Righteous by Faith

Law or Faith?

Main question of Gal chapter 3=Do we live by law or by faith?

Police: Letter of the law vs Spirit of the law (give example)

Paul’s exhortation: You are forgetting about the Spirit of the Law=pointing people toward a right relationship with God (not to be applied to those who are not ethnically Jews).

God’s covenant with Abraham, which says (Genesis 12:3) “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” is not annulled by the Law which came four-hundred and thirty years later.

The Purpose of the Law

Problem of the Galatians:

making everyone live under the law

What’s the purpose of the law?

Galatians 3:19 “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made, and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.”

But now…

Galatians 3:25 “But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,”

John 1:12 “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,”

Romans 8:14 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

The Spirit of God, through Faith in Jesus Christ, makes us righteous in the eyes of God, makes us acceptable as heirs with Christ Jesus.

Heirs according to the Promise

The good news of the Gospel for us Gentiles is that we have been righteous by faith, as Abraham was.

Galatians 3:27 “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Galatians 3:29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”

God is faithful in his promises to Abraham and to us

We can be secure in our standing with God