Galatians 3

The key to this section is in the word suffered (Gal. 3:4), which can be translated “experienced.” Paul asked, “Have you experienced so many things in vain?” The argument from Christian experience was a wise one with which to begin, because Paul had been with them when they had trusted Christ. Of course, to argue from experience can be dangerous, because experiences can be counterfeited and they can be misunderstood. Subjective experience must be balanced with objective evidence, because experiences can change, but truth never changes. Paul balanced the subjective experience of the Galatian Christians with the objective teaching of the unchanging Word of God (Gal. 3:6–14).

It was obvious that these people had experienced something in their lives when Paul had first visited them; but the Judaizers had come along and convinced them that their experience was not complete. They needed something else, and that “something else” was obedience to the law of Moses. These false teachers had bewitched them and turned them into fools. In calling them “fools” Paul was not violating Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:22), because two different words are used and two different ideas are expressed. Foolish in Galatians 3: means “spiritually dull” (see Luke 24:25), while the word Jesus used carries the idea of “a godless person.” Paul was declaring a fact; Jesus was warning against verbal abuse.

Paul reminded them that they had truly experienced a meeting with God.

They saw God the Son (v. 1). It was “Christ and him crucified” that Paul had preached in Galatia, and with such effectiveness that the people could almost see Jesus crucified for them on the cross. The words evidently set forth translate a Greek word that means “publicly portrayed, or announced on a poster.” Just as we put important information on a poster and display it in a public place, so Paul openly presented Christ to the Galatians, with great emphasis on His death for sinners on the cross. They heard this truth, believed it, and obeyed it; and as a result, were born into the family of God.

They received God the Holy Spirit (vv. 2–4). The Holy Spirit is mentioned eighteen times in this epistle and plays an important part in Paul’s defense of the gospel of the grace of God. The only real evidence of conversion is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (see Rom. 8:9). Paul asked an important question: Did they receive the Spirit by faith in the Word of God, or by doing the works of the law? Of course, there could be but one answer: The Spirit came into their lives because they trusted Jesus Christ.

It is important that we understand the work of the Spirit in salvation and Christian living. The Holy Spirit convicts the lost sinner and reveals Christ to him (John 16:7–11). The sinner can resist the Spirit (Acts 7:51) or yield to the Spirit and trust Jesus Christ. When the sinner believes in Christ, he is then born of the Spirit (John 3:1–8) and receives new life. He is also baptized by the Spirit so that he becomes a part of the spiritual body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12–14). The believer is sealed by the Spirit (Eph. 1:13–14) as a guarantee that he will one day share in the glory of Christ.

Since the Holy Spirit does so much for the believer, this means that the believer has a responsibility to the Holy Spirit, who lives within his body (1 Cor. 6:19–20). The Christian should walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25) by reading the Word, praying, and obeying God’s will. If he disobeys God, then he is grieving the Spirit (Eph. 4:30), and if he persists in doing this, he may quench the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19). This does not mean that the Holy Spirit will leave him, because Jesus has promised that the Spirit abides forever (John 14:16). But it does mean that the Spirit cannot give him the joy and power that he needs for daily Christian living. Believers should be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18–21), which simply means “controlled by the Spirit.” This is a continuous experience, like drinking water from a fresh stream (John 7:37–39).

So, in their conversion experience, the believers in Galatia had received the Spirit by faith and not by the works of the law. This led Paul to another question: “If you did not begin with the law, why bring it in anyway? If you began with the Spirit, can you go on to maturity without the Spirit, depending on the flesh?” The word flesh here does not refer to the human body, but rather to the believer’s old nature. Whatever the Bible says about “flesh” is usually negative (see Gen. 6:1–7; John 6:63; Rom. 7:18; Phil. 3:3). Since we were saved through the Spirit and not the flesh, through faith and not law, then it is reasonable that we should continue that way.

The illustration of human birth is appropriate here. Two human parents are required for a child to be conceived and born, and two spiritual parents are required for a child to be born into God’s family: the Spirit of God and the Word of God (John 3:1–8; 1 Peter 1:22–25). When a normal child is born, he has all that he needs for life; nothing need be added. When the child of God is born into God’s family, he has all that he needs spiritually; nothing need be added! All that is necessary is that the child have food, exercise, and cleansing that he might grow into maturity. It would be strange if the parents had to take the child to the doctor at one month to receive ears, at two months to receive toes, and so on.

“You have begun in the Spirit,” wrote Paul. “Nothing need be added! Walk in the Spirit and you will grow in the Lord.”

They experienced miracles from God the Father (v. 5). The He in this verse refers to the Father as the One who ministers the Spirit and “worketh miracles among [them].” The same Holy Spirit who came into the believer at conversion continues to work in him and through him so that the whole body is built up (see Eph. 4:16; Col. 2:19). The Father continues to supply the Spirit in power and blessing, and this is done by faith and not by the works of the law. The phrase among you can also be translated “within you.” These miracles would therefore include wonderful changes within the lives of the Christians, as well as signs and wonders within the church fellowship.

“Do you really believe the miracles in the Bible?” a skeptic asked a new Christian who had been a terrible drinker. “Of course I do!” the believer replied. The skeptic laughed. “Do you mean that you really believe that Jesus could turn water into wine?” he asked. “I sure do! In my home He turned wine into food and clothing and furniture!”

The sixty verses that make up Galatians 3 and 4 are some of the strongest writing that Paul ever penned. But, after all, he was in a battle! He was out to prove that salvation is by grace alone, and not by the works of the law. His opponents had used every possible means to try to capture the churches of Galatia, and Paul was not going to fight them halfheartedly. The apostle was no amateur when it came to debate, and in these two chapters he certainly proves his abilities. His logic is unassailable.

Paul used six different arguments to prove that God saves sinners through faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. He began with the personal argument (Gal. 3:1–5) in which he asked the Galatians to recall their personal experience with Christ when they were saved. Then he moved into the scriptural argument (Gal. 3:6–14), in which he quoted six Old Testament passages to prove his point. In the logical argument (Gal. 3:15–29) he reasoned with his readers on the basis of what a covenant is and how a covenant works. He then presented the historical argument (Gal. 4:1–11), explaining the place of law in the history of Israel.

At this point, Paul’s love for his converts came to the surface. The result is a sentimental argument (Gal. 4:12–18) as the apostle appealed to them to remember his love and their happy relationship in days past. But then Paul went right back to his close reasoning, and concluded with the allegorical argument (Gal. 4:19–31) based on the life of Abraham and his relationships with Sarah and Hagar. Practical application of his doctrinal argument follows in the last two chapters.

Paul turns now from subjective experience to the objective evidence of the Word of God. We never judge the Scriptures by our experience; we test our experience by the Word of God. In the first section, Paul asked six questions; in this section he will quote six Old Testament statements to prove that salvation is by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. Since the Judaizers wanted to take the believers back into the law, Paul quoted the law! And, since they magnified the place of Abraham in their religion, Paul used Abraham as one of his witnesses!

Abraham was saved by faith (vv. 6–7). Paul began by quoting Moses to show that God’s righteousness was placed to Abraham’s account only because he believed God’s promise (Gen. 15:6). The words accounted in Galatians 3: and counted in Genesis 15: mean the same as imputed in Romans 4:11, 22–24. The Greek word means “to put to one’s account.” When the sinner trusts Christ, God’s righteousness is put to his account. More than this, the believer’s sins are no longer put to his account (see Rom. 4:1–8). This means that the record is always clean before God, and therefore the believer can never be brought into judgment for his sins.

The Jewish people were very proud of their relationship with Abraham. The trouble was, they thought that this relationship guaranteed them eternal salvation. John the Baptist warned them that their physical descent did not guarantee spiritual life (Matt. 3:9). Jesus made a clear distinction between “Abraham’s seed” physically and “Abraham’s children” spiritually (John 8:33–47). Some people today still imagine that salvation is inherited. Because mother and father were godly people, the children are automatically saved. But this is not true. It has well been said, “God has no grandchildren.”

This salvation is for the Gentiles (vv. 8–9). The word heathen (Gal. 3:8), as used here, simply means Gentiles. Paul’s quotation of Moses (Gen. 12:3) proves that, from the very beginning of Abraham’s relationship with God, the blessing of salvation was promised to all the nations of the world. God preached the “good news” to Abraham centuries ago, and Paul brought that same good news to the Galatians: Sinners are justified through faith and not by keeping the law. The logic here is evident: If God promised to save the Gentiles by faith, then the Judaizers were wrong in wanting to take the Gentile believers back into law. The true “children of Abraham” are not the Jews by physical descent, but Jews and Gentiles who have believed in Jesus Christ. All those who are “of faith” (believers) are blessed with “believing Abraham.”

When you read God’s great covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1–3, you discover that many different blessings were promised—some personal, some national and political, and some universal and spiritual. Certainly God did make Abraham’s name great; he is revered not only by Jews, but also by Christians, Muslims, and many others. God did multiply his descendants, and God did bless those who blessed Abraham. He also judged those who cursed his descendants (Egypt, Babylon, and Rome are cases in point). But the greatest blessings that God sent through Abraham and the Jewish nation have to do with our eternal salvation. Jesus Christ is that promised “Seed,” through whom all the nations have been blessed (Gal. 3:16).

This salvation is by faith, not law (vv. 10–12). Salvation could never come by obedience to law because the law brings a curse, not a blessing. Here Paul quoted from Deuteronomy 27:26. Law demands obedience, and this means obedience in all things. The law is not a “religious cafeteria” where people can pick and choose (see James 2:10–11). Paul next quoted Habakkuk: “The just shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4). This statement is so important that the Holy Spirit inspired three New Testament books to explain it, as mentioned before. Romans explains “the just” and tells how the sinner can be justified before God (see Rom. 1:17). Galatians explains how the just “shall live”; and Hebrews discusses “by faith” (see Heb. 10:38). Nobody could ever live “by law” because the law kills and shows the sinner he is guilty before God (Rom. 3:20; 7:7–11).

But someone might argue that it takes faith even to obey the law; so Paul quoted Leviticus to prove that it is doing the law, not believing it, that God requires (Lev. 18:5). Law says, “Do and live!” but grace says, “Believe and live!” Paul’s own experience (Phil. 3:1–10), as well as the history of Israel (Rom. 10:1–10), proves that works righteousness can never save the sinner; only faith righteousness can do that.

The Judaizers wanted to seduce the Galatians into a religion of legal works, while Paul wanted them to enjoy a relationship of love and life by faith in Christ. For the Christian to abandon faith and grace for law and works is to lose everything exciting that the Christian can experience in his daily fellowship with the Lord. The law cannot justify the sinner (Gal. 2:16); neither can it give him righteousness (Gal. 2:21). The law cannot give the gift of the Spirit (Gal. 3:2), nor can it guarantee that spiritual inheritance that belongs to God’s children (Gal. 3:18). The law cannot give life (Gal. 3:21), and the law cannot give liberty (Gal. 4:8–10). Why, then, go back into the law?

This salvation comes through Christ (vv. 13–14). These two verses beautifully summarize all that Paul had been saying in this section. Does the law put sinners under a curse? Then Christ has redeemed us from that curse! Do you want the blessing of Abraham? It comes through Christ! Do you want the gift of the Spirit, but you are a Gentile? This gift is given through Christ to the Gentiles! All that you need is in Christ! There is no reason to go back to Moses.

Paul quoted Deuteronomy again: “He that is hanged is accursed of God” (Deut. 21: nkjv). The Jews did not crucify criminals; they stoned them to death. But in cases of shameful violation of the law, the body was hung on a tree and exposed for all to see. This was a great humiliation, because the Jewish people were very careful in their treatment of a dead body. After the body had been exposed for a time, it was taken down and buried (see Josh. 8:29; 10:26; 2 Sam. 4:12).

Of course, Paul’s reference to a “tree” relates to the cross on which Jesus died (Acts 5:30; 1 Peter 2:24). He was not stoned and then His dead body exposed; He was nailed alive to a tree and left there to die. But by dying on the cross, Jesus Christ bore the curse of the law for us; so that now the believer is no longer under the law and its awful curse. “The blessing of Abraham” (justification by faith and the gift of the Spirit) is now ours through faith in Jesus Christ.

The word redeemed in Galatians 3: means to purchase a slave for the purpose of setting him free. It is possible to purchase a slave and keep him as a slave, but this is not what Christ did. By shedding His blood on the cross, He purchased us that we might be set free. The Judaizers wanted to lead the Christians into slavery, but Christ died to set them free. Salvation is not exchanging one form of bondage for another. Salvation is being set free from the bondage of sin and the law into the liberty of God’s grace through Christ.

This raises an interesting question: How could these Judaizers ever convince the Galatian Christians that the way of law was better than the way of grace? Why would any believer deliberately want to choose bondage instead of liberty? Perhaps part of the answer is found in the word bewitched that Paul used in Galatians 3:1. The word means “to cast a spell, to fascinate.” What is there about legalism that can so fascinate the Christian that he will turn from grace to law?

For one thing, legalism appeals to the flesh. The flesh loves to be “religious”—to obey laws, to observe holy occasions, even to fast (see Gal. 4:10). Certainly there is nothing wrong with obedience, fasting, or solemn times of spiritual worship, provided that the Holy Spirit does the motivating and the empowering. The flesh loves to boast about its religious achievements— how many prayers were offered, or how many gifts were given (see Luke 18:9–14; Phil. 3:1–10).

Another characteristic of religious legalism that fascinates people is the appeal to the senses. Instead of worshipping God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), the legalist invents his own system that satisfies his senses. He cannot walk by faith; he has to walk by sight and hearing and tasting and smelling and feeling. To be sure, true Spirit-led worship does not deny the five senses. We see other believers; we sing and hear the hymns; we taste and feel the elements of the Lord’s Supper. But these external things are but windows through which faith perceives the eternal. They are not ends in themselves.

The person who depends on religion can measure himself and compare himself with others. This is another fascination to legalism. But the true believer measures himself with Christ, not other Christians (Eph. 4:11ff.). There is no room for pride in the spiritual walk of the Christian who lives by grace; but the legalist constantly boasts about his achievements and his converts (Gal. 6:13–14).

Yes, there is a fascination to the law, but it is only bait that leads to a trap; and once the believer takes the bait, he finds himself in bondage. Far better to take God at His Word and rest on His grace. We were saved “by grace, through faith”; and we must live “by grace, through faith.” This is the way to blessing. The other way is the way to bondage.

The word promise is used eight times in these verses, referring to God’s promise to Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3). This promise involved being justified by faith and having all the blessings of salvation (Gal. 3:6–9). It is obvious that the promise to Abraham (and, through Christ, to us today), given about 2000 b.c., preceded by centuries the law of Moses (about 1450 b.c.). The Judaizers implied that the giving of the law changed that original covenant of promise. Paul argued that it did not.

To begin with, once two parties conclude an agreement, a third party cannot come along years later and change that agreement. The only persons who can change an original agreement are the persons who made it. To add anything to it or take anything from it would be illegal.

If this is true among sinful men, how much more does it apply to the holy God? Note that Abraham did not make a covenant with God; God made a covenant with Abraham! God did not lay down any conditions for Abraham to meet. In fact, when the covenant was ratified Abraham was asleep! (see Gen. 15). It was a covenant of grace: God made promises to Abraham; Abraham did not make promises to God.

But Paul revealed another wonderful truth: God made this promise, not only to Abraham, but also to Christ. “And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16).

The Bible concept of “the seed” goes back to Genesis 3:15, after the fall of man. God states that there will be a conflict in the world between Satan’s seed (children of the devil, see John 8:33–44) and the woman’s seed (God’s children and, ultimately, God’s Son). The Scriptures show this conflict: Cain versus Abel (see 1 John 3:10–12); Israel versus the nations; John the Baptist and Jesus versus the Pharisees (Matt. 3:7–9; 23:29–33); the true believer versus the counterfeit (see the parable of the tares, Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43). Satan’s goal in the Old Testament was to keep the Seed (Christ) from being born into the world, for Satan knew that God’s Son would one day crush his head.

In the final analysis, God made this covenant of promise with Abraham through Christ, so that the only two parties who can make any changes are God the Father and God the Son. Moses cannot alter this covenant! He can add nothing to it; he can take nothing from it. The Judaizers wanted to add to God’s grace (as though anything could be added to grace!) and take from God’s promises. They had no right to do this since they were not parties in the original covenant.

The 430 years of Galatians 3: has puzzled Bible students for many years. From Abraham’s call (Gen. 12) to Jacob’s arrival in Egypt (Gen. 46) is 215 years. (This may be computed as follows: Abraham was 75 years old when God called him and 100 when Isaac was born, Gen. 12:4; 21:5. This gives us 25 years. Isaac was 60 when Jacob was born, Gen. 25:26; and Jacob was 130 years old when he arrived in Egypt, Gen. 47:9. Thus, 25 + 60 + 130 = 215 years.) But Moses tells us that Israel sojourned in Egypt 430 years (Ex. 12:40); so the total number of years from Abraham’s call to the giving of the law is 645 years, not 430. The length of the stay in Egypt is recorded also in Genesis 15: and Acts 7:6, where the round figure of 400 years is used.

Several solutions have been offered to this puzzle, but perhaps the most satisfying is this: Paul was counting from the time Jacob went into Egypt, when God appeared to him and reaffirmed the covenant (Gen. 46:1–4). The 430 years is the time from God’s confirmation of His promise to Jacob until the giving of the law at Sinai.

Regardless of what solution to the dating question we may choose, the basic argument is clear: a law given centuries later cannot change a covenant made by other parties. But suppose the later revelation, such as the law of Moses, was greater and more glorious than the earlier? What then? Paul made a second statement.

The Judaizers had Paul in a corner. He had just finished proving from the Old Testament that God’s plan of salvation left no room for the works of the law. But the fact that Paul quoted six times from the Old Testament raised a serious problem: If salvation does not involve the law, then why was the law given in the first place? Paul quoted from the law to prove the insignificance of the law. If the law is now set aside, then his very arguments are worthless because they are taken from the law.

Our faith is a logical faith and can be defended on rational grounds. While there are divine mysteries in the faith that no man can fully explain, there are also divine reasons that any sincere person can understand. Paul was trained as a Jewish rabbi and was fully equipped to argue his case. In this section, he makes four statements that help us understand the relationship between promise and law.

The account of the giving of the law is impressive (Ex. 19). There were thunders and lightnings, and the people were trembling with fear. Even Moses was shaking in his sandals (Heb. 12:18–21). It was a dramatic event in comparison with the giving of the covenant to Abraham (Gen. 15), and, of course, the Judaizers were impressed with these emotional externals. But Paul pointed out that the law is inferior to the covenant of promise in two ways.

The law was temporary (v. 19a). “It was added … until the seed should come.” Now it is obvious that a temporary law cannot be greater than a permanent covenant. When you read God’s covenant with Abraham, you find no “ifs” in His words. Nothing was conditional; all was of grace. But the blessings of the law were dependent on the meeting of certain conditions. Furthermore, the law had a terminus point: “until the seed [Christ] should come.” With the death and resurrection of Christ, the law was done away, and now its righteous demands are fulfilled in us through the Spirit (Rom. 7:4; 8:1–4).

The law required a mediator (vv. 19b–20). When God gave the law to Israel, He did it by means of angels and through the mediation of Moses. Israel “received the law by the disposition of angels” (Acts 7:53). This means that the nation received the law third-hand: from God to angels to Moses. But when God made His covenant with Abraham, He did it personally, without a mediator. God was revealing to Abraham all that He would do for him and his descendants. A mediator stands between two parties and helps them to agree; but there was no need for a mediator in Abraham’s case since God was entering into a covenant with him, not Abraham with God. “God is one” (Gal. 3:20), therefore there was no need for a go-between.

The Judaizers were impressed by the incidentals of the law—glory, thunder, lightning, angels, and other externals. But Paul looked beyond incidentals to the essentials. The law was temporary and required a mediator. The covenant of promise was permanent, and no mediator was required. There could be but one conclusion: The covenant was greater than the law.

You can almost hear the Judaizers shouting the question in Galatians 3:21: “Is the law then against the promises of God?” Is God contradicting Himself? Does His right hand not know what His left hand is doing? As he replied to this question, Paul revealed his deep insight into the ways and purposes of God. He did not say that the law contradicts the promise, but rather that it cooperates with the promise in fulfilling the purposes of God. While law and grace seem to be contrary to one another, if you go deep enough, you will discover that they actually complement one another. Why, then, was the law given?

The law was not given to provide life (v. 21). Certainly the law of Moses regulated the lives of the Jewish people, but it did not and could not provide spiritual life to the people. (Gal. 3: should be matched with 2:21.) If life and righteousness could have come through the law, then Jesus Christ would never have died on the cross. But Jesus did die; therefore, the law could never give the sinner life and righteousness. It was “worship of the law” that led Israel into a self-righteous religion of works, the result of which was the rejection of Christ (Rom. 9:30— 10:13).

The law was given to reveal sin (vv. 19a, 22). It is here that we see the way that law and grace cooperate in bringing the lost sinner to Jesus Christ. law shows the sinner his guilt, and grace shows him the forgiveness he can have in Christ. The law is “holy, and just, and good” (Rom. 7:12), but we are unholy, unjust, and bad. The law does not make us sinners; it reveals to us that we already are sinners (see Rom. 3:20). The law is a mirror that helps us see our “dirty faces” (James 1:22–25)—but you do not wash your face with the mirror! It is grace that provides the cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ (see 1 John 1:7b).

There is a lawful use of the law, and there is an unlawful use (1 Tim. 1:8–11). The lawful use is to reveal sin and cause men to see their need of a Savior. The unlawful use is to try to achieve salvation by the keeping of the law. When people claim they are saved by “keeping the Ten Commandments,” they are revealing their ignorance of the true meaning of the law. The law concludes “all [men] under sin” (Gal. 3:22), Jews and Gentiles alike. But since all are under sin, then all may be saved by grace! God does not have two ways of salvation; He has but one—faith in Jesus Christ.

The law was given to prepare the way for Christ (vv. 23–26). Here Paul uses an illustration that was familiar to all his readers—the child guardian. In many Roman and Greek households, well-educated slaves took the children to and from school and watched over them during the day. Sometimes they would teach the children, sometimes they would protect and prohibit, and sometimes they would even discipline. This is what Paul meant by schoolmaster (Gal. 3:24); but please do not read into this word our modern idea of a schoolteacher. The transliteration of the Greek would give us our word pedagogue, which literally means “a child conductor.”

By using this illustration, Paul was saying several things about the Jews and their law. First, he was saying that the Jews were not born through the law, but rather were brought up by the law. The slave was not the child’s father; he was the child’s guardian and disciplinarian. So, the law did not give life to Israel; it regulated life. The Judaizers taught that the law was necessary for life and righteousness, and Paul’s argument shows their error.

But the second thing Paul said is even more important: the work of the guardian was preparation for the child’s maturity. Once the child came of age, he no longer needed the guardian. So the law was a preparation for the nation of Israel until the coming of the promised Seed, Jesus Christ. The ultimate goal in God’s program was His coming (Gal. 3:22), but “before this faith [Christ] came” (Gal. 3: niv), the nation was “imprisoned by the law” (literal translation).

The law separated Israel from the Gentile nations (Eph. 2:12–18); it governed every aspect of their lives. During the centuries of Jewish history, the law was preparing for the coming of Christ. The demands of the law reminded the people that they needed a Savior. The types and symbols in the law were pictures of the coming Messiah (see Luke 24:27).

A good example of this purpose of the law is in the account of the rich young ruler (Matt. 19:16ff.). This young man had everything anybody could desire, but he was not satisfied. He had tried to keep the commandments all his life, but still something was missing. But these commandments brought him to Christ! This is one of the purposes of the law, to create in lost sinners a sense of guilt and need. The sad thing is that the young man was not honest as he looked into the mirror of the law, for the last commandment (“Thou shalt not covet”) escaped him; and he went away without eternal life.

The law has performed its purpose: the Savior has come and the “guardian” is no longer needed. It is tragic that the nation of Israel did not recognize their Messiah when He appeared. God finally had to destroy the temple and scatter the nation, so that today it is impossible for a devoted Jew to practice the faith of his fathers. He has no altar, no priesthood, no sacrifice, no temple, no king (Hos. 3:4). All of these have been fulfilled in Christ, so that any man—Jew or Gentile—who trusts Christ becomes a child of God.

The law cannot change the promise, and the law is not greater than the promise. But the law is not contrary to the promise: they work together to bring sinners to the Savior.

With the coming of Jesus Christ, the nation of Israel moved out of childhood into adulthood. The long period of preparation was over. While there was a certain amount of glory to the law, there was a greater glory in the gracious salvation of God as found in Christ. The law could reveal sin and, to a certain extent, control behavior, but the law could not do for the sinner what Jesus Christ can do.

To begin with, the law could never justify the guilty sinner. “I will not justify the wicked,” said the Lord (Ex. 23:7); yet Paul stated that God “justifies the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). King Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, reminded God to condemn the wicked and justify the righteous (1 Kings 8:32); and this was a proper request in light of the holiness of God. The trouble is, nobody was righteous! It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that the sinner is justified— declared righteous—before God.

Furthermore, the law could never give a person a oneness with God; it separated man from God. There was a fence around the tabernacle and a veil between the holy place and the Holy of Holies.

Faith in Jesus baptizes us “into Christ” (Gal. 3:27). This baptism of the Spirit identifies the believer with Christ and makes him part of His body (1 Cor. 12:12–14). Water baptism is an outward picture of this inner work of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 10:44–48).

The phrase put on Christ (Gal. 3:27) refers to a change of garments. The believer has laid aside the dirty garments of sin (Isa. 64:6) and, by faith, received the robes of righteousness in Christ (see Col. 3:8–15). But to the Galatians, this idea of “changing clothes” would have an additional meaning. When the Roman child came of age, he took off the childhood garments and put on the toga of the adult citizen. The believer in Christ is not just a “child of God”; he is also a “son of God” (see Gal. 3:26, where “children” ought to be translated “adult sons”). The believer has an adult status before God—so why go back into the childhood of the law?

“All one in Christ Jesus”—what a tremendous claim! The law created differences and distinctions, not only between individuals and nations, but also between various kinds of foods and animals. Jesus Christ came, not to divide, but to unite.

This must have been glorious news for the Galatian Christians, for in their society slaves were considered to be only pieces of property; women were kept confined and disrespected; and Gentiles were constantly sneered at by the Jews.

The Pharisee would pray each morning, “I thank Thee, God, that I am a Jew, not a Gentile; a man, not a woman; and a freeman, and not a slave.” Yet all these distinctions are removed “in Christ.”

This does not mean that our race, political status, or sex is changed at conversion; but it does mean that these things are of no value or handicap when it comes to our spiritual relationship to God through Christ. The law perpetuated these distinctions, but God in His grace has declared all men to be on the same level that He might have mercy on all men (Rom. 11:25–32).

Finally, the law could never make us heirs of God (Gal. 3:29). God made the promise to “Abraham’s Seed” (singular, Gal. 3:16), and that Seed is Christ. If we are “in Christ” by faith, then we too are “Abraham’s seed” spiritually speaking. This means we are heirs of the spiritual blessings God promised to Abraham. This does not mean that the material and national blessings promised to Israel are set aside, but that Christians today are enriched spiritually because of God’s promise to Abraham (see Rom. 11:13ff.).

This section of Galatians is valuable to us as we read the Old Testament Scriptures. It shows us that the spiritual lessons of the Old Testament are not for the Jews only but have application to Christians today (see Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11–12). In the Old Testament we have preparation for Christ; in the Gospels, the presentation of Christ; and in the Acts through Revelation, the appropriation of Christ.

Your Christian life ought to take on new wonder and meaning as you realize all that you have in Christ. And all of this is by grace—not by law! You are an adult son in God’s family, an heir of God. Are you drawing on your inheritance? This will be Paul’s theme in the next section.