Chapter 3 part 1

Context

After establishing the legitimacy of his apostleship (1:1; 2:6-10) and his ministry (1:11-12), Paul focused on theology beginning with his response to Peter’s wavering (2:11-14). The doctrine of justification by faith is foundational to possessing peace with God and faithfully following Christ. All that contradicts this doctrine therefore, must be corrected.

Paul begins to address the topic of justification in 2:16 which summarizes the basis for which anyone is justified and clarifies what must necessarily be denied if Paul’s teaching is accepted to be true (biblical). Paul moves from addressing the theology of justification in general to applying that theology to the Galatians specifically in the third chapter. Paul’s pastoral heart for this church becomes evident as he seeks to bring to bear the gospel he proclaimed to them before and urge them to return to where they began their new lives in Christ.

In Galatians 3, the Apostle exhorts and rebukes the Galatian church for their theological naiveté by outlining a series of arguments to show the message of salvation that he declared to them from the beginning is the message that emerges from the Scriptures. Paul demonstrates that justification is by faith alone in this chapter through the following four arguments:

1. The Conversion Argument (1-6)

2. The Faith Argument (6-14)

3. The Promise Argument (15-25)

4. The Heir Argument (26-29)

Let’s begin by reading

Galatians 3:1–14 ESV

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

The Conversion Argument (1-6)

What about conversion argues that justification is by faith alone?

Conversion is based upon the finality of the atonement of Christ (1)

Oh: Paul’s urgency

Foolish Galatians: Lacking in spiritual discernment. They were not firmly grounded in the faith and as a result, they were being lead astray. They were undisciplined in their thinking and approached theological considerations carelessly.

Bewitched: conveys the idea of casting a spell over, holding someone spellbound - who has cast this spell over you?

publically portrayed as crucified: public posting, portray publically. Paul is referring to his previous preaching ministry among them. He clearly proclaimed Christ crucified to them. Paul is saying that because the message of Christ crucified was clearly proclaimed to them, they understand that the atonement of Christ was sufficient to secure their justification. Nothing else was needed, and to believe that anything is needed is to deny the sufficiency of the cross.

Keep in mind Paul’s approach so far in this epistle. He laid out an autobiographical narrative: his conversion, calling, early ministry, the missionary summit in Jerusalem, the first missionary journey that brought him and Barnabas to the cities of South Galatia. But instead of continuing with history of his life, Paul desired to provide the churches he founded with sound theological understanding so they would not be vulnerable to seductive, false doctrine.

Paul does focus on the past however, with respect to his evangelization of the Galatians. He and Barnabas proclaimed Christ-crucified, and it is this message that he is calling them back to in order to return to the truth.

Everything else that Paul will teach in this epistle, especially in chapters 3 & 4, will be predicated on the message he first preached to them.

So, conversion is based upon the finality of the atonement of Christ, and this truth about conversion argues that justification is by faith alone.

Conversion also argues that justification is by faith alone in that

Conversion is a gift of God (2)

Receiving the Spirit and being justified

Notice the similarities between how Paul makes his argument for justification in 2:16 and receiving the Spirit here in 3:2.

Galatians 2:16 ESV

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 3:2 ESV

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Both justification and receiving the Spirit come, not through works of the law but by faith. I suggest this demonstrates an inseparable connection between justification and the reception of the Spirit. To possess the Spirit is to be justified and to be justified is to have the Spirit.

The basis for the reception of the Spirit

What we need to understand about Paul’s argument here is that he believes that the Galatians had in fact received the Spirit. He believed they were saved. So this issue Paul addresses here is not if they received the Spirit but the basis upon which they received the Spirit.

As Paul made clear in verse 1, the basis for the Galatians’ salvation was the message of Christ-crucified. The Galatians were saved long before the Judaizers came on the scene. He wanted them to make this connection.

receive

not a self-prompted taking but a grateful reception of what has been offered

1 Corinthians 4:7 ESV

For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

The Galatians’ reception of the Spirit was the result of God’s provision of Him. This in-and-of-itself rules out human effort as a contributing factor to their possession of the Spirit.

hearing with faith

Galatians ((2) Why the Spirit? (3:2–5))

the process by which one comes within the orbit of God’s saving grace.

Paul makes it clear elsewhere that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17), and hearing refers to the passive posture of the listener (recipient).

The preaching of the gospel awakens faith as it is heard.

Conversion is a gift of God which again, argues for the doctrine of justification by faith

Another way conversion argues for justification by faith

Conversion provides the converted all that is necessary to live a life that is faithful to God (3)

Demystifying the blurred lines

The Judaizers claimed that while the gospel that Paul taught was true, it was incomplete and entry level in nature. Paul’s gospel was insufficient for the higher spiritual realities offered only though the works of the law.

The Judaizers would have rejected, therefore, Paul’s antithesis between the gift of the Spirit and the works of the law.

But their rejection of Paul’s teaching flies in the face of what Jesus taught regarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit

John 16:8–11 ESV

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

It was the Holy Spirit who opened our eyes, who pulled us out of darkness, who resurrected us out of our spiritual death… are we somehow to proceed from there by means of our own wisdom and strength?

They did not understand that justification and sanctification are inseparable. Wherever there is justification, there will be sanctification.

I want to quickly follow that up by saying that justification and sanctification are different. Justification is a historical event that is accomplished by the Holy Spirit through faith on the basis of Christ’s atoning work. Sanctification is a progressive work that the Holy Spirit works in believers as they express ongoing faith in the eternal effects of the atoning work of Christ.

If one is justified by the Spirit through faith, you will be sanctified by the Spirit through faith. If you are justified by works, you are sanctified by works. We can’t mix and match.

We have received the Holy Spirit in our regeneration and He now indwells us and enables us to live faithfully to God. The Holy Spirit is at work in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

So this in no way diminishes our responsibility to pursue righteousness, but we can only expect to increase in godliness by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Conversion also argues for justification by faith in that

Conversion displays the works of God apart from human works (4-5)

Suffer (4)

Suffer = experience (either positive or negative experience). IN this context a positive experience in the Lord is in view. They have heard the gospel, heard Christ clearly portrayed as crucified in the proclamation of the gospel, received the Holy Spirit.

Did you experience experience all of this blessing from God in vain? Was your conversion futile or genuine?

Paul’s is saying, surely you have been converted.. you were transformed by the gospel. you have already been placed in the kingdom and… you have already been saved.

So why would you be led astray from the truth as if something is lacking.

God supplies the Spirit (5)

The miracles that occured while I was with you, says Paul, that validated that I was a man of God… that I am an apostle, occured by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The question is, did these miracles occur because of human effort? Was their keeping of the Mosaic law the power of these miracles?

Finally

Conversion shows that justification has always been by faith

verse 6 begins with a conjunction which the ESV translates as just as, which is a good translation. What’s important to know here is that this conjunction is used to introduce a comparison. So here’s the comparison:

just as God supplies the Spirit and works miracles among them by hearing with faith (v. 5), so it was by faith that God justified Abraham.

When Abraham heard by faith the promise of God, he believed the promise and God reckoned that display of faith to Abraham as righteousness.

What I (and many others) suspect is that Paul’s opponents appealed to the status of the children of Abraham as a means to bolster their argument that obeying the law (circumcision) is necessary to have a right relationship with God. Abraham was circumcised, so all his children must be as well.

So what Paul does is he appeals Abrahams’s role in salvation history over and against the Judaizers’ appeal to Abraham.

Verse 7 begins with the word therefore or so then, and then goes on to continue a focus on Abraham.

But the bottom line, no matter who we may appeal to in history, history shows that justification has always been by faith

The Faith Argument (6-14)

What about faith, as is described in these verses, argues for justification by faith?

Faith is the singular instrument of justification (7-9)

This may be just a restatement of justification by faith alone, but I’m aiming to address some of what was going on in the Galatian context.

those of faith are sons of Abraham (7)

What we see in the movement from verse 6 to verse 7 is Paul extending his argument from Abraham to his posterity. This raises the question that will dominate the remainder of chapter 3 and 4: who are the true children of Abraham?

How did the Judaizers think about Abraham? What did they teach about salvation in relation to Abraham? They taught

That believers are true sons of Abraham

In order to be a true son of Abraham, you must receive the seal of circumcision, the indispensible sign of God’s covenant with His people.

Also, like father Abraham, you need to keep the commands of the law.

Paul’s argument begins in verse 7 which states very plainly that those of faith are the sons of Abraham. In other words, the true children of Abraham are those who believe, that is, ground their relationship with God on the basis of faith.

the scripture foreseeing (8)

a figure of speech

in you shall all the nations be blessed seems to be a conflation of Ge. 12:3 & 18:18.

Scripture seems to be a reference to the whole of Scripture. Because all of Scripture inspired by God (from God), we can conclude that Paul’s point is that God Himself spoke to Abraham the words attributed here to scripture. In other words, God, as recorded in Scripture spoke to Abraham.

What did the Scriptures foresee and preach?

the good news of salvation was to be extended to all peoples, including Gentiles who would be declared righteous just like Abraham on the basis of faith.

preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham is one greek word and appears only here in the NT. Proclaim good news in advance. As mentioned before, this part of v. 8 seems to be a conflation of

Genesis 12:3 ESV

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 18:18 ESV

seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

I suggest, what Paul is doing here is interpreting these texts in light of the fact that Jesus has come and completed His work of redemption.

Through Christ, all the nations of the earth will be blessed, that is, will be justified through faith in Christ and His work.

And keep in mind, Abraham was justified before the law was given (430 years before - v. 17). So the Judaizers’ argument that true children of Abraham will obey the law to have peace with God fail to remember that Abraham was declared righteous by God before the law was given.

those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham (9)

The so then that begins verse 9 lets us know that Paul is about to conclude the argument he began in v. 6.

So far, Paul undercut the argument of his opponents by making clear that

the children of Abraham are those who place their faith in the gospel and are declared righteous

So, those who are of faith are blessed by God as Abraham was… Jew or Gentile.

Another way a right understanding of faith argues for justification by faith alone is that

Faith centers on Christ who secured justification by becoming a curse for the justified (10-14)

In verses 6-9, Paul set forth a positive argument for justification by faith. In verses 10-14, he argues negatively by making clear that it is impossible to be declared righteous through observance of the law.

all who rely on works of the law are under a curse (10)

Paul point in the first part of v. 10 is that those who rely on the law or their performance of the law are under a curse. He bases this assertion on Scripture:

Deuteronomy 27:26 ESV

“ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

What follows this verse from Deut. are blessings for obeying the stipulations of the covenant and then the curses for disobeying. Anyone tracking Paul’s argument here would put it together that Israel had broken the law and therefore received the curses of the covenant.

It’s important to note the word all in verse 10. The word all is not present in the verse in Deut. 27; Paul added it here to make a point. If one supposes that it is possible to be righteous before God by obeying the law, the entire law must be obeyed. If you are at all familiar with the New Perspective on Paul teaching, you know that its proponents suggest that what Paul is referring to here are only the ceremonial laws, like circumcision, but I and many others respond by saying that the reason Paul cites Deut 27 here is to make clear that anyone who is relying on the law for their righteousness is under a curse because the law demands total obedience to avoid the curse.

no one is justified before God by the law (11)

to substantiate this claim, Paul again goes to the Scriptures. This time to Hab.

Habakkuk 2:4 ESV

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

Paul cites this verse to make clear that the only means for sinners to receive righteousness and life is through faith.

Paul cites this same verse in Rom.

Romans 1:17 ESV

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

What Paul does here and in Romans is make clear that justification comes only through faith and does not come by works of the law.

So, perhaps the contemporary idea that is familiar to us is refuted by this same argument: God helps those who help themselves. No, God rescues those who cannot rescue themselves. The righteous shall live by faith.

the law is not of faith (12)

It seems that the distinction Paul is making between faith and law is inseparably connected to upon what basis sinners are spared the condemnation of God.

Paul’s point is that there are different principles in view here. Some, like the Judaizers believe that one can be justified by their works. Paul believed that people are justified by God through faith, that is a trust in, reliance upon the work of Christ.

To illustrate the life-principal of the law, Paul quoted from Leviticus 18:5. I’ll quote verses 4 & 5 to get a broader sense of the context:

Leviticus 18:4–5 ESV

You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

The law operates on a different basis from saving faith. The only blessings it has to offer are for those who keep it (obey it).

Thomas Schreiner paraphrased verse 10 like this:

Salvation by works of the law is contrary to faith, for salvation by works of law means that the one who does the law will live by his obedience.

So if we do the law we will be legally righteous, but it demands we obey it all, all the time.

In tis sense then, the law is not of faith.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law (13)

So the law requires perfect obedience to be spared the curses of it. And, no one obeys to the extent that they achieve the blessings of the law instead of the curses of it. So everyone stands condemned. But, the gospel is true.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

redeemed means to buy off or to set free through payment of a price. Christ paid the price for His people.,

But the question then becomes, in what sense did Christ become a curse for us? Paul answers this question by going back to Deut.:

Deuteronomy 21:23 ESV

his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.

Now, this reference was not to crucifixion, which was a Roman style of execution.

As far as Jewish capital punishment was concerned, beyond the specific methods that were used, it was important that the criminal’s corpse was not exposed beyond sundown because this would dishonor God and defile the land. We know that Jesus’ body was removed from the cross before nightfall.

Being hung on a tree (cross) itself was not the curse but the fact that Jesus was publically impaled and becoming a gory spectacle for all to see was proof that Jesus became a curse.

And this was always the plan. Remember what Peter declared:

Acts 2:23 ESV

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Conclusion: The Purpose of Christ’s Substitutionary Death (14)

Here, Paul summarizes his entire train of thought he has developed in chapter 3 so far. He really recapitulates the argument concerning the curse and the cross by stating 2 purposes of Christ’s substitutionary death

1. The blessing of Abraham be extended to the Gentiles

2. The Promise of the Holy Spirit be given through faith

Next week we will consider how the

promise argument (15-25)

heir argument (26-29)

argue for Paul’s main thesis of this book that justification is by faith.