The
apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Gentile believers in Galatia. The entire
purpose of the letter is to teach Gentiles that they do not have to behave like
the Jews or adopt Jewish traditions to be right before God. Throughout the OT
and the gospels it was clear that the law was a burden to Israel. They couldn’t
keep it. Paul in his masterpiece of Christian liberty, Romans, reveals that the
law was never meant to, and could never make anyone, acceptable to God.
Rom 7:5-13 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful
passions which were aroused by the law
were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. (6)
But now we have been delivered
from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should
serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
(When we
accept Christ death on the cross we are freed from our debt to the law, He paid
it.)
(7) What shall we say then? Is the law sin?
Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the
law.
(The
law is like a mirror,it shows me I need a shave but it can’t shave me. I the
same way the law showed we were sinners, but it does not save us.)
For I would not have
known covetousness unless the law had said, "YOU SHALL NOT
COVET." (8) But sin, taking opportunity by the
commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law
sin was dead.
(Without
the law, we had no way of knowing that we were sinful.It reveals God’s standard
and our inability to meet it. In the same way a highway with out speed limits
signs has no speed limit and no one can be punished for driving too fast, but
when the signs are put up, the standard is established and penalties for
breaking the standard are now given. )
(9) I was alive once without the law, but when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
(10) And the commandment, which
was to bring life, I found to bring death.
(Now
that we know the standard, our gulit is apparent because none can keep all the
law)
(11) For sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
deceived me, and by it killed me.
(12) Therefore the law is holy,
and the commandment holy and just and good.
(13) Has then what is good become
death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing
death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might
become exceedingly sinful.
(And
our need for a Savior revealed.)
Paul
here in Galatians explains why Gentiles are no longer under the law but under
grace.
Gal 3:1-29 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you
that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly
portrayed among you as crucified? (2) This only I want to learn from you: Did you
receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—
(3) Are you so foolish? Having begun in
the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
(Paul
is asking why having understood that no works of the law could save you but you
were saved by believing what God said, in what Jesus did on th cross to pay for
your sins.
(4) Have you suffered so many things in vain—if
indeed it was in vain? (5) Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and
works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, (NO) or by the hearing of faith? (YES) (6) just as Abraham "BELIEVED GOD, AND IT
WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
(Not by what he did but what he believed)
(7) Therefore know that only those who are of
faith are sons of Abraham. (Believing
Jews and Gentiles) (8) And
the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham
beforehand, saying, "In you all the
nations shall be blessed."
(9) So then those who are of
faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Believing
Jews and Gentiles) (10) For as many as are of the works of the law are
under the curse; for it is written,
(Un-believing Jews and Gentiles) "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT CONTINUE
IN ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM."
(You
may keep the Sabbath, but do you break any other Commandment, even once, the
whole law is broken, It is like a chain, if one link in the chain is broken,
the chain is broken)
(11) But that no one is justified by the
law in the sight of God is evident, for "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY
FAITH."
(12) Yet the law is not of faith, but "THE
MAN WHO DOES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM."
(If
you trust in the law to save you , you must keep all the the law to be saved.)
(13) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the
law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE
WHO HANGS ON A TREE"), (14) that the blessing of Abraham might come upon
the Gentiles (You
and Me) in
Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith.
(Paul
is saying trying to keep the law, as a means of being acceptable to God, is a
curse.)
(15)
Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: (Paul
gives an example) Though it is only a man's covenant, yet if it
is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.
(If
two men make a contract or covenant, once the contract is made, nothing changes
it.)
(16) Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises
made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one,
"AND TO YOUR SEED," who is Christ.
(17) And this I say, that the
law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant
that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of
no effect.
(God
promised Abraham that he would bless all nations of the world through Abraham’s
seed, Jesus Christ. He made him that promise 430 yrs before the law was given
to Moses. If God made that promise to Abraham and the contract can’t be
changed, then the law, received by Moses does not change the promise given by
God. That all who believed like Abraham would be blessed and saved through
Christ Jesus and not in keeping any law that was later given.)
(18) For if the inheritance is of the law, it is
no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
(If what we receive from Abraham is by keeping
the law, then it is not an inheritance which God promised us (and He always
keeps His promises). No rather it is an inheritance of grace. And we are saved
just as Abraham was, faith.(see v6)
(19) What purpose then does the law serve? (Why then was the law given?) It was added because of transgressions, (Study Romans 6 &7) till
the Seed (Jesus) should
come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the
hand of a mediator. (20) Now a mediator
does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
(21) Is the law then against the
promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could
have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. (22)
But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith
in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. (23)
But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the
faith which would afterward be revealed.
(24) Therefore the law was our
tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (25)
But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. (26)
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (27)
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (28)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there
is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29)
And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise.
I
could try to explain this but it is done so much better than I could ever do in
the Believers Bible Commentary.
Galatians 3:19-29
C. The
Purpose of the Law (3:19-29)
3:19 What
purpose then does the law serve? If, as Paul contended, the law did not
annul or add conditions to the promise God made to Abraham, what was
the purpose of the law? The law was intended to reveal sin in its
true character as transgression. Sin existed before the law, but man did not
recognize it as transgression until the law came. Transgression is the
violation of a known law.
The law was
given to a nation of sinners. They could never obtain righteousness by keeping
it because they did not have the power to obey it. The law was meant to show
men what hopeless sinners they were, so they would cry out to God to save them
by His grace. God's covenant with Abraham was an unconditional promise of
blessing; the law resulted only in cursing. The law demonstrated the
unworthiness of man to receive free and unconditional blessing. If man is to be
blessed, it must be by the grace of God.
The Seed is Christ. Therefore, the law was given
as a temporary measure until the coming of Christ. The promised Abrahamic
blessing was to come through Him. A contract between two parties involves a
mediator, a go-between. The law involved two contracting parties—God and
Israel. Moses served as go-between (Deu_5:5).
The angels were God's messengers in delivering the law to Moses (Deu_33:2; Psa_68:17;
Act_7:53; Heb_2:2).
The participation of Moses and the angels spoke of distance between God and His
people, of a people unfit for His presence.
3:20
If there was only one contracting party, and he made an unconditional
promise, requiring nothing from the other party, there would be no need of a
mediator. The fact that the law required a mediator implied that man must
keep his part of the agreement. This was the weakness of the law; it called for
obedience from those who did not have the power to give it. When God
made His promise to Abraham, He was the sole contracting Party. This was the
strength of the promise: everything depended on God and nothing on man. No
mediator was involved, because none was needed.
3:21
Did the law set aside the promises or take their place? Certainly
not! If it were possible to give a law by which sinners could
achieve the perfection required by God, then certainly salvation would have
been by law-keeping. God would not have sent the Son of His love to die for
sinners if He could have achieved the same result in some less costly way. But
the law had plenty of both time and people to demonstrate that it
could not save sinners. In this sense it was “weak through the flesh” (Rom_8:3). All the law could do was show men
their hopelessness and impress on them that salvation could only be by the free
grace of God.
3:22
The OT showed that all men are sinners, including those under the law.
It was necessary that man should be thus thoroughly convinced of sin, in order that
the promise of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to
those who believe. The key words in verse 22 are faith, given, and believe.
There is no mention of “doing” or “law-keeping.”
3:23 Faith
here is the Christian faith. It refers to the era ushered in by the death,
burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus, and the preaching of the
gospel at Pentecost. Before that time, the Jews were kept under guard as
if in a prison or in custody. They were fenced in by the law's requirements,
and since they could not fulfill these, they were restricted to the way of faith
for salvation. The people under law were thus confined until the glorious
news of deliverance from the bondage of the law was announced in the gospel.
3:24 The
law is pictured as a guardian and guide of children, or as a tutor.
This emphasizes the thought of teaching; the law taught lessons concerning the
holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the need for atonement. Here the
word is used to describe one who exercises discipline and general supervision
over minors, or the immature.
The words to
bring us are not in the original, but were supplied by the translators of
the King James tradition. If we leave them out, the verse teaches that the law
was a Jewish guardian up to Christ, that is, until the coming of Christ,
or with the coming of Christ in view. There is a sense in which the law
preserved the people of Israel as a distinct nation by regulations concerning
marriage, property, foods, etc. When “the faith” came, it was first announced
to this nation that had been so miraculously kept in ward through the
centuries. Justification by faith was promised on the basis of the
finished work of Christ, the Redeemer.
3:25
The law is the tutor, but once the Christian faith has
been received, believing Jews are no longer under the law. How much less
Gentiles, such as the Galatians, who were never under the tutor! Verse
24 teaches that man is not justified by law; verse 25 teaches that the law
is not the rule of life for one who is justified.
3:26
Notice the change in pronouns from “we” to you. In speaking of
the Jews as “we”, Paul showed that they were kept under law until the coming of
Christ. The law maintained them as a separate people to whom justification by
faith might be preached. When they were justified, they ceased to be under law,
and their distinctive character as Jews ceased. The pronoun “you” from
here to the end of the chapter includes both saved Jews and saved Gentiles.
Such people are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
3:27
Union with Christ, which takes place at the time of conversion,
is confessed in water baptism. This baptism does not make a person a member of
Christ or an inheritor of the kingdom of God. It is a public identification
with Christ, which Paul speaks of as a “putting on” of Christ. Just as a
soldier proclaims himself a member of the army by “putting on” his uniform, so
a believer identifies himself as one who belongs to Christ by being baptized
in water. By this act he publicly expresses submission to Christ's leadership
and authority. He portrays visibly that he is a son of God.
It is
certain that the apostle is not suggesting that water baptism unites a
person to Christ. That would be a blatant repudiation of his basic thesis that
salvation is by faith alone.
Nor is Paul
likely referring here to Spirit baptism, which places a believer in the body of
Christ (1Co_12:13). The baptism of the
Holy Spirit is invisible. There is nothing about it that corresponds to a
public “putting on” of Christ.
This is a
baptism that is unto Christ (JND). Just as the Israelites were baptized unto
Moses, identifying themselves with him as their leader, so believers today are
baptized unto Christ, signifying their recognition of Him as rightful
Lord.
By baptism
the believer signifies also the burial of the flesh and its efforts to obtain
righteousness. He signifies the end of the old way of life and the beginning of
the new one. In water baptism the Galatians confessed that they had died with
Christ and had been buried with Him. Just as Christ died to the law, so they
were dead to the law, and should not therefore desire to be under it as a rule
of life. Just as Christ has, by His death, broken down the distinction between
Jew and Gentile, so they have died to such national differences. They have
put on Christ in the sense that they now live a completely new life—the
life of Christ.
3:28
The law made distinctions between these classes. For instance, the
distinction between Jew and Gentile is insisted on in Deu_7:6; Deu_14:1-2.
In his morning prayer, a Jewish man thanked God that He had not made him a
Gentile, a slave, or a woman. In Christ Jesus these differences
disappear, that is, as far as acceptance with God is concerned. A Jew is not
preferred over a Gentile, a free man is not more favored than a slave, nor is a
man more privileged than a woman. All are on the same level because they are in
Christ Jesus.
This verse
must not be pressed into meaning something it does not say. As far as everyday
life is concerned (not to mention public ministry in the church), God does
recognize the distinction between male and female. The NT contains instructions
addressed to each; it also speaks separately to slaves and masters. But in
obtaining blessing from God, these things do not matter. The great thing is to
be in Christ Jesus. (This refers to our heavenly position, not to our
earthly condition.) Before God the believing Jew is not a bit superior to the
converted pagan! Govett says: “All the distinctions which the law made are
swallowed up in the common grave which God has provided.” Therefore, how
foolish it is for Christians to seek further holiness by setting up differences
which Christ has abolished.
3:29
The Galatians were deluded into thinking that they could become
Abraham's seed by keeping the law. Paul shows otherwise. Christ is the seed of
Abraham; the inheritance promised to Abraham was fulfilled in Christ. When
sinners believe on Him, they become one with Him. Thus they become Abraham's
seed and, in Christ, they inherit all of God's blessings.
