I really like the movie Hitch with Will Smith, and it’s not just
because I can use it as an illustration of how men should view and treat women
(don’t be a Vance Munson; if you currently act like him, please stop [but I’ll
speak directly to that topic in my explanation of 3:28 and several times
throughout chapter 5]!). Will Smith’s character introduces the movie by giving
a speech about “basic principles for a successful date,” but then, by the end
of the movie, says, “Basic principles? There are none.” The point being that if
you are forced to follow a certain pattern for a relationship to be successful,
then as soon as something breaks up that pattern, the relationship is doomed to
failure. Smith’s character learned quickly that his “rules for a successful
first three dates” were not the only way in which a relationship could blossom.
Every one of his rules was broken, and the relationship still bloomed (though I
won’t spoil the plot). In much the same way, in our passage today, Paul seeks
to show through a contrast between law and faith that if we are forced to
follow our “basic principles” we are still under a curse and our relationship with
God is doomed to failure.
Galatians 3:6-14 says, “Just as Abraham believed God, and it was
credited to him for righteousness, then understand that those who have faith
are Abraham’s sons. Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith and told the good news ahead of time to Abraham,
saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. So those who have
faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith. For all who rely on the
works of the law are under a curse, because it is written: Everyone who does
not continue doing everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because
the righteous will live by faith. But the law is not based on faith;
instead, the one who does these things will live by them. Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written:
Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed. The purpose was that the
blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we
could receive the promised Spirit through faith.”
So this passage seeks to answer more fully the rhetorical question Paul
posed in 3:5. “So then, does God supply you with the
Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by hearing with
faith?” He then puts forward the
first option: faith like Abraham’s, followed by the second: stay cursed under
the law. He uses quite a few Scriptures to explain his points, and it is quite
interesting that the Scriptures he chooses all come from the Law of Moses
(except for one). Paul saw the Law of Moses as authoritative, even if he didn’t
believe in following it in a ceremonial sense. This is very important to
remember in these kinds of discussions. It’s not that we become antinomian
(anti-law) as Christians, but rather we of all people can say, “So then, the
law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). He
clarifies in 1 Timothy 1:8, “But we know that the law is good, provided one
uses it legitimately.” So today’s discussion is not about condemning the law;
rather, it’s about how the law is no longer allowed to condemn us. There’s only
one way in which this is possible, and Paul lays it out in verses 13-14.
But first, there was Abraham. Verses 6-9 say, “Just as Abraham believed
God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, then understand that those
who have faith are Abraham’s sons. Now the Scripture saw in advance that
God would justify the Gentiles by faith and told the good news ahead of time to
Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. So those
who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.” The Judaizers were
saying that Gentiles had to become Jews to become real followers of Jesus. Paul
counters that by talking about Abraham, the father of Judaism, who was
originally a Gentile.
Paul begins by relating Abraham’s justification. It is originally told
in Genesis 15:5-6. “He took him outside and said, ‘Look at the sky and count
the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then He said to him, ‘Your offspring will be
that ⌊numerous⌋.’ Abram
believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” God made a promise to Abraham about Abraham’s
offspring, and Abraham believed it. For the human today, it is no different:
believe the promise that God makes to you about Jesus as the source of eternal
life (which is much more than just not going to hell when you die) and it will be
counted to you as righteousness. The reason God made this promise to Abraham,
that he believed for righteousness, was because God had yet to give him a
child. This was ten or so years after first being spoken to by God about
becoming a great nation, so Abraham naturally was beginning to wonder when it
would all start happening. One commentator explains, “Engaging in something of
a ‘pity party,’ Abram made seven references to himself (in the Hb) in the space
of 22 Hebrew words [in verses 2-3] and twice utters the complaint that he was
childless.”[1]
God still showed His graciousness by making the promise that He does in verse
5, that He graciously allowed Abraham to believe in verse 6. So, even though
Abraham was probably acting contrary to a man who believed God (like we do much
too often), God still made a promise that Abraham’s small amount of faith was
able to believe, and it led to his salvation.
Verse 7 is an introduction to the next entry. It has to do with the fact
that “a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and ⌊true⌋
circumcision is not something visible in the flesh” (Romans 2:28). It also has
to do with what Paul writes in Galatians 3:15-18, specifically verse 16. I’ll
give a hint right now: the offspring mentioned in Genesis 15:5, though numerous,
is a singular noun. Abraham will have one offspring that is numerous. Wait til
next time J
He hints at it again in the beginning of verse 8. The Scripture
predicted that God would justify the nations by faith and not by works, and it
is shown both in the prior quoted passage (15:5) and in what follows. Genesis
12:1-3 is the call of Abraham, which interestingly occurred before he was even
justified. “The LORD said to Abram: Go out
from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the
land that I will show you. I will make you
into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make
your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless
those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you
with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed
through you” (emphasis
added).
Paul explains Genesis 12:3 by writing verse 9: “The ones by faith are
being blessed with the faith of Abraham.” The ones who are truly Abraham’s
descendants are those who were born of faith. It’s almost as if Paul is saying,
“When Abraham believed God, he became righteous and so did all his true
descendants. Abraham’s faith is what blesses us if we believe as well. But
basically, without letting it all get too complicated, the point is that faith
is what saves. It worked for Abraham, and because it worked for Abraham, we
don’t need to do anything more than have faith to be justified.
And Paul proves this clearly in verses 10-12. “For all who rely on the
works of the law are under a curse, because it is written: Everyone who does
not continue doing everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because
the righteous will live by faith. But the law is not based on faith;
instead, the one who does these things will live by them.” The law presents a
curse. Our own personal principles, even, present a curse. As soon as we fail
to completely live up to them, we will never be able to completely live up to them.
Paul proves this in verse 10 by quoting Deuteronomy 27:26: “Cursed is he
who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them. And all the people
shall say, ‘Amen.’” This verse comes at the end of a lengthy passage
delineating what would bring a curse on the people of Israel: things such as
idolatry, dishonesty, perverted justice, or sexual immorality of various
kinds—heterosexual and homosexual. And then verse 26 catches everything else in
it: all 613 commands laid out from Exodus to the end of Deuteronomy must be
followed perfectly. Basically, Paul here says, “Oh yeah. Guess what? If you try
following the law for salvation, you’re already out of luck. If you’ve broken
even one of them, you’re under a curse, and the law can’t help you.”
In verse 11, Paul explains that it is clear that the law can’t justify
anyone, and he quotes Habakkuk 2:4 to prove it: “Behold,
as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will
live by his faith.” In the
original context, this is an answer from God to the prophet concerning the
coming Babylonian invasion. Habakkuk was unsure about both the future of Israel
and about the character of God since God was allowing the evil Babylonians to
attack and conquer Israel. Part of God’s response is to say that Babylon will
grow arrogant in their victory over Israel, and as such will be brought down by
God eventually; in contrast, those who belong to God will prove it by humble
faith and trust in God despite uncertain times. One commentator explains,
This
Babylonian self-righteousness, seeking their own ends, not only leads to pride
and the sinful acts of the next verses, it can also lead to death (cf. Prov. 14:12; 16:25). This death is their implied though unstated end, in contrast to the
life which awaits the righteous. This desired preservation of life will come to
Judah if they show faith, waiting in patient assurance that Yahweh will
act as he promised.[2]
Attempts
at keeping the law, in the Galatians context, only lead to pride, and Paul
wants to be clear that pride will be smashed, because the truth is that faith
is the only answer. One falter in keeping the law brings a curse, so why
subject yourself to that curse? Faith has always been what proves a person
righteous—from Abraham to the exile to Babylon—and it’s no different now—either
in Paul’s day or in ours.
And Paul makes clear in verse 12 that the law is the opposite of faith.
The righteous one lives by faith; the one who keeps the law lives by the law.
In fact, he basically says, “the law is the opposite of faith. You can see the
law and read the law and obey the law; it requires zero faith.” His quotation
of Leviticus 18:5 helps prove just how much of a curse the law keeps its
hearers trapped under. “So you shall keep My statutes and
My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.” This is at the end of an introduction to a
whole bunch of specific laws that the Gentiles were guilty of breaking.
Leviticus 18:3 says, “You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where
you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am
bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.” God is basically saying in
this section that if you want to live you have to follow all of these commands.
For the Gentiles—remember that the Galatians were not Jews—it was basically
hopeless for them to know God according to this standard. They were guilty of
breaking these laws. Paul is telling the Galatians—though not explicitly—that
following the law will never allow them to live. He is telling them to stop
listening to the deceivers that are telling them to return to the law. “Why go
back to being under a curse?” he asks in effect. Martin Luther concludes of trying
to be justified by works,
Men fast, pray, watch, suffer.
They intend to appease the wrath of God and to deserve God’s grace by their
exertions. But there is no glory in it for God, because by their exertions
these workers pronounce God an unmerciful slave driver, an unfaithful and angry Judge. They despise God, make a
liar out of Him, snub Christ and all His benefits; in short they pull God from
His throne and perch themselves on it.[3]
And then Paul writes verses 13-14. In them, he once again presents the
gospel in all its clear beauty: Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. “Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because
it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed. The purpose was
that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so
that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.” And thus he concludes
the answer to his question from verse 5. Christians get the Spirit through
faith, and the way they get the Spirit through faith was through the fact that
Christ became a curse in our stead. He was hung on a tree to symbolize publicly
that He became a curse. Christ bought us out from under the curse of the law by
taking our place. This is what Paul means in 2:20 when he says, “the Son of
God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” That is crazy love right there!
And it wasn’t just shown for Paul. There are things in my life and
things in your life, even today that we deserve to be cursed for. Maybe you
have something you care about more than you care about God. Maybe you don’t
honor your parents. Maybe you aren’t 100% honest in all your dealings with
others. Maybe you don’t care for the poor and needy like you’ve been called to.
Or maybe in some way or another you are sexually deviant.[4] Christ died to redeem you
from the curse that those actions earned. When He was crucified, the old you
was crucified also! Never return to it again. Why rebuild what He destroyed?
That would be the epitome of foolishness!
So, Jesus is our hope. Jesus is our model. Jesus is our principle. Any
other principles that we set above Him will only fail us. Let’s keep our eyes
on Jesus and not fall prey to anything that seeks to take the glory from Him.
Don’t pull Him off His throne!
Til next time.
Soli Deo
Gloria
[1] Jeremy
Royal Howard, ed., HCSB Study Bible, (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible
Publishers, 2010), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "Genesis
15".
[2] David W. Baker, Tyndale Old Testament
Commentaries – Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Academic, 2009), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 58.
[3] Martin
Luther, A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, trans.
Theodore Graebner, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1939; repr., Grand Rapids, MI:
Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 1999), WORDsearch CROSS e-book,
Under: "Galatians 3".
[4] This
would definitely be the one that stings the most for me, though almost a month
ago I vowed that I would not rebuild even one more stone to that condemned
building. Christ tore it down, and I am free! Now I just need—by His grace—to
practically prove it!
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