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.