certain portion of the meetings set aside for these personal testimonials, and people would get up and testify of God's goodness and God's grace and God's blessings and of problems, many times and all.

But much of my theology was formed from these testimony meetings, and that's why my theology was so mixed up. Because I heard people testify of their receiving of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and I was longing to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I would hear people say things like, "When I finally took out my cigarettes and laid them down and said, 'God, I'll never smoke again,' then God baptized me with the Holy Spirit." Well, unfortunately, I didn't smoke, or fortunately, so I couldn't lay my cigarettes down.

And there was, though not perhaps declared, there was the subtle innuendo that the baptism of the Holy Spirit somehow came as a reward when you reached a certain degree of consecration or holiness. So that I was actually seeking to receive the Spirit by the works of the law, by keeping the rules, because I had to sign every year a pledge: I won't go to shows, I won't go to dances, I won't smoke, I won't drink, and these. And I would sign the pledge every year. And every year after I'd signed the pledge, I'd immediately try and receive the Holy Spirit 'cause I just signed the pledge. "Lord, look, I'm going to be good." And I wrestled with this, because I could not understand why I tarried so many years and God never filled me with the Spirit.

When I finally received that empowering of the Spirit in my life was when, by faith, one day I just said, "Well, Lord, I'm going to receive it." And I had set aside my concept of my righteousness or my holiness because I didn't smoke and drink. Because I had a real problem, because a friend of mine who did smoke received, and I didn't think God was quite fair. I knew I was far more righteous than he was. And so, when I, by faith . . . and when I received that empowering of the Spirit, I did so by faith.

Paul's question, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith, or by the works of the law?" The answer is obviously: you received the Holy Spirit by faith; it's God's gift. You can't deserve it. You can't be worthy of it. And that was the whole context behind the tarrying; it was a cleansing process where you'll become worthy. My body worthy to be the temple of the Holy Spirit? Never, no way. I received the Spirit by the hearing of faith.

Now the next question: "Foolish Galatians, having begun in the Spirit." That's where you start with...you started out in the Spirit, now are you going to be made perfect in your flesh? Are you going to improve upon God's work in your life? And how many times we're trying to improve on our righteousness by works, by obedience, by promising to God, making covenants with God. Promising, "Now, God, I promise this next week I am going to faithfully pray one hour everyday. I promise You, Lord, I'm going to. Now, Lord, on the basis of that promise, I want You to bless me. You know, because after all, I'm going to be so righteous by the end of the week having prayed an hour every day." And having begun in the Spirit, we so often are seeking to be made perfect in the flesh, by our fleshly efforts. Paul is rebuking the Galatians for this false concept.

Verses 4–5

Have ye suffered [he said] so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? >(3:4-5)

Again, this creates some problems many times, because there are those that are going around with what they call miracle ministries. And you know, they advertise, "Come and see miracles." And, "Miracles every Monday night," you know. As though God were limited to, you know, "Why, I came Sunday night." "No, no, no, this isn't miracle night yet, come back tomorrow night for the miracles."

Now it has created a problem, because many of these miracle evangelists have deep personal problems. Yet they stand up before a great number of people, and there seems to be miracles wrought through their ministry. There was a fellow, A.A. Allen. He even opened Miracle Valley Ranch in Arizona. A.A. Allen was an alcoholic. He died of acute alcoholism in San Francisco. And yet, he'd get up before the people, and there were miracles that people would testify to as the result of his prayers and the result of his services. Now, you see, that seems totally inconsistent to us. A person to have that kind of power with God, surely you would think he lived a very dedicated, consecrated, holy, righteous life. That this was God's attestation to the person's holiness or righteousness. Not so.

Those that worked miracles do not do it on the basis of their righteousness, and this stumbles a lot of people when they get close to some of these persons that are going around in these miracle meetings, to see the inconsistency of their walk. Stumbles many people, because somehow, we think that this is related to holiness and to righteousness and to the obedience of a fine line of commitment to God.

You see, God does not reward us for our works, for our efforts, for our goodness. Whatever God gives to me, He gives to me on the basis of my believing in His grace. And these men have learned to believe in the grace of God. Not really looking at their own selves, weaknesses, failures or whatever, and they have learned how to inspire people to look to God through faith. And God honors the faith of the people who have come to receive from God.

Any work that God has done in my life comes to me by believing, faith in Jesus Christ and in the grace of God. Now, when you can really assimilate that truth, then you can start to expect God to bless you, though you know that you don't deserve the blessings, because I'm not coming on what I deserve. If I got what I deserved, man, I'd be frying by now. He has not rewarded us according to our iniquities, but "as high as the heaven is above the earth, so high is God's mercy towards them that fear Him" (Psalm 103:11).

So I stand in the grace of God. I walk in the grace of God. Now, does that mean then that I can just go out, and you know, live any kind of an old lascivious life? No, no, no, no, no. The love of Christ constrains me to walk a life that is pleasing, and when I use that as the criteria for my activities, I find that I live a more strict life than when I try and use right and wrong as the basis for my particular activity. Is this right to do? Is this wrong to do? I so often hear that question. That should not be the consideration. The consideration should always be, "Is this pleasing to God if I do it?"

You see, a lot of people say, "Well, there's nothing wrong with that." Ooo, but it doesn't please God. So, as I am living to please God, yet I do not look at myself or my imperfections as the basis for my receiving from God. Or, if I happen to have a good day and have been especially benevolent and have done, you know, some extra good deeds, I don't look to those as the basis of my receiving from God. I don't say, "Well, God, did you see that? Did you observe? Lord, didn't I handle that well? Now don't you think, Lord, I deserve a little special credit for that one, you know? Can't You do this for me? Because look what I just did for You." No, God does not reward me for good efforts, or even good performance. God blesses me because He loves me. And He loves for me to just trust in Him. And He loves it when I seek to please Him. But even that is not the basis for what God gives to me. The basis is God's love and grace for me. He bestows upon me His blessings, His love, as I simply believe in Him to do it and trust Him to do it.

Now, if you are coming to God on the basis of your righteousness, then you're going to be cut short of what God wants to do in your life. You're going to be robbing yourself of many rich blessings that God wants to bestow. But if you come always on the basis of God's love and grace for you, then you'll never be cut short. As I am believing and trusting God to bless my life, even though I know I do not deserve it.

As Jacob said, "Lord, I am not worthy the least of thy mercies" (Genesis 32:10). It isn't my worthiness that counts. Jacob was a scoundrel, and yet God blessed him abundantly, and he knew it. He was a deceiver. He was a conniver. He was a manipulator. And when he looked at God's blessings, "O Lord, I'm not worthy the least of Your mercies, yet you have blessed me."

So, he now enters into this principle coming back to Abraham.

Verse 6

Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness (3:6).

What? His believing God. Now, it is true that his belief in God was manifested by his obedience to God. It isn't just saying, "Well, I believe in the Lord. I believe in Jesus." It's more than just a verbal assent to the truth. If I indeed believe, my belief will be demonstrated by my actions. If I stood here tonight before you and said, "Friends, I believe there's going to be a violent earthquake in ten minutes that's going to level this building. God's revealed to me that the San Andreas fault line is about ready to, you know, to let go. In fact, in just now, it's actually only nine minutes and forty seconds. This thing is just going to be flattened." And I just went on talking and all, you can say, "He really doesn't believe that." Why? Because my actions are not consistent with what I am saying. You see, if I really believed that, I'd say, "Hey, let's get out of here. You know, get out there under the trees or get out there in the yard, because, you know, these buildings are going to be flat. And go get your kids, get them out of the buildings quick! You know, and let's get moving."

Now, if a person just says, "Hey, I believe in Jesus. Yeah, I believe." And yet their actions are not in conformity with what they are declaring, then there is a great reason to doubt whether or not they sincerely or really believe it. If I sincerely really believe something, then my actions are going to be conformed with and confirming that which I believe.

So, Abraham's actions confirmed what he believed. His actions were on the basis on what he believed. Abraham believed God, and it was the belief that God accounted for righteousness, not the actions, but the belief that prompted the actions. As James said, "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). "You say you believe? Well, you show me your works and I'll show you your faith." In other words, James is pointing out that just verbal assent to truth is not enough. It has to be demonstrated by your action if it is a true faith, if it is a true belief. But God doesn't look to the actions, but He looks to the faith which prompts the actions. With Abraham, it was Abraham's faith that God accounted for righteousness.

Verse 7

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham (3:7).

So, Abraham was the father, not of a physical race, but of a spiritual race. The promises to Abraham were not to the physical seed, but to the spiritual seed. So that Paul will soon point out that we as children of Abraham, who is the father of those that believe, and by your believing, you then become a child of Abraham through faith. And thus, the covenant that God made with Abraham become God's covenant with you, as you become a child of Abraham, the father of those who believe. So, you may be a physical descendant of Abraham, but if you don't believe, you're not really a descendant of Abraham in that spiritual sense.

Verses 8–9

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen [or the Gentiles] through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham (3:8-9).

The promise of God to Abraham, foreseeing that the Gentiles were going to be justified through faith, promised him this blessing of which you become partaker.

Now, those who were ready to go back to the law, those that were ready to look to the law as the basis for a righteous standing before God, Paul said, "Don't you realize that,"

Verse 10

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them (3:10).

Heavy duty. You want to be made righteous before God by your keeping the law? Then you've got to keep the whole law all the time, and if you ever violate it once in any area, you've had it. You're under the curse. For "cursed is the man that continueth not in the whole law to do all of the things that are written therein."

James said that "if we keep the whole law, and yet violate in one point, we are guilty of all" (James 2:10). Now, it doesn't make any difference which point you violated, if you violate any point of the law, you're guilty of the whole. If you want to be righteous before God by your works, then you've got to be perfect. And if you're not perfect, you better listen then to the gospel of grace through faith, because you need it. So this is for imperfect people. The rest of you can go home at that point.

Verse 11

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for [the Bible says], The just shall live by faith (3:11).

This scripture was given to God to the troubled prophet Habakkuk who was complaining to God at a time of national declension. The nation was going downhill fast. All kinds of corruption in government. And Habakkuk saw the corruption that was there. He has insight into the problem and he said, "God, please do me a favor. Don't let me see anything else; I can't take it. The whole system is going down the tubes and you're not doing a thing about it." God said, "Habakkuk, I am doing a work, and if I told you what I was doing, you wouldn't believe me." So Habakkuk said, "Well, try me." And God said, "I am preparing Babylon, and I am going to bring Babylon as my instrument to judge these people for their iniquity." "Wait a minute, Lord, that isn't fair. We're bad, yes, but hey, they're horrible. They're much worse than we. Why would you use a nation that is even more evil to punish us?" God said, "I told you you wouldn't believe it." So Habakkuk said, "Well, Lord, I don't know what to do. I'm just going to go sit in the tower, and I'm just going to wait on You and see what You're going to do."

So, he went into the tower to just sit there and wait on God. And while he was sitting there, the word of the Lord came to Habakkuk the prophet saying, "Habakkuk, the just shall live by faith. Believe me. Just trust in me. Things are going to get tough, Habakkuk. The nation's going to go into captivity, you know, but believe Me, trust in Me, the just shall live by faith."

So, Paul here again quotes this fantastic statement of God: the just, or those that are justified will be justified by faith. That is why the law cannot justify you. It cannot make you righteous.

Verse 12

And the law is not of faith (3:12):

The law is of works.

The law says,

but, The man that doeth them shall live in them (3:12).

But the law places the emphasis upon the doing, the obedience, where faith places the emphasis upon trusting in God. So then, as many as are under the law are under the curse of the law, unless they keep the entire law.

Verse 13

But,

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (3:13):

So Jesus, hanging upon the tree, upon the cross, became a curse for us that He might redeem us from the curse of the law. Again, here we have a glorious insight into God's grace towards us in Christ. For "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might know the riches of God" (2 Corinthians 8:9). I mean, that's quite a deal. Here He was so rich, yet for your sake He emptied Himself. He became poor, that through His poverty you might know the riches of God's love and grace.

"For God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Many times when we go down to baptize in the ocean, the water is rather cold. And when people are immersed in that cold water, sometimes it sort of takes their breath away. And as they come up, you can see them sort of gasping because of the coldness, you know, just haah, you know, trying to catch composure again. It's a shock when your body is warm to suddenly be immersed in cold water. It's a shock to your body.

I wonder what kind of a shock it must have been to Jesus who was so pure, so totally pure, to all of a sudden have dumped on Him the sins of the world. Every rotten, evil thing that has ever been committed by man. Every perverted thing ever committed by man dumped on Him. What a shock that must have been. But yet, "God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). So, He redeemed us from the curse of the law, because He became a curse for us through hanging there on the cross.

Verse 14

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (3:14).

So Jesus came to redeem, taking our curse. But again, that's negative. Positive: that you might receive the blessings that God promised to Abraham, the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Verse 15

Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man [can] disannulleth [it], or addeth thereto [to it] (3:15).

Now, God made the covenant with Abraham, a blessing. "In blessing I will bless thee" (Genesis 22:17). God made the promise of His blessing upon Abraham's children. You are the children of Abraham through faith, for he is the father of those that believe. And so, God's promises to you are, "In blessing I will bless you and multiply you." God's promised His blessing upon you through faith. Jesus opened the door that you might receive these blessings that God promised upon Abraham. And by your faith in Jesus Christ, you enter into this covenant.

Now, a covenant, though God made it with man, once God confirmed that covenant, no man can take away from that covenant or no man can add to that covenant.

Verse 16

And so,

Now to Abraham and to his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ (3:16).

And so when God said, "And through thy seed all of the nations of the earth will be blessed," He wasn't saying that the world is going to be blessed through the Jewish nation. He was saying the world would be blessed through Jesus Christ. Thy seed, singular. It was a reference to Jesus Christ and the work of redemption that He would accomplish for man, through which the blessings of God might come upon all the nations of the world. And the Jews so often misinterpret that promise to Abraham thinking that they are to be the benefactors of the blessings to the world. Not so. It is through the seed, singular, Jesus Christ, that these blessings were to come to the Gentiles and to all the world.

Verse 17

And this I say (3:17),

Remember, if God has made a covenant, no one can add to it or take away from it. "And this I say,"

that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect (3:17).

So, the law came along and pronounced upon man a curse. "Cursed is everyone that continues not in the whole law to do all that is written therein." The law came along and condemned man to death. But God has promised the blessing. And "in blessing I will bless thee." And His blessing upon Abraham's seed, those who would believe. That is, upon his descendants, or those that would follow him in faith. So the law cannot really take away those blessings that God has promised to you, or your failure and obedience to the law cannot destroy or disannul the covenant that God made to bless you.

Now God help us to see this, because it's going to cause your life to become so rich and filled with God's blessing you won't be able to handle it. My life has become so blessed of God, having been brought by the Spirit to the understanding of the basis of God's blessings upon me are all in God, in His grace, in His love for me, and are not dependent upon my works. But they are just predicated upon: God has made a covenant to bless me. God confirmed that covenant, and the law cannot disannul it. My failure cannot disannul it. As I believe in Jesus Christ, I become a son of Abraham through faith, and thus, this covenant that God made with Abraham's children becomes God's covenant with me, and God's covenant was that of total blessings.

Now, the law can't take that away from me. Though the law was added four hundred and thirty years later, once the covenant is confirmed, it cannot be added to or disannulled. It cannot disannul God's covenant of blessing with me because I have failed to keep that law.

Verse 19

Wherefore then serveth the law? (3:19)

And, of course, it's the opposite. Then why did God give the law? If the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise. Then why did God give the law?

It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator (3:19).

So, the law served because of man's transgressions, to show man his guilt and his need of a Savior.

Verse 20

Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one (3:20).

It takes two to have a mediation. Takes two to tango. Two to have a fight. Takes two to have a mediation. Then, so Christ is become the mediator between God and man.

Verses 21–23

Is the law then against the promises of God? [No] God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith (3:21-23)

"But before faith came," rather. Before Jesus Christ came, the relationship to God had to be by the law. That's how man related to God. He had to bring the sacrifice; he had to make the covering for his sin. But once Jesus came, we no longer needed the law.

Verse 24

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ (3:24),

Or unto the time of the coming of Christ.

that we might be justified by faith (3:24).

The law can only show me how far I have failed to be what God would require me to be. It's the schoolmaster. Man was once under the law unto the time of Christ.

Verse 25

But after that faith is come [Jesus Christ came], we are no longer under a schoolmaster (3:25).

Paul said Christ is the end of the law to those that believe. That is, the law as the basis for my relationship with God. My relationship with God is no longer based upon my keeping the law. My relationship with God is now based upon my faith in Jesus Christ.

Verses 26–29

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise (3:26-29).

And so, Jesus has become the common denominator among men. So that we all relate to God on an equal basis through Jesus Christ. I have just as ready an access to God through Jesus Christ as does Billy Graham or the Pope or anybody else, because they have to come the same way. I have to come through Jesus Christ and through faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, sometimes I think I have more access, because I know I have to come through faith, and some of those good people might think that they can come on their own sometimes. But I know I can't.

So you, as a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, have access to God, and it doesn't make any difference what your background is. For as far as our being in Christ, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female." There is no male superiority. God doesn't listen to men more readily than women. Or, on the other hand, He doesn't listen to women more readily than men. We are all brought to one common denominator in Jesus Christ and we're all one in Him.

Sunday Nights, 1985 to 1999 (C3000)

Chapter introduction

Paul had established the churches in Galatia in the faith in Jesus Christ. There were those Judaizers who followed Paul, who said that Paul did not tell them the complete truth. That it was necessary to keep the law in order to be saved. Now when you ask someone about their hope of eternal life if they answer you, my faith in Jesus Christ, they’ve answered you well. If they say my faith in Jesus Christ and, the moment they add anything to that, you are in trouble. By grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourself. It is a gift of God and not works, lest any man should boast. And so these Galatians were drawn away, many of them by the false teachers.

So Paul said, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, (Who has put a spell over you?) that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? Now in our communion as we will this Thursday night be observing it, as we eat the broken bread, as we drink the cup, Jesus said this bread is My body, broken for you. He said this cup is a New Covenant in My blood, shed for the remission of sins. So as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are showing the Lord’s death, according to Paul in Corinthians, until he comes. So as Paul is saying that before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you, he is no doubt referring to the communion service where we again are remembering, and calling attention, to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth?

Verse 2

This only (he said) would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Answer me this, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

There are those groups today that feel the gift of the Holy Spirit is some sort of reward for holy living. But the moment we say gift and reward, you are in two different camps. It is either a gift or it is something that is earned, a reward for faithfulness or holiness or whatever. But we know that the Holy Spirit is referred to as a gift of God. And thus as a gift, it is like all of the gifts of God, to be received by faith. You can’t earn a gift. The moment you are earning it, it’s no longer a gift. So did you receive the Holy Spirit by the works of the law, by abiding by certain standards or did you receive the Holy Spirit by faith?

Now in those groups that teach that the Holy Spirit is rewarded to those who are especially holy or you know, have totally dedicated themselves. I heard testimonies of people who said when I said to God, yes, I’ll go to China, then God filled me with the Spirit, or they said, God, take my cigarettes. When I laid my cigarettes down on the alter, God filled me with the Spirit. And the whole idea is that the Spirit was a reward for commitment, that when I came to a certain degree of commitment, then God blessed me with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a gift of God to be received by faith.

Now it is true that if you believe a certain thing, that the way you believe it can hinder your faith. In other words if I believe that I cannot receive the Holy Spirit until I have made some level of commitment, then I’m not apt to, by faith, to accept this gift of God until I have felt that I have attained that degree of commitment. And so my belief system can hinder my faith from just trusting God to do it. And that is the case with many people because of preconditions and pre supposition, my faith is often times limited because I have set certain criteria for the faith. And thus if I don’t meet that criteria, I believe that God can’t do it, as long as I’m doing this. And because I believe that God can’t do it, because the gifts of God are bestowed by my believing that He will do it, then it hinders what God may be wanting to do in my life because I don’t have the faith for Him to do it.

Now, the Holy Spirit is a gift of God, and to be received by faith. You can’t earn it. Nor is it a reward for a level of commitment nor is it a reward for a level of holiness in your life. In fact, the Holy Spirit is given to us to make us holy. And thus you get into a vicious kind of a circle. If you think, well, I can’t receive the Holy Spirit until I’ve achieved a certain degree of holiness and that degree of holiness that I’m seeking to achieve, I can’t achieve it apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. So here I am, you know, thinking oh, I wish that I were more holy so I could receive this Holy Spirit. But yet, you see, that very thing of believing that I have to be to a certain level of holiness, keeps me from receiving the Holy Spirit. So I stay in that place of sort of frustration. Desiring, knowing that I need it and yet, not believing God to do it. And realizing that the Holy Spirit is God's gift to me to conform me into the image of Christ. To give me the power to live the kind of a life that God wants me to live.

So the obvious answer is that they had received the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith. Paul shared with them, concerning the power of the Holy Spirit. They believed God and received the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith, not by the works of the law.

Verse 3

Are ye so foolish (Paul said)? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Now, let me say that I think that this is probably one of the greatest dangers that we as Christians face. And surely it is one of greatest dangers that the church faces through the years. Every genuine revival and move of God, the move of God's Spirit in a group of people, within a revival, every revival, it seems, every move of God, ends up with man trying to perfect it in the flesh. God began a work in the Spirit. Now we need to get it organized. We need to get committees. We need to hire consultants. And you see, we are going to now, perfect that which God began in the Spirit. This was the problem with the foolish Galatians. Having begun in the Spirit, trusting in Jesus for their salvation, trusting in their faith in Christ to be accounted by God for righteousness, the righteousness which is of Christ through faith, they were now endeavoring by the law to improve that righteousness. Well the righteousness of Christ is complete! You see, this was the whole error of the Pharisees, trying to develop a righteous standing before God by observing the law and keeping every fine little point of the law. But in doing so, they missed out completely.

Paul when he was writing in Romans, chapter nine, talks about this very thing as far as the Jew is concerned. Verse thirty, what shall we say then? That the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness, that is the righteousness through the law, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at the stumbling stone.

So you can seek to be righteous before God by your good works, by your endeavor to keep the law or rules of righteousness, which many groups establish, sort of rules of holiness or standards of righteousness. You can endeavor by keeping these standards to have a righteous standing before God, but the righteousness that comes from rules and regulations and standards is self-righteousness. Jesus said to the disciples, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

So there is the other righteousness and that is God's imputed righteousness, where God accounts me as righteous because of my faith in Jesus Christ! So as a Gentile, I have attained to a righteous standing before God because I am trusting fully in Jesus Christ and my relationship to Him to be accounted righteous by God, whereas the Israelites who were trusting in the law have not attained to the righteousness of God. So having begun in the Spirit are you now going be made perfect in the flesh? Are you going to improve on your righteous standing before God by all of your good works and good efforts and keeping of the law.

Verse 4

Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

They suffered persecution from the Jews and from the world outside because they claimed that Jesus Christ was their Lord and that He was the promised Messiah. They committed their lives as servants of Jesus Christ. It brought persecution from Rome. The Romans felt that the Christians who pledged allegiance to the lordship of Jesus Christ, were somehow traitors to Rome, where the caesars had more or less been deified. The people were required to acknowledge that Caesar is lord. Christians could not do that. Thus, they were looked upon as insurrectionists against the Roman Government, and they suffered tremendous persecution.

Verse 5

Paul said if you suffered in vain, if it is in vain.

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Now Paul is probably referring to his own ministry among them. That marvelous ministry of miracles, the power of the Holy Spirit working through Paul’s life, and question is, is that by the power of the Spirit? Is it by the works of the law? Is that what has empowered a man? Or is it the faith in a man that brings these miracles? And of course, again the answer, it is faith. Not by the law, not by works.

Verse 6

Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

And now he goes on to show that Abraham, the man that God accounted righteous because of his faith, believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

This goes back to the Book of Genesis, chapter fifteen (Genesis 15:6), when Abraham believed God and God accounted it to him for righteousness. The interesting thing there, where God accounted his faith for righteousness, it was after God told Abraham to look up into that star-filled sky.

Imagine a desert with absolutely no air pollution and no light pollution. And looking up into that crystal clear sky, in the desert at night, and seeing the myriad of stars.

God questioned Abraham. Can you number them? Now it is interesting that in olden days, there were men who endeavored to count the stars. They came up with different numbers, varying from 6,069 to about 6,220. Some fellow had better eyesight, I guess, than the other. But interesting, in a time when the men of science were saying that there were six thousand plus, stars, God declared even before they were counting them, that they were innumerable. You can’t count them! So God said to Abraham, even as the stars are innumerable, so shall thy seed be. And Abraham believed God! And God accounted it to Abraham for righteousness.

Now, so shall thy seed be. That is, as Paul, seed as one, not seeds as many for that seed is Christ. So shall thy seed be. Abraham believed God. What did he believe? That God would bring the Messiah through his lineage. And believing in the Messiah, God accounted his faith for righteousness.

Now, by your believing in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, God accounts your faith for righteousness. So even as Abraham’s faith in the Messiah, God imputed that faith for righteousness, so we are righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.

As we move into the Pauline epistles, into these letters, usually known as the general epistles, we are going to find this theme emphasized over and over again by Paul. As he talks about his own life as a Pharisee, as a keeper of the law, as one who was striving to be righteous before God by keeping the law. And all of the things that he did as a zealous Pharisee, he says but those things which were gain to me, as a Pharisee, as a Jew, I counted loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. For whom I suffered the loss of all things, but count them but refuse that I might know Him and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of Christ through faith!

Tonight you and I can stand before God and God accounts us righteous because of our faith in Jesus Christ. It is a complete righteousness. I cannot improve upon it! It’s complete! You are complete in Him! The fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in our Lord and you are complete in Him.

Verse 7

So Abraham believed God and God accounted his faith for righteousness.

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

So Abraham became a father, not so much a fleshly seed, for the Scripture said (Romans 9:6), not all who are of Israel are of Israel. And not all are Jews who say they are Jews. Abraham became the father of those who would believe God and in faith, trust God and the Word of God and thus be accounted righteous by God through faith. So we are the children of Abraham.

Verse 8

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

That’s back in Genesis 12:3. In you all of the nations of the world will be blessed. God, foreseeing that Abraham would become the father of those that believe, that God would justify the heathen or the Gentiles, you and me. God declared that in thee shall all the nations of the earth, be blessed.

Verse 9

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

The Galatians were basically Gentile believers. Thus the blessings, they that are of faith, are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Verse 10

Now Paul goes on to declare,

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

(That is, if you are by the rules or by the law seeking to be justified before God, then that places you under the curse of the law. Because in the law it is written (Dt.27:26), cursed is everyone that continues not in all of the things, which are written in the book of the law to do them. In other words, in order to be justified by the law you would have to keep the law completely. If you violated it once in any of the commandments, you would be guilty. You would then fall under the curse of the law. James said, if you keep the whole law and yet you violate in one point, you are guilty of all, because the law said, cursed is the man that doesn’t continue in the whole law to do all of the things that are written therein. So immediately we the impossibility of our being justified the law or by our works because the law says, that we are to do them. That is you got to do. You’ve got to keep the commandments.

Verse 11

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

When Habakkuk saw the deteriorating conditions of the nation, the prophet cried unto God. He said, God, things are horrible and they are getting worse. You can’t trust the leadership. They are lying to the people. Things are bad. And Lord, You are not doing anything about it. And he more or less said, I would rather not know what is going on because it’s too frustrating to see things, the corruption, and all that is there. To see the thing going down and You’re not lifting a hand to stop it.

God responded to the prophet. I am doing a work in your day and if I would I tell you what I am doing, your ears would tingle. So the Lord began to share with Habakkuk, His intention of bringing the Babylonians as His instrument of judgment against the nation of Judah.

The prophet cried out, Lord, wait a minute, that’s not fair! We’re bad! Yes! But they are much worse than we are. Why would You use a more wicked nation to punish Your people? And Habakkuk said, I don’t understand it. I’m just going to go in my tower and I’m going to sit and wait and to see what you are going to do. And as he was sitting in the tower waiting to see what God would do, the Word of the Lord came to Habakkuk, the prophet, saying, “The just shall live by faith.” In other words, Habakkuk, you are just going to have to trust me. You’re not going to understand. You’re going to see things that are going to shake you, but the just shall live by faith.

So, that great declaration of God, “The just shall live by faith.” That of course was the thing that set Martin Luther free when he was reading Galatians and he across this passage, for the just shall live by faith. He had been trying as a monk to mortify the flesh. To get rid of the sin principle out of his life. He was so troubled and guilt ridden. When he came across this passage, the just shall live by faith, he was trying to observe all of the works that the church had put upon him as they were trying to be perfected in the flesh. This verse set him free! The just shall live by faith!

Verse 12

And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

That is, the law requires your doing, your works and thus it is not of faith, for the law declares the man that does them shall live in them. So we are under the curse of the law, for cursed is he that continues in the whole law to do everything that is written therein. If you haven’t kept the whole law, perfectly, all of your life, then you are under the curse of the law, which condemned man to death.

Verse 13

But

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

So Jesus hanging on the cross, received the curse for sin, for my sin, for your sin. We were all of us under the curse of the law. But Christ has redeemed us from that curse because He took our sin. He died in our place, there on the cross. Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.

Verse 14

In order that,

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;

This was done in order that you might be blessed! The blessings of Abraham. That the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ! So by coming through Jesus Christ, God accounts me righteous. I am now in Christ and my identity is not to some nationality or ethnic group, my identity now is to Jesus Christ! If any man is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation! The old things have passed away. Everything becomes new.

And as Paul will share with us in a little bit, where there is nether Jew nor Greek, bond or free, male or female, Christ is all and in all!

That the blessings of Abraham come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Did you receive the Spirit through the works of the law or the hearing of faith? Not by the law but by what Jesus has done for us. And of course the Bible, interestingly enough, always emphasizes the work of God in your redemption, not your works for redemption. And whenever you get that twisted, you have a twisted gospel. You have another gospel, one that Paul didn’t preach. And if any man preaches any other gospel than that which you have already received, Paul said, let him be accursed!

And any gospel that says you’ve got to earn it, you’ve got to do so much works to attain it, what ever, that is not the gospel that Paul preached. He preached the gospel of grace, that we through faith in Jesus Christ, have been forgive and pardoned for all sins that we have ever comitted. So the promise of the Spirit is ours through faith, not by the works of the law.

Verse 15

Brethren, (Let me give you, he said, a human illustration.) I speak after the manner of men;

Let me just give you a human illustration here. Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now when you leave a last will and testament, and you die, that will comes into force. It can’t be changed. You are dead. It can’t be altered. He is using the human illustration of a covenant or a testament that a man has made. And when it is confirmed, sealed, so forth, before a notary, this is my last will and testament and it is brought before the court and is presented to the court as your last will and testament. And as it is attested to be a geniune document, etc., then it can’t be changed or altered, though it is a human document.

Verse 16

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

That is, to Abraham the promise was made that through his seed, all of the nations of the world would be blessed. That seed was Jesus Christ, thus it is through Jesus Christ, that God has brought blessing to all of the nations of the world.

We, today are blessed through Jesus Christ. The covenant that God established with Abraham is in force. And we are the beneficiaries of that covenant. For we receive the blessings that God promised to give through Abraham’s seed. The blessings of salvation, the blessings of redemption, the blessings of fellowship with God, these are all ours tonight, to enjoy freely! For the covenant was made by God with Abraham. And if the earthly covenants are steadfast, can’t be altered or changed, so the covenant of God can not altered or changed. Thus the law, which came four hundred years after Abraham, does not disannul the covenant that God made with Abraham, the covenant of the blessings that would come upon the world through Abraham’s seed, Jesus Christ.

Verse 17

And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

In other words, God did not change. The promises of God are still the imputing of righteousness to those who believe in the Messiah. Even as Abraham believed the promise of God, that through his seed, all the nations would be blessed, God accounted that faith for righteousness. So as we believe in the promise God made to Abraham. And that Jesus is that promised Messiah. Through Him we are blessed. And the law doesn’t alter it. It doesn’t disannul it. It doesn’t change it. The blessings come to you through your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, not through your good works.

Now this is something that I did not realize because of the background that I grew up in, the church background in which I grew up. Because I believed, as I was growing up, that I was righteous because I didn’t smoke, I didn’t drink, I didn’t go to shows, I didn’t dance. I didn’t do all of those things that were declared by the church to be unrighteous, unholy things. Now they were good things. There was nothing wrong with what they were declaring to us. I mean it’s healthy not to smoke. I’m glad that I obeyed even though it was under a false kind of a concept. I’m glad that because of the fact that I signed that pledge. I will not smoke and I won’t drink. I signed the pledge. I made that covenant. But the problem was, I thought that made me righteous. I thought that that made me more righteous than these other guys that were sneaking out and taking cigarettes. It had nothing to do with my righteous standing before God. It had a lot to do with my health, and the same with drinking. And of course the same with the shows.

When you see the detrimental effect that the movie industry has had on the culture, the rot that is being portrayed and emulated. You see the whole moral decline, whose guilty finger can be pointed to Hollywood for the way they have corrupted. It is good that I didn’t have my mind polluted and corrupted by going to movies. But that didn’t make me righteous. I thought it was making me righteous. But it didn’t.

The righteousness and the righteous standing that I had before God, is through faith in Jesus Christ. It is not the works that I have done for God or the things that I didn’t do. But it is because of the work that Jesus did for me, taking the curse of the law and hanging on the tree in order that He might redeem me from the curse of the law. So the law does not disannul the promise of God that through faith we will be justified.

Verse 18

For if the inheritance be of the law,

Now, we are heirs of God through faith. But if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. God established the covenant, the testament, the will, with Abraham. And so the law does not disannul it. And it doesn’t make the promise of no effect.

Verse 19

Wherefore then serveth the law?

In other words, they would say, why did God give the law?

Verse 20

Paul said, It was added because of transgressions, till the seed (That is the Messiah, Jesus Christ) should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

There has to be two for there to be a mediator, one who will bring both sides together. God is one side. We are on the other side. And the idea is our being just before God.

Now you remember the difficulties that Job was having as a result of Satan’s attacks. And how his friends came to comfort him, but ended up only adding to his misery because they didn’t understand Job’s true condition and what was going on. They thought they did. They thought that no man would suffer like Job suffered unless he was being punished by God for some horrible sin. And their premise was, Job, you must be a horrible sinner and you must be a tremendous hypocrite because we can’t put our finger on it. So you are hiding it well. But down deep inside, Job, man you are bad news because no one would suffer like you suffered unless they were a horrible sinner!

And his friend, Bildad, basically, said, just get right with God and things will be okay. Job answered Bildad. He said how can man plead his case before God in order to be justified? I look at the heavens and the moon and the stars, Arcturus and Orion, and the constellations. He said, God is so vast. He passes by me but I don’t see Him. And he recognized that God is infinite and he was finite.

Probably, one of the best ways to arrive at that consciousness, is just to go out in the desert on a clear night and look at the skies, to look at the constellations and the galaxies out there. You suddenly realize how small you really are. When you realize that God has created the universe. And he measured the heavens with His span. The infinite God! Who am I, that I can plead my case with God?

David caught much the same thought when he said, when I consider Thy heavens, the work of Your fingers.

Now we have an occasion to watch the rockets as they are being propelled into space. It is a tremendous sight as you hear the roar of the engines, as you see the fire coming out and spreading on the ground from these powerful rocket engines, as you see it as it’s sort of being held there and the bolts explode and the rocket begins to sort of shakily begin to move upward. This tremendous thrust as this giant rocket is being propelled into a speed of 25,000 miles per hour in order that it might get into an orbit around the earth. We think of the great thrust, and we talk about the thrust to get several tons of payload into orbit around the earth. And we marvel, we awe at the roar of the engines and the fire and power and the thrust. We love it. But that’s just a little rocket.

What kind of thrust do you suppose it took to get the earth into orbit? Or better yet, what kind of thrust to get the sun into orbit, which is one million two hundred thousand times bigger than the earth? The sun is six hundred fifty thousand miles in diameter. What kind of thrust, travelling at about eighteen miles a second? What kind of thrust do you suppose it took to get the sun into its orbit?

The Psalmist said, when I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers. The fingers was just a flick of His fingers. An infinite God, infinite God, here I am finite man! How can I plead my case before an infinite God? And Job said there is no daysman betwixt or between us, who can lay his hand on us both.

Now that’s the mediator. That’s what Paul is talking about here. A mediator is not a mediator of one. It takes two in order to have mediation. And God is one of the two. We are the other side. But Jesus Christ has become our Mediator. There is one God and one mediator between God and man and that’s the man, Christ Jesus! So where does the law come in? It was added because of the transgressions, until Christ should come of whom the promise was made. This was ordained by the angels in the hands of the mediator. Now the mediator is not a mediator of one but God is one.

Verse 21

Is the law then against the promises of God? (The promises of God made to Abraham. Is the law against the promises of God?) God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life (to man, then), verily righteousness should have been by the law.

If God could set down rules and you can be righteous by these rules, then there was no need for Christ to die. Righteous would then be by the law.

Verse 22

But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

And so the law was given in order that we might see how sinful we really are and realize how desperately we need Jesus Christ.

Verses 23–24

So the Scripture had concluded all under sin,

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.

Now, the schoolmaster here is probably not a good translation because we think of a schoolmaster as the teacher up there. But in reality it is the servant that led the child to school, that brought him to school, to the school where he would learn. So, the law was that which God used to bring us to Jesus Christ. The whole purpose of the law is to cause you to realize how desperately sinful you are.

Now that’s the big mistake of the Pharisees, in their interpretation of the law. They were interpreting the law so as to feel very smug, very self-righteous. God I thank You that I am not like other men. I’m so good. I’m so righteous. And that was by their misunderstanding and misinterpreting of the law. For they interpreted it only as far as outward manifestations of the disobedience, whereas the Lord was talking about the inward attitudes of your heart that provoke the outward actions.

You may say, well I’ve never comitted adultery. Thank God, I’m pure, you know. You may rail on those that have fallen, but in reality Jesus said, if you have looked upon a woman and you desired her in your heart, you know, oooh, nice. He said, you’ve already comitted adultery. It’s a matter of the heart. And so we are all guilty. We are all in desperate need of Jesus Christ. So God gave the law in order that sin might appear to be very sinful. That we might realize how horrible sin is! And how helpless we are to overcome sin! And it drives me to Jesus Christ. It causes me to realize that my only hope is through the promises of God that through the faith in Jesus Christ, I’ve been justified from every wrong deed I have ever done.

Verse 25

So the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by our faith in Jesus.

But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

We’re no longer under the law as a standard or basis for righteousness. Now the law is good if you use it lawfully. But if you don’t use it lawfully, then the law is a false hope. It has brought many people into a false hope of thinking, I’m righteous before God because I go down the ten commandments and I can cross them off and I’ve done the right thing. I’ve never killed anybody. You know, you can go down the line. But the law can’t make you righteous. To look at it as rules to make me righteous before God, you are not using it lawfully. It is to show you your sin to make you guilty before God so that you are driven to faith in Jesus Christ.

Verses 26–28

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Isn’t that glorious?

The things that men have used as barriers to separate us from each other, the ethnic barriers. Jesus broke then down! It doesn’t matter, your ethnic background. You are important to Jesus Christ.

That Aborigine out there in the back-country of Australia is important to Jesus Christ. Those natives in the jungles of Arienjira, New Guinea, Borneo, they are all important in the eyes of Jesus Christ. The Hittus, the Tutsies and so forth are all important in the eyes of Jesus Christ. They are as important as you. They are as important as me. There are no racial barriers in Christ.

Nor are there cultural barriers. Men so often put up cultural barriers. There are private clubs here in Orange County, where you would not be allowed to go, because of cultural barriers. There are those who look at themselves a little about the others because of the wealth that they possess. That’s not so in Christ.

Nor are there sexual barriers. The male is not superior to the female or visa versa. Christ has broken down all of the barriers that would separate men into various segments or groups. And now Christ is all and in all. We are all one in Christ Jesus.

Verse 29

And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

That is the promise was made to Abraham’s seed, which is Jesus. If you are in Jesus, then you are a part of Abraham’s seed. You are heirs according to the promise, not according to the obedience of law, but you are not heirs of God, in Christ. Beloved, now we are sons of God, and if sons, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, because we are in Christ through the promises in Christ. So what a glorious position we have because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. It is His work, not our work for Him. It is His work for us that has brought us to this glorious relationship with through the promises, not by the law.

Well, I trust that we are growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Father, we thank You for the Word, for this tremendous blessing that is ours by the promise. Lord, we thank You that You have kept Your Word, that You sent Your Son, Your only begotten Son, that He took upon Himself our sins and has redeemed us from the curse of the law, as He was made a curse when He hung on the tree. Oh, Father, how blessed we are to inherit all of the blessings that You have promised to Abraham and that they are ours now through Jesus. Lord, bring us into a fuller comprehension and appreciation of what You have done. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Commentary on Galatians 3

Whosoever Will · The Whosoever Study Bible’s verse commentary

Galatians 3:1

O foolish Galatians (anōētoi Galatai) the bluntness is pastoral urgency, not insult. Who bewitched you? The word baskainō carries the sense of being put under an evil eye, enchanted. Paul is describing the Galatians' return to law-observance as something irrational, as if they had been hexed into abandoning what was working. The cross was publicly placarded before them: prographō, set forth openly, as a public notice is posted. Jesus Christ crucified was the content of the proclamation. This is what they received. This is what produced the Spirit's coming. The question that governs the chapter is double and each answer confirms the other. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The answer is obvious: faith. Having begun in the Spirit (spiritual experience begun by faith) are you now completing yourselves in the flesh? The logic of a beginning-by-faith that requires completion-by-works collapses the gospel. Thread 4 is in the genuine human act of hearing and responding: the Spirit came because of the genuine hearing of genuine people genuinely believing. Thread 5 is the dispensational issue: the Galatians are being urged to submit to a covenant administration (the Mosaic law) that has been superseded.
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The question has only one honest answer and the Galatians know it; the Spirit came through hearing and believing, not through legal compliance.
ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως (ex akoēs pisteōs): by the hearing of faith: akoē (hearing, the act of hearing; the same word Paul uses in Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing; the akoē is not passive reception but engaged, responsive hearing); pisteōs (of faith, the genitive here can mean the hearing that consists in faith or the hearing that produces faith; either way the mechanism is hearing → believing, not law-keeping)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 10:17 · 1 Corinthians 2:2 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:2

O foolish Galatians (anōētoi Galatai) the bluntness is pastoral urgency, not insult. Who bewitched you? The word baskainō carries the sense of being put under an evil eye, enchanted. Paul is describing the Galatians' return to law-observance as something irrational, as if they had been hexed into abandoning what was working. The cross was publicly placarded before them: prographō, set forth openly, as a public notice is posted. Jesus Christ crucified was the content of the proclamation. This is what they received. This is what produced the Spirit's coming. The question that governs the chapter is double and each answer confirms the other. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The answer is obvious: faith. Having begun in the Spirit (spiritual experience begun by faith) are you now completing yourselves in the flesh? The logic of a beginning-by-faith that requires completion-by-works collapses the gospel. Thread 4 is in the genuine human act of hearing and responding: the Spirit came because of the genuine hearing of genuine people genuinely believing. Thread 5 is the dispensational issue: the Galatians are being urged to submit to a covenant administration (the Mosaic law) that has been superseded.
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The question has only one honest answer and the Galatians know it; the Spirit came through hearing and believing, not through legal compliance.
ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως (ex akoēs pisteōs): by the hearing of faith: akoē (hearing, the act of hearing; the same word Paul uses in Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing; the akoē is not passive reception but engaged, responsive hearing); pisteōs (of faith, the genitive here can mean the hearing that consists in faith or the hearing that produces faith; either way the mechanism is hearing → believing, not law-keeping)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 10:17 · 1 Corinthians 2:2 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:3

O foolish Galatians (anōētoi Galatai) the bluntness is pastoral urgency, not insult. Who bewitched you? The word baskainō carries the sense of being put under an evil eye, enchanted. Paul is describing the Galatians' return to law-observance as something irrational, as if they had been hexed into abandoning what was working. The cross was publicly placarded before them: prographō, set forth openly, as a public notice is posted. Jesus Christ crucified was the content of the proclamation. This is what they received. This is what produced the Spirit's coming. The question that governs the chapter is double and each answer confirms the other. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The answer is obvious: faith. Having begun in the Spirit (spiritual experience begun by faith) are you now completing yourselves in the flesh? The logic of a beginning-by-faith that requires completion-by-works collapses the gospel. Thread 4 is in the genuine human act of hearing and responding: the Spirit came because of the genuine hearing of genuine people genuinely believing. Thread 5 is the dispensational issue: the Galatians are being urged to submit to a covenant administration (the Mosaic law) that has been superseded.
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The question has only one honest answer and the Galatians know it; the Spirit came through hearing and believing, not through legal compliance.
ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως (ex akoēs pisteōs): by the hearing of faith: akoē (hearing, the act of hearing; the same word Paul uses in Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing; the akoē is not passive reception but engaged, responsive hearing); pisteōs (of faith, the genitive here can mean the hearing that consists in faith or the hearing that produces faith; either way the mechanism is hearing → believing, not law-keeping)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 10:17 · 1 Corinthians 2:2 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:4

O foolish Galatians (anōētoi Galatai) the bluntness is pastoral urgency, not insult. Who bewitched you? The word baskainō carries the sense of being put under an evil eye, enchanted. Paul is describing the Galatians' return to law-observance as something irrational, as if they had been hexed into abandoning what was working. The cross was publicly placarded before them: prographō, set forth openly, as a public notice is posted. Jesus Christ crucified was the content of the proclamation. This is what they received. This is what produced the Spirit's coming. The question that governs the chapter is double and each answer confirms the other. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The answer is obvious: faith. Having begun in the Spirit (spiritual experience begun by faith) are you now completing yourselves in the flesh? The logic of a beginning-by-faith that requires completion-by-works collapses the gospel. Thread 4 is in the genuine human act of hearing and responding: the Spirit came because of the genuine hearing of genuine people genuinely believing. Thread 5 is the dispensational issue: the Galatians are being urged to submit to a covenant administration (the Mosaic law) that has been superseded.
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The question has only one honest answer and the Galatians know it; the Spirit came through hearing and believing, not through legal compliance.
ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως (ex akoēs pisteōs): by the hearing of faith: akoē (hearing, the act of hearing; the same word Paul uses in Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing; the akoē is not passive reception but engaged, responsive hearing); pisteōs (of faith, the genitive here can mean the hearing that consists in faith or the hearing that produces faith; either way the mechanism is hearing → believing, not law-keeping)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 10:17 · 1 Corinthians 2:2 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:5

O foolish Galatians (anōētoi Galatai) the bluntness is pastoral urgency, not insult. Who bewitched you? The word baskainō carries the sense of being put under an evil eye, enchanted. Paul is describing the Galatians' return to law-observance as something irrational, as if they had been hexed into abandoning what was working. The cross was publicly placarded before them: prographō, set forth openly, as a public notice is posted. Jesus Christ crucified was the content of the proclamation. This is what they received. This is what produced the Spirit's coming. The question that governs the chapter is double and each answer confirms the other. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The answer is obvious: faith. Having begun in the Spirit (spiritual experience begun by faith) are you now completing yourselves in the flesh? The logic of a beginning-by-faith that requires completion-by-works collapses the gospel. Thread 4 is in the genuine human act of hearing and responding: the Spirit came because of the genuine hearing of genuine people genuinely believing. Thread 5 is the dispensational issue: the Galatians are being urged to submit to a covenant administration (the Mosaic law) that has been superseded.
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The question has only one honest answer and the Galatians know it; the Spirit came through hearing and believing, not through legal compliance.
ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως (ex akoēs pisteōs): by the hearing of faith: akoē (hearing, the act of hearing; the same word Paul uses in Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing; the akoē is not passive reception but engaged, responsive hearing); pisteōs (of faith, the genitive here can mean the hearing that consists in faith or the hearing that produces faith; either way the mechanism is hearing → believing, not law-keeping)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 10:17 · 1 Corinthians 2:2 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:6

Paul turns to Abraham (the same move as Romans 4) because Abraham is four centuries before the law and fourteen years before circumcision, which makes him the definitive test case for justification by faith alone. Even as Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. The Genesis 15:6 quotation Paul uses in Romans 4:3 appears here again. The he'emin is Abraham's active trust; the logizomai is God's sovereign reckoning. Both are real; both are necessary; neither replaces the other. Those who are of faith (hoi ek pisteōs) are the sons of Abraham. Not those who are of biological descent, not those who keep the law. Those whose identifying characteristic is faith. Thread 2 is in the definition: the children of Abraham are the faith-people, the corporate body defined by their trust in the same God Abraham trusted. The scripture foresaw (proidousa, the scripture itself as a seer) that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and it preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham: in you shall all nations be blessed. Thread 7 is in the all nations, kol goyei ha-arets from Genesis 12:3. The universal scope of the blessing was announced to Abraham at the very beginning of the covenant. Those who are of faith are blessed together with faithful Abraham: not despite being Gentiles but because of being in the same faith.
The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. The gospel of justification by faith was not invented at Pentecost; it was announced at Genesis 12:3.
προϊδοῦσα δὲ ἡ γραφὴ ὅτι ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοῖ τὰ ἔθνη ὁ θεός (proidousa de hē graphē hoti ek pisteōs dikaioi ta ethnē ho theos): the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith: proidousa (having foreseen, aorist participle of proeidon; the scripture personified as a seer who perceived the plan); ek pisteōs (by faith, the same prepositional phrase as Romans 1:17; the Gentiles are justified by faith, not by law); ta ethnē (the nations, the same Gentiles Abraham was told would be blessed in his seed)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Genesis 12:3 · Genesis 15:6 · Romans 4:3

Galatians 3:7

Paul turns to Abraham (the same move as Romans 4) because Abraham is four centuries before the law and fourteen years before circumcision, which makes him the definitive test case for justification by faith alone. Even as Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. The Genesis 15:6 quotation Paul uses in Romans 4:3 appears here again. The he'emin is Abraham's active trust; the logizomai is God's sovereign reckoning. Both are real; both are necessary; neither replaces the other. Those who are of faith (hoi ek pisteōs) are the sons of Abraham. Not those who are of biological descent, not those who keep the law. Those whose identifying characteristic is faith. Thread 2 is in the definition: the children of Abraham are the faith-people, the corporate body defined by their trust in the same God Abraham trusted. The scripture foresaw (proidousa, the scripture itself as a seer) that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and it preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham: in you shall all nations be blessed. Thread 7 is in the all nations, kol goyei ha-arets from Genesis 12:3. The universal scope of the blessing was announced to Abraham at the very beginning of the covenant. Those who are of faith are blessed together with faithful Abraham: not despite being Gentiles but because of being in the same faith.
The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. The gospel of justification by faith was not invented at Pentecost; it was announced at Genesis 12:3.
προϊδοῦσα δὲ ἡ γραφὴ ὅτι ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοῖ τὰ ἔθνη ὁ θεός (proidousa de hē graphē hoti ek pisteōs dikaioi ta ethnē ho theos): the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith: proidousa (having foreseen, aorist participle of proeidon; the scripture personified as a seer who perceived the plan); ek pisteōs (by faith, the same prepositional phrase as Romans 1:17; the Gentiles are justified by faith, not by law); ta ethnē (the nations, the same Gentiles Abraham was told would be blessed in his seed)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Genesis 12:3 · Genesis 15:6 · Romans 4:3

Galatians 3:8

Paul turns to Abraham (the same move as Romans 4) because Abraham is four centuries before the law and fourteen years before circumcision, which makes him the definitive test case for justification by faith alone. Even as Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. The Genesis 15:6 quotation Paul uses in Romans 4:3 appears here again. The he'emin is Abraham's active trust; the logizomai is God's sovereign reckoning. Both are real; both are necessary; neither replaces the other. Those who are of faith (hoi ek pisteōs) are the sons of Abraham. Not those who are of biological descent, not those who keep the law. Those whose identifying characteristic is faith. Thread 2 is in the definition: the children of Abraham are the faith-people, the corporate body defined by their trust in the same God Abraham trusted. The scripture foresaw (proidousa, the scripture itself as a seer) that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and it preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham: in you shall all nations be blessed. Thread 7 is in the all nations, kol goyei ha-arets from Genesis 12:3. The universal scope of the blessing was announced to Abraham at the very beginning of the covenant. Those who are of faith are blessed together with faithful Abraham: not despite being Gentiles but because of being in the same faith.
The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. The gospel of justification by faith was not invented at Pentecost; it was announced at Genesis 12:3.
προϊδοῦσα δὲ ἡ γραφὴ ὅτι ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοῖ τὰ ἔθνη ὁ θεός (proidousa de hē graphē hoti ek pisteōs dikaioi ta ethnē ho theos): the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith: proidousa (having foreseen, aorist participle of proeidon; the scripture personified as a seer who perceived the plan); ek pisteōs (by faith, the same prepositional phrase as Romans 1:17; the Gentiles are justified by faith, not by law); ta ethnē (the nations, the same Gentiles Abraham was told would be blessed in his seed)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Genesis 12:3 · Genesis 15:6 · Romans 4:3

Galatians 3:9

Paul turns to Abraham (the same move as Romans 4) because Abraham is four centuries before the law and fourteen years before circumcision, which makes him the definitive test case for justification by faith alone. Even as Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. The Genesis 15:6 quotation Paul uses in Romans 4:3 appears here again. The he'emin is Abraham's active trust; the logizomai is God's sovereign reckoning. Both are real; both are necessary; neither replaces the other. Those who are of faith (hoi ek pisteōs) are the sons of Abraham. Not those who are of biological descent, not those who keep the law. Those whose identifying characteristic is faith. Thread 2 is in the definition: the children of Abraham are the faith-people, the corporate body defined by their trust in the same God Abraham trusted. The scripture foresaw (proidousa, the scripture itself as a seer) that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and it preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham: in you shall all nations be blessed. Thread 7 is in the all nations, kol goyei ha-arets from Genesis 12:3. The universal scope of the blessing was announced to Abraham at the very beginning of the covenant. Those who are of faith are blessed together with faithful Abraham: not despite being Gentiles but because of being in the same faith.
The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. The gospel of justification by faith was not invented at Pentecost; it was announced at Genesis 12:3.
προϊδοῦσα δὲ ἡ γραφὴ ὅτι ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοῖ τὰ ἔθνη ὁ θεός (proidousa de hē graphē hoti ek pisteōs dikaioi ta ethnē ho theos): the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith: proidousa (having foreseen, aorist participle of proeidon; the scripture personified as a seer who perceived the plan); ek pisteōs (by faith, the same prepositional phrase as Romans 1:17; the Gentiles are justified by faith, not by law); ta ethnē (the nations, the same Gentiles Abraham was told would be blessed in his seed)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Genesis 12:3 · Genesis 15:6 · Romans 4:3

Galatians 3:10

The curse of the law hangs over all who attempt justification by law-keeping, because the law's standard is total continuous compliance. Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the book of the law to do them, Deuteronomy 27:26. The standard is not adequate law-keeping or mostly faithful compliance. It is all things, always. No one has met that standard. Paul does not argue the point. He simply states that it is evident: no one is justified before God by the law, because the just shall live by faith. The Habakkuk 2:4 quotation appears here again as in Romans 1:17. Emunah (the steadfast covenant trust) is what justification rests on, not continuous performance of commandments. The law is not of faith: the two systems operate on different principles. The law operates on do-and-live: the person who does these things shall live by them (Leviticus 18:5). Faith operates on trust-and-receive. The two cannot be combined as if the trust covers the gap left by incomplete compliance, that is the Galatian error. Thread 5 is the dispensational distinction: the law is a specific covenant administration for a specific people in a specific period, not a universal path to justification.
As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, because the law requires continuous compliance with everything written in it; and no one has achieved that compliance; the just shall live by faith, not by the law's standard.
ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει πᾶσιν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις (epikataratos pas hos ouk emmenei pasin tois gegrammenois): cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written: epikataratos (accursed, under a curse, intensive prefix epi on kataratos); pas (every, universal scope; no exemptions); ouk emmenei (does not continue in, emmenō, to remain in, to abide by; the present tense requires ongoing uninterrupted compliance); pasin tois gegrammenois (in all the things written, pasin, all without exception); the standard is total and continuous
threads t4 · t5 · see Leviticus 18:5 · Deuteronomy 27:26 · Habakkuk 2:4

Galatians 3:11

The curse of the law hangs over all who attempt justification by law-keeping, because the law's standard is total continuous compliance. Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the book of the law to do them, Deuteronomy 27:26. The standard is not adequate law-keeping or mostly faithful compliance. It is all things, always. No one has met that standard. Paul does not argue the point. He simply states that it is evident: no one is justified before God by the law, because the just shall live by faith. The Habakkuk 2:4 quotation appears here again as in Romans 1:17. Emunah (the steadfast covenant trust) is what justification rests on, not continuous performance of commandments. The law is not of faith: the two systems operate on different principles. The law operates on do-and-live: the person who does these things shall live by them (Leviticus 18:5). Faith operates on trust-and-receive. The two cannot be combined as if the trust covers the gap left by incomplete compliance, that is the Galatian error. Thread 5 is the dispensational distinction: the law is a specific covenant administration for a specific people in a specific period, not a universal path to justification.
As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, because the law requires continuous compliance with everything written in it; and no one has achieved that compliance; the just shall live by faith, not by the law's standard.
ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει πᾶσιν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις (epikataratos pas hos ouk emmenei pasin tois gegrammenois): cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written: epikataratos (accursed, under a curse, intensive prefix epi on kataratos); pas (every, universal scope; no exemptions); ouk emmenei (does not continue in, emmenō, to remain in, to abide by; the present tense requires ongoing uninterrupted compliance); pasin tois gegrammenois (in all the things written, pasin, all without exception); the standard is total and continuous
threads t4 · t5 · see Leviticus 18:5 · Deuteronomy 27:26 · Habakkuk 2:4

Galatians 3:12

The curse of the law hangs over all who attempt justification by law-keeping, because the law's standard is total continuous compliance. Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the book of the law to do them, Deuteronomy 27:26. The standard is not adequate law-keeping or mostly faithful compliance. It is all things, always. No one has met that standard. Paul does not argue the point. He simply states that it is evident: no one is justified before God by the law, because the just shall live by faith. The Habakkuk 2:4 quotation appears here again as in Romans 1:17. Emunah (the steadfast covenant trust) is what justification rests on, not continuous performance of commandments. The law is not of faith: the two systems operate on different principles. The law operates on do-and-live: the person who does these things shall live by them (Leviticus 18:5). Faith operates on trust-and-receive. The two cannot be combined as if the trust covers the gap left by incomplete compliance, that is the Galatian error. Thread 5 is the dispensational distinction: the law is a specific covenant administration for a specific people in a specific period, not a universal path to justification.
As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, because the law requires continuous compliance with everything written in it; and no one has achieved that compliance; the just shall live by faith, not by the law's standard.
ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὃς οὐκ ἐμμένει πᾶσιν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις (epikataratos pas hos ouk emmenei pasin tois gegrammenois): cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written: epikataratos (accursed, under a curse, intensive prefix epi on kataratos); pas (every, universal scope; no exemptions); ouk emmenei (does not continue in, emmenō, to remain in, to abide by; the present tense requires ongoing uninterrupted compliance); pasin tois gegrammenois (in all the things written, pasin, all without exception); the standard is total and continuous
threads t4 · t5 · see Leviticus 18:5 · Deuteronomy 27:26 · Habakkuk 2:4

Galatians 3:13

The curse of Deuteronomy 27:26, which falls on everyone who does not continuously comply with the whole law, has been met. Christ redeemed us from it by becoming a curse for us. He became (genomenos katara) the curse itself. Deuteronomy 21:23: cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. The cross is the site where the curse fell on the one who took it so it would not fall on those it rightly belonged to. The purpose is stated in verse 14: that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. The blessing of Genesis 12:3 (in you shall all nations be blessed) and the be-zar'akha blessing of Genesis 22:18 (in your seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed) arrives through Christ. The nations blessed are not those who achieve law-compliance. They are those who are in Christ, the Seed. And so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The same Spirit the Galatians received by the hearing of faith in verses 2-5 is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise. Thread 7 is in the Gentiles receiving the blessing: the scope of Abraham's promise was always all nations, and it arrives through the one Seed who bore the curse so the blessing could flow.
Christ became a curse for us. The exchange is complete and its purpose is double: the blessing of Abraham coming to the Gentiles, and the promise of the Spirit received through faith.
Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξηγόρασεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα (Christos hēmas exēgorasen ek tēs kataras tou nomou genomenos huper hēmōn katara): Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: exēgorasen (redeemed, bought out of, from agorazō to buy in the marketplace, with ek meaning out of; the metaphor is purchase from slavery); genomenos (having become, the Son of God genuinely became the thing that was the problem; the curse of the law was placed on him personally); huper hēmōn (for us, the substitutionary preposition; in our place, on our behalf)
threads t2 · t7 · see Genesis 22:18 · Deuteronomy 21:23 · Acts 2:33

Galatians 3:14

The curse of Deuteronomy 27:26, which falls on everyone who does not continuously comply with the whole law, has been met. Christ redeemed us from it by becoming a curse for us. He became (genomenos katara) the curse itself. Deuteronomy 21:23: cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. The cross is the site where the curse fell on the one who took it so it would not fall on those it rightly belonged to. The purpose is stated in verse 14: that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. The blessing of Genesis 12:3 (in you shall all nations be blessed) and the be-zar'akha blessing of Genesis 22:18 (in your seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed) arrives through Christ. The nations blessed are not those who achieve law-compliance. They are those who are in Christ, the Seed. And so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The same Spirit the Galatians received by the hearing of faith in verses 2-5 is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise. Thread 7 is in the Gentiles receiving the blessing: the scope of Abraham's promise was always all nations, and it arrives through the one Seed who bore the curse so the blessing could flow.
Christ became a curse for us. The exchange is complete and its purpose is double: the blessing of Abraham coming to the Gentiles, and the promise of the Spirit received through faith.
Χριστὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξηγόρασεν ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα (Christos hēmas exēgorasen ek tēs kataras tou nomou genomenos huper hēmōn katara): Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: exēgorasen (redeemed, bought out of, from agorazō to buy in the marketplace, with ek meaning out of; the metaphor is purchase from slavery); genomenos (having become, the Son of God genuinely became the thing that was the problem; the curse of the law was placed on him personally); huper hēmōn (for us, the substitutionary preposition; in our place, on our behalf)
threads t2 · t7 · see Genesis 22:18 · Deuteronomy 21:23 · Acts 2:33

Galatians 3:15

Paul makes a legal analogy: even a human will, once validated, cannot be annulled or amended. How much more the covenant God made with Abraham, which was confirmed by the divine oath at Genesis 22:16-18. Now to Abraham and his seed: the promises were made to both. He saith not to seeds as of many but to your seed as of one, which is Christ. The grammatical argument is precise: zera is a collective singular in Hebrew, which means it can refer simultaneously to the one ultimate Seed (Christ) and to the many who are in that one Seed. Paul is not reading a plural into a singular. He is reading the singular as pointing to its ultimate referent, Christ, while preserving the collective dimension that Galatians 3:29 will develop. The covenant confirmed by God to Abraham (430 years before the Mosaic law) cannot be nullified by the law that came later. The inheritance was given by promise, not by legal compliance. The law is a later addition that does not cancel what came before. Thread 5 is the dispensational relationship: the law is a temporary administration inserted between the Abrahamic promise and its fulfillment in Christ; it does not modify the promise but served a different purpose alongside it.
Not seeds as of many but as of one (to your seed, which is Christ) Paul's grammatical argument from the collective singular of zera is the exegetical foundation of corporate election; the Seed is Christ, and those in Christ are the seed.
οὐ λέγει καὶ τοῖς σπέρμασιν ὡς ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἐφ᾽ ἑνός καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ὅς ἐστιν Χριστός (ou legei kai tois spermasin hōs epi pollōn all' hōs eph' henos kai tō spermati sou hos estin Christos): it does not say and to seeds as of many but as of one, and to your seed which is Christ: spermasin (seeds, plural, which would indicate multiple groups or individuals); spermati (seed, singular, which Paul reads as pointing to one specific person); hos estin Christos (who is Christ); Paul's argument is grammatical: the OT text uses the collective singular deliberately, and the singular allows the Christological reading without requiring it to exclude the many who are in the one Seed
threads t2 · t5 · see Genesis 22:16-18 · Romans 4:13-15 · Hebrews 6:17-18

Galatians 3:16

Paul makes a legal analogy: even a human will, once validated, cannot be annulled or amended. How much more the covenant God made with Abraham, which was confirmed by the divine oath at Genesis 22:16-18. Now to Abraham and his seed: the promises were made to both. He saith not to seeds as of many but to your seed as of one, which is Christ. The grammatical argument is precise: zera is a collective singular in Hebrew, which means it can refer simultaneously to the one ultimate Seed (Christ) and to the many who are in that one Seed. Paul is not reading a plural into a singular. He is reading the singular as pointing to its ultimate referent, Christ, while preserving the collective dimension that Galatians 3:29 will develop. The covenant confirmed by God to Abraham (430 years before the Mosaic law) cannot be nullified by the law that came later. The inheritance was given by promise, not by legal compliance. The law is a later addition that does not cancel what came before. Thread 5 is the dispensational relationship: the law is a temporary administration inserted between the Abrahamic promise and its fulfillment in Christ; it does not modify the promise but served a different purpose alongside it.
Not seeds as of many but as of one (to your seed, which is Christ) Paul's grammatical argument from the collective singular of zera is the exegetical foundation of corporate election; the Seed is Christ, and those in Christ are the seed.
οὐ λέγει καὶ τοῖς σπέρμασιν ὡς ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἐφ᾽ ἑνός καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ὅς ἐστιν Χριστός (ou legei kai tois spermasin hōs epi pollōn all' hōs eph' henos kai tō spermati sou hos estin Christos): it does not say and to seeds as of many but as of one, and to your seed which is Christ: spermasin (seeds, plural, which would indicate multiple groups or individuals); spermati (seed, singular, which Paul reads as pointing to one specific person); hos estin Christos (who is Christ); Paul's argument is grammatical: the OT text uses the collective singular deliberately, and the singular allows the Christological reading without requiring it to exclude the many who are in the one Seed
threads t2 · t5 · see Genesis 22:16-18 · Romans 4:13-15 · Hebrews 6:17-18

Galatians 3:17

Paul makes a legal analogy: even a human will, once validated, cannot be annulled or amended. How much more the covenant God made with Abraham, which was confirmed by the divine oath at Genesis 22:16-18. Now to Abraham and his seed: the promises were made to both. He saith not to seeds as of many but to your seed as of one, which is Christ. The grammatical argument is precise: zera is a collective singular in Hebrew, which means it can refer simultaneously to the one ultimate Seed (Christ) and to the many who are in that one Seed. Paul is not reading a plural into a singular. He is reading the singular as pointing to its ultimate referent, Christ, while preserving the collective dimension that Galatians 3:29 will develop. The covenant confirmed by God to Abraham (430 years before the Mosaic law) cannot be nullified by the law that came later. The inheritance was given by promise, not by legal compliance. The law is a later addition that does not cancel what came before. Thread 5 is the dispensational relationship: the law is a temporary administration inserted between the Abrahamic promise and its fulfillment in Christ; it does not modify the promise but served a different purpose alongside it.
Not seeds as of many but as of one (to your seed, which is Christ) Paul's grammatical argument from the collective singular of zera is the exegetical foundation of corporate election; the Seed is Christ, and those in Christ are the seed.
οὐ λέγει καὶ τοῖς σπέρμασιν ὡς ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἐφ᾽ ἑνός καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ὅς ἐστιν Χριστός (ou legei kai tois spermasin hōs epi pollōn all' hōs eph' henos kai tō spermati sou hos estin Christos): it does not say and to seeds as of many but as of one, and to your seed which is Christ: spermasin (seeds, plural, which would indicate multiple groups or individuals); spermati (seed, singular, which Paul reads as pointing to one specific person); hos estin Christos (who is Christ); Paul's argument is grammatical: the OT text uses the collective singular deliberately, and the singular allows the Christological reading without requiring it to exclude the many who are in the one Seed
threads t2 · t5 · see Genesis 22:16-18 · Romans 4:13-15 · Hebrews 6:17-18

Galatians 3:18

Paul makes a legal analogy: even a human will, once validated, cannot be annulled or amended. How much more the covenant God made with Abraham, which was confirmed by the divine oath at Genesis 22:16-18. Now to Abraham and his seed: the promises were made to both. He saith not to seeds as of many but to your seed as of one, which is Christ. The grammatical argument is precise: zera is a collective singular in Hebrew, which means it can refer simultaneously to the one ultimate Seed (Christ) and to the many who are in that one Seed. Paul is not reading a plural into a singular. He is reading the singular as pointing to its ultimate referent, Christ, while preserving the collective dimension that Galatians 3:29 will develop. The covenant confirmed by God to Abraham (430 years before the Mosaic law) cannot be nullified by the law that came later. The inheritance was given by promise, not by legal compliance. The law is a later addition that does not cancel what came before. Thread 5 is the dispensational relationship: the law is a temporary administration inserted between the Abrahamic promise and its fulfillment in Christ; it does not modify the promise but served a different purpose alongside it.
Not seeds as of many but as of one (to your seed, which is Christ) Paul's grammatical argument from the collective singular of zera is the exegetical foundation of corporate election; the Seed is Christ, and those in Christ are the seed.
οὐ λέγει καὶ τοῖς σπέρμασιν ὡς ἐπὶ πολλῶν ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἐφ᾽ ἑνός καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ὅς ἐστιν Χριστός (ou legei kai tois spermasin hōs epi pollōn all' hōs eph' henos kai tō spermati sou hos estin Christos): it does not say and to seeds as of many but as of one, and to your seed which is Christ: spermasin (seeds, plural, which would indicate multiple groups or individuals); spermati (seed, singular, which Paul reads as pointing to one specific person); hos estin Christos (who is Christ); Paul's argument is grammatical: the OT text uses the collective singular deliberately, and the singular allows the Christological reading without requiring it to exclude the many who are in the one Seed
threads t2 · t5 · see Genesis 22:16-18 · Romans 4:13-15 · Hebrews 6:17-18

Galatians 3:19

The obvious question: if the law does not justify, why was it given? Paul answers with precision. It was added because of transgressions (to expose, define, and contain sin) until the Seed came to whom the promise was made. The law had a temporary function bounded by the arrival of Christ. Is the law against the promises? No: the two operate on different principles for different purposes. The law could not give life, if it could have, righteousness would have come by the law. The law was never designed to do what it could not do. Thread 5 is the dispensational function: the law's role was diagnostic and containing, not salvific. The Scripture shut up everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Sunekleisen, locked shut, enclosed. The lock is on the outside: there is no exit through human effort. But the Scripture's purpose in locking everyone in is not punitive, it is preparatory. The universal confinement under sin is the condition that makes the universal offer of verse 22 meaningful: the promise is given to those who believe. Thread 4 is in the believing: the lock is on the outside but the receiving of what opens it (faith) is genuinely the person's own act.
The law was added because of transgressions until the Seed came: it was never the destination; it was a temporary addition serving a diagnostic and containing function within the dispensational sequence.
τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη ἄχρι οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα (tōn parabaseōn charin prosetethē achri hou elthē to sperma): it was added because of transgressions until the Seed should come: prosetethē (was added, the law was not the original; it was added to something already in place; the Abrahamic promise came first); charin (for the sake of, on account of, the purpose); tōn parabaseōn (of transgressions, the law was added to make transgressions visible, to define them clearly as violations); achri hou elthē to sperma (until the Seed should come, the temporal limit is explicit; the law's addition was always bounded by the arrival of what the promise pointed to) · συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ τὰ πάντα ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν (sunekleisen hē graphē ta panta hupo hamartian): the scripture hath concluded all under sin: sunekleisen (shut together, confined, imprisoned, from sunkleio; the image is of a net drawn closed or a prison locked; all are enclosed under sin with no exit through their own effort); ta panta (all things, comprehensive confinement); hupo hamartian (under sin, the sin is overhead, pressing down)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 3:19-20 · Romans 7:7-13 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:20

The obvious question: if the law does not justify, why was it given? Paul answers with precision. It was added because of transgressions (to expose, define, and contain sin) until the Seed came to whom the promise was made. The law had a temporary function bounded by the arrival of Christ. Is the law against the promises? No: the two operate on different principles for different purposes. The law could not give life, if it could have, righteousness would have come by the law. The law was never designed to do what it could not do. Thread 5 is the dispensational function: the law's role was diagnostic and containing, not salvific. The Scripture shut up everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Sunekleisen, locked shut, enclosed. The lock is on the outside: there is no exit through human effort. But the Scripture's purpose in locking everyone in is not punitive, it is preparatory. The universal confinement under sin is the condition that makes the universal offer of verse 22 meaningful: the promise is given to those who believe. Thread 4 is in the believing: the lock is on the outside but the receiving of what opens it (faith) is genuinely the person's own act.
The law was added because of transgressions until the Seed came: it was never the destination; it was a temporary addition serving a diagnostic and containing function within the dispensational sequence.
τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη ἄχρι οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα (tōn parabaseōn charin prosetethē achri hou elthē to sperma): it was added because of transgressions until the Seed should come: prosetethē (was added, the law was not the original; it was added to something already in place; the Abrahamic promise came first); charin (for the sake of, on account of, the purpose); tōn parabaseōn (of transgressions, the law was added to make transgressions visible, to define them clearly as violations); achri hou elthē to sperma (until the Seed should come, the temporal limit is explicit; the law's addition was always bounded by the arrival of what the promise pointed to) · συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ τὰ πάντα ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν (sunekleisen hē graphē ta panta hupo hamartian): the scripture hath concluded all under sin: sunekleisen (shut together, confined, imprisoned, from sunkleio; the image is of a net drawn closed or a prison locked; all are enclosed under sin with no exit through their own effort); ta panta (all things, comprehensive confinement); hupo hamartian (under sin, the sin is overhead, pressing down)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 3:19-20 · Romans 7:7-13 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:21

The obvious question: if the law does not justify, why was it given? Paul answers with precision. It was added because of transgressions (to expose, define, and contain sin) until the Seed came to whom the promise was made. The law had a temporary function bounded by the arrival of Christ. Is the law against the promises? No: the two operate on different principles for different purposes. The law could not give life, if it could have, righteousness would have come by the law. The law was never designed to do what it could not do. Thread 5 is the dispensational function: the law's role was diagnostic and containing, not salvific. The Scripture shut up everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Sunekleisen, locked shut, enclosed. The lock is on the outside: there is no exit through human effort. But the Scripture's purpose in locking everyone in is not punitive, it is preparatory. The universal confinement under sin is the condition that makes the universal offer of verse 22 meaningful: the promise is given to those who believe. Thread 4 is in the believing: the lock is on the outside but the receiving of what opens it (faith) is genuinely the person's own act.
The law was added because of transgressions until the Seed came: it was never the destination; it was a temporary addition serving a diagnostic and containing function within the dispensational sequence.
τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη ἄχρι οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα (tōn parabaseōn charin prosetethē achri hou elthē to sperma): it was added because of transgressions until the Seed should come: prosetethē (was added, the law was not the original; it was added to something already in place; the Abrahamic promise came first); charin (for the sake of, on account of, the purpose); tōn parabaseōn (of transgressions, the law was added to make transgressions visible, to define them clearly as violations); achri hou elthē to sperma (until the Seed should come, the temporal limit is explicit; the law's addition was always bounded by the arrival of what the promise pointed to) · συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ τὰ πάντα ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν (sunekleisen hē graphē ta panta hupo hamartian): the scripture hath concluded all under sin: sunekleisen (shut together, confined, imprisoned, from sunkleio; the image is of a net drawn closed or a prison locked; all are enclosed under sin with no exit through their own effort); ta panta (all things, comprehensive confinement); hupo hamartian (under sin, the sin is overhead, pressing down)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 3:19-20 · Romans 7:7-13 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:22

The obvious question: if the law does not justify, why was it given? Paul answers with precision. It was added because of transgressions (to expose, define, and contain sin) until the Seed came to whom the promise was made. The law had a temporary function bounded by the arrival of Christ. Is the law against the promises? No: the two operate on different principles for different purposes. The law could not give life, if it could have, righteousness would have come by the law. The law was never designed to do what it could not do. Thread 5 is the dispensational function: the law's role was diagnostic and containing, not salvific. The Scripture shut up everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Sunekleisen, locked shut, enclosed. The lock is on the outside: there is no exit through human effort. But the Scripture's purpose in locking everyone in is not punitive, it is preparatory. The universal confinement under sin is the condition that makes the universal offer of verse 22 meaningful: the promise is given to those who believe. Thread 4 is in the believing: the lock is on the outside but the receiving of what opens it (faith) is genuinely the person's own act.
The law was added because of transgressions until the Seed came: it was never the destination; it was a temporary addition serving a diagnostic and containing function within the dispensational sequence.
τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη ἄχρι οὗ ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα (tōn parabaseōn charin prosetethē achri hou elthē to sperma): it was added because of transgressions until the Seed should come: prosetethē (was added, the law was not the original; it was added to something already in place; the Abrahamic promise came first); charin (for the sake of, on account of, the purpose); tōn parabaseōn (of transgressions, the law was added to make transgressions visible, to define them clearly as violations); achri hou elthē to sperma (until the Seed should come, the temporal limit is explicit; the law's addition was always bounded by the arrival of what the promise pointed to) · συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ τὰ πάντα ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν (sunekleisen hē graphē ta panta hupo hamartian): the scripture hath concluded all under sin: sunekleisen (shut together, confined, imprisoned, from sunkleio; the image is of a net drawn closed or a prison locked; all are enclosed under sin with no exit through their own effort); ta panta (all things, comprehensive confinement); hupo hamartian (under sin, the sin is overhead, pressing down)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 3:19-20 · Romans 7:7-13 · Galatians 3:14

Galatians 3:23

Before faith came (before the era of faith's public arrival in the gospel) we were held under the law, shut up, kept in custody. The confinement of verse 22 is described from the inside: being guarded, enclosed, waiting for the faith that would be revealed. The law was our paidagōgos, and this is the most important word in the verse. The translation schoolmaster misses the key distinction. The paidagōgos was not the teacher. He was the guardian slave who escorted the child from home to the teacher, kept him from distraction and danger on the road, and enforced basic behavioral standards. Once the child arrived at school and sat with the teacher, the paidagōgos's role was over for that session. The law's role was exactly this: escort and guardian, walking alongside, making visible the moral standards, exposing failures, supervising the journey until Christ arrived. Once faith has come (once the destination of the escort journey has been reached) we are no longer under the paidagōgos. Thread 5 is the dispensational architecture: the law's paidagōgos role was real but temporary, defined by the arrival of its destination. Thread 4 is in the being brought to Christ: the goal of the law's entire supervision was to arrive at the one who justifies by faith.
The law was our paidagōgos to bring us to Christ, not the teacher but the escort-guardian who accompanies until the destination is reached; once arrived at Christ, the paidagōgos's role is complete.
παιδαγωγὸς εἰς Χριστόν (paidagōgos eis Christon): a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ: paidagōgos (not teacher but escort-guardian; in the Greek-Roman world the paidagōgos was the trusted slave who accompanied a child from home to school, supervising conduct and keeping order; the word literally means child-leader; the law's role was supervision and escort, walking alongside and constraining, until the destination was reached; the destination was Christ); eis Christon (toward Christ, into Christ, the directional preposition with the ultimate destination named)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 7:12 · Romans 10:4 · Colossians 2:17

Galatians 3:24

Before faith came (before the era of faith's public arrival in the gospel) we were held under the law, shut up, kept in custody. The confinement of verse 22 is described from the inside: being guarded, enclosed, waiting for the faith that would be revealed. The law was our paidagōgos, and this is the most important word in the verse. The translation schoolmaster misses the key distinction. The paidagōgos was not the teacher. He was the guardian slave who escorted the child from home to the teacher, kept him from distraction and danger on the road, and enforced basic behavioral standards. Once the child arrived at school and sat with the teacher, the paidagōgos's role was over for that session. The law's role was exactly this: escort and guardian, walking alongside, making visible the moral standards, exposing failures, supervising the journey until Christ arrived. Once faith has come (once the destination of the escort journey has been reached) we are no longer under the paidagōgos. Thread 5 is the dispensational architecture: the law's paidagōgos role was real but temporary, defined by the arrival of its destination. Thread 4 is in the being brought to Christ: the goal of the law's entire supervision was to arrive at the one who justifies by faith.
The law was our paidagōgos to bring us to Christ, not the teacher but the escort-guardian who accompanies until the destination is reached; once arrived at Christ, the paidagōgos's role is complete.
παιδαγωγὸς εἰς Χριστόν (paidagōgos eis Christon): a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ: paidagōgos (not teacher but escort-guardian; in the Greek-Roman world the paidagōgos was the trusted slave who accompanied a child from home to school, supervising conduct and keeping order; the word literally means child-leader; the law's role was supervision and escort, walking alongside and constraining, until the destination was reached; the destination was Christ); eis Christon (toward Christ, into Christ, the directional preposition with the ultimate destination named)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 7:12 · Romans 10:4 · Colossians 2:17

Galatians 3:25

Before faith came (before the era of faith's public arrival in the gospel) we were held under the law, shut up, kept in custody. The confinement of verse 22 is described from the inside: being guarded, enclosed, waiting for the faith that would be revealed. The law was our paidagōgos, and this is the most important word in the verse. The translation schoolmaster misses the key distinction. The paidagōgos was not the teacher. He was the guardian slave who escorted the child from home to the teacher, kept him from distraction and danger on the road, and enforced basic behavioral standards. Once the child arrived at school and sat with the teacher, the paidagōgos's role was over for that session. The law's role was exactly this: escort and guardian, walking alongside, making visible the moral standards, exposing failures, supervising the journey until Christ arrived. Once faith has come (once the destination of the escort journey has been reached) we are no longer under the paidagōgos. Thread 5 is the dispensational architecture: the law's paidagōgos role was real but temporary, defined by the arrival of its destination. Thread 4 is in the being brought to Christ: the goal of the law's entire supervision was to arrive at the one who justifies by faith.
The law was our paidagōgos to bring us to Christ, not the teacher but the escort-guardian who accompanies until the destination is reached; once arrived at Christ, the paidagōgos's role is complete.
παιδαγωγὸς εἰς Χριστόν (paidagōgos eis Christon): a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ: paidagōgos (not teacher but escort-guardian; in the Greek-Roman world the paidagōgos was the trusted slave who accompanied a child from home to school, supervising conduct and keeping order; the word literally means child-leader; the law's role was supervision and escort, walking alongside and constraining, until the destination was reached; the destination was Christ); eis Christon (toward Christ, into Christ, the directional preposition with the ultimate destination named)
threads t4 · t5 · see Romans 7:12 · Romans 10:4 · Colossians 2:17

Galatians 3:26

The argument arrives at its conclusion. Verse 26 states the status: all of you are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. The pantes (all) is not limited by ethnicity, legal status, or sex: verse 28 will make this explicit. The entry mechanism is faith; the location is in Christ Jesus. Verse 27 names the mechanism in baptismal language: as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. The baptism into Christ is the incorporation, being placed in Him, clothed with Him. Thread 6 is in the putting on: the in-Christ union is not metaphorical but genuine and transformative. Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female: all one in Christ Jesus. The distinctions of ethnicity (Jew/Greek), social status (slave/free), and biology (male/female) do not determine or limit access to the Seed. All who trust in Christ are in Christ. Thread 7 is in the all: the universal scope of the invitation produces a genuinely universal corporate people. And if you are Christ's (the condition is belonging to Him) then you are Abraham's sperma. The seed-word of verse 16, applied to Christ as the one Seed, is now applied to all who are in Christ. They become what He is. They are the elect body because they are in the Elect One. Thread 2 is the corporate election argument arriving at its NT apex: be-zar'akha (Genesis 22:18) → sperma (Galatians 3:16, Christ) → sperma (Galatians 3:29, all in Christ) → en autō (Ephesians 1:4). The election is in the Seed. Entry into the Seed is through faith.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, the corporate election argument arrives at its NT terminus: those in Christ are the be-zar'akha seed, the elect body, regardless of ethnicity, status, or sex.
πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ θεοῦ ἐστε διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ (pantes gar huioi theou este dia tēs pisteōs en Christō Iēsou): ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus: pantes (all, the universal scope; all who are in Christ are children of God, regardless of prior status); dia tēs pisteōs (by means of faith, the instrument); en Christō Iēsou (in Christ Jesus, the location that faith places the person in; Thread 6 is the union that Thread 2's election inhabits) · εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς Χριστοῦ ἄρα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ σπέρμα ἐστέ κατ᾽ ἐπαγγελίαν κληρονόμοι (ei de humeis Christou ara tou Abraam sperma este kat' epangelian klēronomoi): if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise: the condition is belonging to Christ; the consequence is being Abraham's sperma (the same word Paul used in verse 16 for the one Seed who is Christ); the elect body is defined by its location in the Seed; kat' epangelian (according to promise, the inheritance is by promise, not by performance, not by biological descent)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Genesis 22:18 · Romans 4:16-17 · Ephesians 1:4

Galatians 3:27

The argument arrives at its conclusion. Verse 26 states the status: all of you are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. The pantes (all) is not limited by ethnicity, legal status, or sex: verse 28 will make this explicit. The entry mechanism is faith; the location is in Christ Jesus. Verse 27 names the mechanism in baptismal language: as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. The baptism into Christ is the incorporation, being placed in Him, clothed with Him. Thread 6 is in the putting on: the in-Christ union is not metaphorical but genuine and transformative. Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female: all one in Christ Jesus. The distinctions of ethnicity (Jew/Greek), social status (slave/free), and biology (male/female) do not determine or limit access to the Seed. All who trust in Christ are in Christ. Thread 7 is in the all: the universal scope of the invitation produces a genuinely universal corporate people. And if you are Christ's (the condition is belonging to Him) then you are Abraham's sperma. The seed-word of verse 16, applied to Christ as the one Seed, is now applied to all who are in Christ. They become what He is. They are the elect body because they are in the Elect One. Thread 2 is the corporate election argument arriving at its NT apex: be-zar'akha (Genesis 22:18) → sperma (Galatians 3:16, Christ) → sperma (Galatians 3:29, all in Christ) → en autō (Ephesians 1:4). The election is in the Seed. Entry into the Seed is through faith.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, the corporate election argument arrives at its NT terminus: those in Christ are the be-zar'akha seed, the elect body, regardless of ethnicity, status, or sex.
πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ θεοῦ ἐστε διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ (pantes gar huioi theou este dia tēs pisteōs en Christō Iēsou): ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus: pantes (all, the universal scope; all who are in Christ are children of God, regardless of prior status); dia tēs pisteōs (by means of faith, the instrument); en Christō Iēsou (in Christ Jesus, the location that faith places the person in; Thread 6 is the union that Thread 2's election inhabits) · εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς Χριστοῦ ἄρα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ σπέρμα ἐστέ κατ᾽ ἐπαγγελίαν κληρονόμοι (ei de humeis Christou ara tou Abraam sperma este kat' epangelian klēronomoi): if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise: the condition is belonging to Christ; the consequence is being Abraham's sperma (the same word Paul used in verse 16 for the one Seed who is Christ); the elect body is defined by its location in the Seed; kat' epangelian (according to promise, the inheritance is by promise, not by performance, not by biological descent)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Genesis 22:18 · Romans 4:16-17 · Ephesians 1:4

Galatians 3:28

The argument arrives at its conclusion. Verse 26 states the status: all of you are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. The pantes (all) is not limited by ethnicity, legal status, or sex: verse 28 will make this explicit. The entry mechanism is faith; the location is in Christ Jesus. Verse 27 names the mechanism in baptismal language: as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. The baptism into Christ is the incorporation, being placed in Him, clothed with Him. Thread 6 is in the putting on: the in-Christ union is not metaphorical but genuine and transformative. Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female: all one in Christ Jesus. The distinctions of ethnicity (Jew/Greek), social status (slave/free), and biology (male/female) do not determine or limit access to the Seed. All who trust in Christ are in Christ. Thread 7 is in the all: the universal scope of the invitation produces a genuinely universal corporate people. And if you are Christ's (the condition is belonging to Him) then you are Abraham's sperma. The seed-word of verse 16, applied to Christ as the one Seed, is now applied to all who are in Christ. They become what He is. They are the elect body because they are in the Elect One. Thread 2 is the corporate election argument arriving at its NT apex: be-zar'akha (Genesis 22:18) → sperma (Galatians 3:16, Christ) → sperma (Galatians 3:29, all in Christ) → en autō (Ephesians 1:4). The election is in the Seed. Entry into the Seed is through faith.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, the corporate election argument arrives at its NT terminus: those in Christ are the be-zar'akha seed, the elect body, regardless of ethnicity, status, or sex.
πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ θεοῦ ἐστε διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ (pantes gar huioi theou este dia tēs pisteōs en Christō Iēsou): ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus: pantes (all, the universal scope; all who are in Christ are children of God, regardless of prior status); dia tēs pisteōs (by means of faith, the instrument); en Christō Iēsou (in Christ Jesus, the location that faith places the person in; Thread 6 is the union that Thread 2's election inhabits) · εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς Χριστοῦ ἄρα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ σπέρμα ἐστέ κατ᾽ ἐπαγγελίαν κληρονόμοι (ei de humeis Christou ara tou Abraam sperma este kat' epangelian klēronomoi): if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise: the condition is belonging to Christ; the consequence is being Abraham's sperma (the same word Paul used in verse 16 for the one Seed who is Christ); the elect body is defined by its location in the Seed; kat' epangelian (according to promise, the inheritance is by promise, not by performance, not by biological descent)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Genesis 22:18 · Romans 4:16-17 · Ephesians 1:4

Galatians 3:29

The argument arrives at its conclusion. Verse 26 states the status: all of you are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. The pantes (all) is not limited by ethnicity, legal status, or sex: verse 28 will make this explicit. The entry mechanism is faith; the location is in Christ Jesus. Verse 27 names the mechanism in baptismal language: as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. The baptism into Christ is the incorporation, being placed in Him, clothed with Him. Thread 6 is in the putting on: the in-Christ union is not metaphorical but genuine and transformative. Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female: all one in Christ Jesus. The distinctions of ethnicity (Jew/Greek), social status (slave/free), and biology (male/female) do not determine or limit access to the Seed. All who trust in Christ are in Christ. Thread 7 is in the all: the universal scope of the invitation produces a genuinely universal corporate people. And if you are Christ's (the condition is belonging to Him) then you are Abraham's sperma. The seed-word of verse 16, applied to Christ as the one Seed, is now applied to all who are in Christ. They become what He is. They are the elect body because they are in the Elect One. Thread 2 is the corporate election argument arriving at its NT apex: be-zar'akha (Genesis 22:18) → sperma (Galatians 3:16, Christ) → sperma (Galatians 3:29, all in Christ) → en autō (Ephesians 1:4). The election is in the Seed. Entry into the Seed is through faith.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, the corporate election argument arrives at its NT terminus: those in Christ are the be-zar'akha seed, the elect body, regardless of ethnicity, status, or sex.
πάντες γὰρ υἱοὶ θεοῦ ἐστε διὰ τῆς πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ (pantes gar huioi theou este dia tēs pisteōs en Christō Iēsou): ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus: pantes (all, the universal scope; all who are in Christ are children of God, regardless of prior status); dia tēs pisteōs (by means of faith, the instrument); en Christō Iēsou (in Christ Jesus, the location that faith places the person in; Thread 6 is the union that Thread 2's election inhabits) · εἰ δὲ ὑμεῖς Χριστοῦ ἄρα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ σπέρμα ἐστέ κατ᾽ ἐπαγγελίαν κληρονόμοι (ei de humeis Christou ara tou Abraam sperma este kat' epangelian klēronomoi): if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise: the condition is belonging to Christ; the consequence is being Abraham's sperma (the same word Paul used in verse 16 for the one Seed who is Christ); the elect body is defined by its location in the Seed; kat' epangelian (according to promise, the inheritance is by promise, not by performance, not by biological descent)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Genesis 22:18 · Romans 4:16-17 · Ephesians 1:4
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