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 Justification by Faith

 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”  (Galatians 3:8 | TNIV)

Introduction.  The Letter to the Galatians is Paul’s most urgent defense of the Gospel.  False teachers, probably Judaizers, had come into the churches of Galatia insisting that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law in order to be fully accepted by God.  Paul had preached Christ crucified by faith alone to them, but now the Galatians were in danger of deserting the grace of Christ for “another Gospel.”

In chapter 3, Paul mounts a powerful, multi-pronged argument that justification – being declared righteous before God – is received by faith in Jesus Christ and not by works of the Law.  He appeals to the Galatians’ own experience of the Spirit, to the example of Abraham, to the curse of the Law and Christ’s redemption from it, to the unchangeable nature of God’s promise, and finally to the temporary, preparatory purpose of the Law itself.

These verses are the theological heart of the letter.  It shows both the positive truth of justification by faith and the limited but important role the Law played in redemptive history until Christ came.

We are justified by faith.

 Foolish Galatians, 3:1 – 4.

 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. [2] I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? [3] Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? [4] Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?  (Galatians 3:1 – 4 | TNIV)

Paul opens this chapter like none other before:  “You foolish Galatians.”  The Greek word is “anoetoi,” and it means “unthinking” or “senseless.”  It’s not that these people were intellectually deficient, but that they were failing to connect what they had already experienced with the truth of the Gospel.  The strong word “bewitched” pictures someone under an evil spell or malign influence.  The false teachers had literally cast a spell of legalism over them!

The answer to Paul’s incredulous question was obvious to everyone.  When Paul preached Christ and they believed, the Holy Spirit had been poured out on them.  No one suggested they first needed to be circumcised or keep the Law in order to receive the Spirit.

Verse 3 exposes the Galatians’ inconsistency.  The Christian life begins by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit through faith. It can’t be completed or matured by human effort, ritual, or law-keeping.  Legalism always starts with grace and then tries to finish in the flesh.

The big takeaway so far is that justification and the gift of the Spirit are received by faith from the first moment of salvation.  Any teaching that adds law-keeping as a requirement for salvation or spiritual maturity denies both the sufficiency of Christ’s work and the power of the Spirit.

Christians today must constantly examine whether we are subtly returning to legalism – measuring our standing with God by our performance, religious activity, or moral improvement rather than resting in what Christ has already accomplished.  The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is powerful evidence – the only evidence really – that justification is by faith alone.

Children of Abraham, 3:5 – 9.

Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by your observing the law, or by your believing what you heard? [6] So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” [7] Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. [8] Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” [9] So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.  (Galatians 3:5 – 9 | TNIV)

Paul continues his argument from personal experience.  Even the miracles and ongoing ministry of the Spirit among them happened simply by them “believing what (they) heard,” and not through law-keeping./

Then he turns to Scripture, using Abraham as an example.  Paul quotes from Genesis 15:6 saying that “Abraham believed God and it (his belief) was credited to him as righteousness (justification).”  Paul’s point is that God declared Abraham to be righteous before circumcision, which came along two chapters later and centuries before the Law was given to Moses.  Therefore, logically Abraham was justified by faith alone.

Paul’s argument is simple but brilliant.  True sonship to Abraham is not a matter of physical rule keeping or physical descent; it’s a matter of faith.  The Scripture had already foreseen that God would justify the Gentiles through faith.  The promise given to Abraham – that the nations of the world would be blessed through him – was the Gospel preached in advance.  The blessing of Abraham – justification, the Holy Spirit, inheritance – comes to all who believe, just as it came to faithful Abraham.

The Abrahamic covenant was always a covenant of grace and promise, not works.  The true children of Abraham are those who share his faith, whether Jew or Gentile.  The Gospel to the nations was God’s plan from the very beginning.

This great truth destroys ethnic or ritual pride.  No one can claim special standing with God on the basis of heritage, religious background, or law-keeping.  We all come into God’s family exactly the same way:  By faith in the Jesus Christ.

Redeemed from the Law’s curse.

Curse of the Law, 3:10 – 13.

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” [11] Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because “the righteous will live by faith.” [12] The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “Whoever does these things will live by them.” [13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”  (Galatians 3:10 – 13 | TNIV)

Here, Paul shows the terrible reality facing anyone who seeks justification by the Law:  “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the  Book of the Law.”  Why?  It’s because Deuteronomy 27:26 pronounces a curse on everyone who doesn’t continue in ALL the things written in the Book of the Law.  James 2:10 says essentially the same thing:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  (James 2:10 | TNIV)

The simple fact is, no human being can or has ever kept the Law perfectly.  Therefore everyone who relies on keeping a set of rules stands under the curse of God.

Paul supports this with two Old Testament quotations.  Habakkuk 2:4 – “The just shall live by faith” and Leviticus 18:5 says:

Keep my decrees and laws, for whoever obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.  (Leviticus 18:5 | TNIV)

The Law operates on the principle of doing, not believing.  Since perfect doing is impossible, the Law can only condemn.

That’s the bad news.  The good news is that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us.  On the cross, Jesus took the curse that belonged to us.  The reference, “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” is from Deuteronomy 21:23 and shows that the manner of our Lord’s death – crucifixion – was itself a fulfillment of the curse-bearing role.  Christ became the cursed one in our place so that we might receive the blessing instead of the curse.

The Law cannot justify; it can only curse those who fail to keep it perfectly.  Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross is the only remedy.  He bore the curse so that justification by faith could be offered to guilty sinners.

This is the very heart of the Gospel we must preach and believe.  We are not saved by becoming good enough or by adding religious observances to our faith.  We are saved because Jesus took the curse we deserved.  Any message that diminishes Christ’s curse-bearing work or adds human works as a condition for justification is another gospel.

Unbreakable promise, 3:14 – 18.

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. [15] Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. [16] The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. [17] What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. [18] For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.  (Galatians 3:14 – 18 | TNIV)

Verse 14 connects redemption to its glorious results:  The blessing of Abraham now comes upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, and both Jews and Gentiles receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Paul then uses a human illustration.  Once a covenant or will has been ratified, no one can add to it or cancel it.  God’s covenant with Abraham was confirmed long before the Law was given.  The Law, which came over four centuries later, can’t nullify or add conditions to that earlier promise.

Most importantly, Paul notes that the promises were made to Abraham and his “seed” singular.  The singular seed points ultimately to Christ.  The inheritance isn’t distributed through the many physical descendants of Abraham by Law-keeping, but through the one Seed, Jesus Christ, and those who are united to Him by faith.

Therefore, if the inheritance were based on rules, it would no longer be by promise.  But God gave it to Abraham by promise – by sheer grace.

God’s promise to Abraham is prior, unconditional, and unbreakable.  The Law cannot change its terms or add requirements.  The inheritance comes through the promised Seed, Jesus Christ, and is received by faith.

You and I can have full assurance.  Our standing with God doesn’t depend on our ability to keep any set of rules or on any religious system.  It rests on God’s prior, gracious promise fulfilled in Christ.

The purpose of the Law.

The Law points to Christ, 3:19 – 21.

What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. [20] A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one. [21] Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.  (Galatians 3:19 – 21 | TNIV)

Paul anticipates the obvious question:  If the Law can’t justify anybody and came after the promise, why was it given at all?  According to him, the Law was given to expose sin, to define it clearly, to restrain evil in Israel, and to increase the sense of transgression until the coming of the Seed.  It was always intended to be temporary.

The Law was also given in a mediated way:  From the angels to Moses.  This stands in contrast to the direct, unilateral promise God made directly to Abraham.  A mediator stands between two parties; but God is one, and His promise to Abraham was a one-sided covenant of grace.

Paul is careful to say the Law is not against the promises of God.  The Law simply can’t give life or produce righteousness.  If any law could have done that, then righteousness would have been by the Law, but it cannot.

The Law had a real but limited purpose in God’s plan.  It revealed sin and prepared the way for Christ.  It was never intended to be the means of justification or the permanent governing principle for God’s people.

The Law, our guardian, 3:22 – 25.

But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. [23] Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. [24] So the law was put in charge of us until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. [25] Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.  (Galatians 3:22 – 25 | TNIV)

The Scripture (the law and the prophets) teaches that literally everyone is locked in the prison of sin and guilt, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.  The Law’s convicting work drives sinners to Christ.

Before Christ came, God’s people were “held in custody” by the Law until Christ came.  The Law, then, functioned like a strict guardian or jailer, holding people in protective custody until the time of fulfillment.

The most famous image is in verse 24, 25:  The Law was our “schoolmaster,” from the Greek “paidagogos.”  In the ancient world, the “paidagogos” was a trusted slave who escorted a child to school, protected him, and disciplined him until he reached maturity.  The Law’s role was to guard, convict, and lead people to Christ so that they might be justified by faith.

But now that faith has come – Christ has come and the era of faith has arrived – and nobody is under the care of a schoolmaster.  Believers are no longer minors under the Law’s guardianship.   We are adults sons in God’s household, free in Christ, led by the Spirit.

So then, the Law was never meant to be permanent.  Its purpose was to prepare the way for Christ and to drive us to Him for justification.  Once Christ came, the Law’s role as guardian was over.

Christians aren’t under the Law as a system of justification or as a covenant of works.  We are under grace.  This doesn’t mean we are lawless; rather we are now led by the Spirit and fulfill the righteous requirement of the Law through love.  The Law still reveals God’s moral will, but it no longer stands over us as a condemning guardian.

Conclusion.  This passage presents a majestic defense of justification by faith alone.  We are justified by faith because that’s how Abraham was justified, how the Spirit is received, and how the blessing of Abraham reaches the nations.  The Law cannot justify; it only curses those who cannot keep it perfectly.  But Christ has saved us from that curse by becoming a curse for us on the cross.

The Law had an important but temporary purpose.  Our Lord’s coming forever ended that purpose.  We are now sons and daughters of God, heirs according to the promise, free to live by faith and walk in the Spirit.