September 1st Galatians
3 Salvation only in Christ
1:
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? 2: This only would I learn of you,
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith? 3: Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now
made perfect by the flesh? 4: Have ye suffered so many things in
vain? if it be yet in vain. 5: 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? 6: Even as Abraham believed
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7: Know ye
therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. 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. 9: So then they which
be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 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. 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. 12: And the law is not of faith: but, The
man that doeth them shall live in them. 13: 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: 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. 15:
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. 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. 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. 18: For if the inheritance be of the law, it
is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
In
the third chapter Paul expresses sorrow saying, Oh believers of
Galatia who has dazzled you and mesmerised you into this foolishness
that you have turned from obedience to the truth? Christ was set
forth before your eyes and you saw him crucified among you. Then Paul
summarises the main point saying, I to want you ask you only one
thing. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obedience to the Mosaic
Law, or was it by hearing and believing the Gospel? The answer does
not need to be stated. Then Paul says, why are you so utterly foolish
as to think that having begun the christian life in the Spirits power
that you now come to maturity as believers by means of human wisdom
and strength? Have you suffered as believers for no purpose? (Lets
hope its not pointless at the moment!) Then Paul poses another
question, He says, he that ministers among you just now in the Spirit
– he who does miracles, does he do them by the obedience of the Law
or is it by hearing and believing in God? Then Paul goes back to
first principles, he says, Abraham believed God and God credited to
his account righteousness. And he says that, don’t you know that
those who believe like Abraham are his spiritual children. (He is not
saying that believers become Jews) The scriptures prophesied that God
would declare the heathen righteous through faith in Christ. And so
this good news from God was explained to Abraham when God said that,
‘In you will all nations of the earth be blessed’. (This will
have a literal fulfilment in the coming kingdom but it also has a
partial fulfilment in the Church of today) So believers today are
blessed with Abraham who believed God. All those who live trying to
keep the commandments of the Mosaic Law are under the curse of the
Law because they fail to keep it. The Scripture says that cursed is
every one that does not continue in every commandment which is
written in the book of the law to keep them. And no-one is declared
righteous in the sight of God by keeping the Law. This is made clear
by the scripture which says, ‘the just shall live by faith’.
Trying to keep the Law is not the same as having faith in God but the
man who tries to keep the Law is committed to keep it all. Christ has
freed us from the slavery of the Law and its curse by becoming the
object of the Laws curse in our place, because it was written in the
law that the curse of God remains upon any man who is hung on a tree.
And Christ was crucified that the blessing of Abraham might come on
all men including gentiles and that we might receive the promise of
the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. Then Paul says, l am
speaking like an ordinary man – even if it were a human agreement
when it were confirmed no-one is later able to break it or add to it.
The promise to Abraham was given to him and his seed. The promise was
not to ‘seeds’ as in the plural, but to ‘seed’ in the
singular and this ‘seed’ is Christ. And so this covenant which
was ratified before God in Christ, the Mosaic Law which came 430
years later, cannot render it null and void. The Mosaic Law does not
cancel out the Promise to Abraham. If Gods blessing comes to us by
trying to keep the Mosaic Law then Gods blessing is not a promise,
but God gave blessing to Abraham by promise.
- What does it mean to be bewitched?
- What is the main point that Paul is trying to make to the Christians in Galatia?
- What relation does the Mosaic law have in the life of a Christian?
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