Galatians · chapter 3 of 6
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Galatians 3 argues that the Spirit and righteousness are received by faith and not by works of the law, as in the case of Abraham, who believed God. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, the promise to Abraham is not annulled by the law that came 430 years later, and the law was a guardian until Christ. Through faith all are children of God, and in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.
After telling his own story in chapters 1 and 2, Paul turns to the Galatians with an argument drawn from their experience and from Scripture. Galatians 3 is the theological center of the letter: it explains how the promise to Abraham, the law of Moses and the work of Christ fit together.
Paul calls the Galatians foolish and asks who has bewitched them, they before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. He appeals to their experience: did they receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Having begun by the Spirit, are they now to be perfected by the flesh?
Then he turns to Abraham, who believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. So those who are of faith are sons of Abraham, and Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, announced beforehand that in Abraham all nations would be blessed. Those who rely on works of the law, however, are under a curse, since no one keeps it fully. The righteous shall live by faith. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles and we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Paul illustrates: a covenant already ratified is not annulled and nothing is added to it. The promise was made to Abraham and to his offspring, who is Christ, and the law, which came 430 years later, cannot cancel it. What, then, is the law for? It was added because of transgressions until the offspring should come; it is not against God's promises, but it could not give life. Scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise might be given by faith to those who believe.
Before faith came, we were held under the law as under a guardian who led us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under that guardian. All are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, and all who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female, for all are one in Christ; and if they belong to Christ, they are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to the promise.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Paul goes back to the father of Israel to show that faith, not works, was from the beginning the way of righteousness before God.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written that cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. On the cross he took upon himself the judgment we deserved.
The law was our guardian, the one who accompanied and supervised a child, until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. Its role was not to save but to lead us to the one who saves.
In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in him. The differences remain, but none gives a better or worse standing before God or within the church.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Whether it was by works of the law or by hearing with faith. — Galatians 3:2
Answer: His faith: he believed God. — Galatians 3:6
Answer: Those who are of faith. — Galatians 3:7
Answer: By becoming a curse for us. — Galatians 3:13
Answer: Four hundred and thirty years later. — Galatians 3:17
Answer: It was our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. — Galatians 3:24
Galatians 3 challenges anyone who began the Christian life trusting in grace but now feels that it must be sustained by effort. In the small group you can ask which works, practices or rules we are tempted to use to complete what Christ has already done.
Verse 28 also has practical application. If in Christ we are all one, the church cannot be organized by social class, origin or gender as if some stood closer to God. A Sunday school class can ask whom it finds hard to welcome and how to make everyone feel they belong. And remembering that the promise to Abraham comes by faith encourages us: our inheritance does not depend on how well we have performed but on the One we trust.
Galatians 3 shows that by faith we are children of God and heirs of the promise made to Abraham. In chapter 4, Paul will explain with the picture of the underage heir and with Hagar and Sarah the difference between being slaves and being children.
Paul observes that the promise speaks of the offspring in the singular and applies it to Christ, in whom it is fulfilled. Since he then says that believers, being in Christ, are also Abraham's offspring (v. 29), the argument excludes no one: all enter through union with him.
Paul says it was added because of transgressions: it shows sin to be sin and imprisons everyone under guilt so that they look to the promise. Like a guardian, it watched over and guided until Christ came. It is not bad or against the promises, but it could not give life.
It expresses the believer's union with Christ. Baptism is the public sign of that union, and the image of clothing means the believer stands before God covered by Christ and takes on his identity. The passage does not teach that the rite saves by itself, since the whole chapter insists on faith.