First Day

PART II (NASB)

"13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another."

The legal practices of the Law of Moses provide “an opportunity for the flesh” to declare itself righteous. There is no hope nor faith in this. The Galatians are free to do what they want, but they shouldn’t take back up the sin of Adam. In this, each one of them only serves themselves, but Paul commands them to “serve one another through love.”

Paul is justified in making this command because Leviticus 19:18 orders God’s people to do this very thing, to love their neighbors as themselves. In fact, Paul them triples down on what he said earlier—about Jesus only being concerned with faith working through love—when he begins verse 14 by declaring that “the whole Law is fulfilled in one word,” the love of one’s neighbor as oneself. 

"15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another."
The Galatians are going to do what they are going to do, and Paul has hope that they will return to the true gospel, but their choice to pick at one another—their choice to disagree among themselves—will damage and infringe upon their witness and their ability to fulfill the role of being the body of Christ. 

If the church continues down the path of walking in the Law, in merit, they will only fulfill the desires of the flesh—they will only, ultimately, be overcome by sin. Paul then writes some of the most quoted words in all of Christianity. 

"16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, 20 idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Paul says here that to seek to fulfill the Law will carry out the desire of the flesh. This legalism will ultimately lead to the “deeds of the flesh” that “are evident”. He then gives the Galatians a long list of the things that WILL result from carrying out the desires of the flesh. Paul’s statement is proven true simply by looking at the life of the Jews who maintained the necessity of the Law. 

Ok. What I’m about to say will be provocative to some, but it ties in with what Paul has been saying of the Law to the Galatians. Here goes. Paul tells the Galatians that submitting to the Law will only result in “the deeds of the flesh” that are listed in verses 19-21. It doesn’t matter that the Law was given by God to the Moses to set His people apart, although it is full of things about holiness and purity…If the Galatians submit to it, they will fall away from Christ. 

And why is this? In verses 16-18 Paul tells the church that only the Spirit acts against the flesh—against pride. And since the Law only results in pride…So Paul tells the Galatians that they cannot do whatever they want because the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit are incompatible. Well, more than that, they are enemies. “You cannot serve both God and wealth,” Jesus says. 

Following the Law will ultimately lead to the DEEDS of the flesh, which will produce a life of chaos; just look at that list bouncing around from one sin to the next. “ 22 But the FRUIT of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control”. 

As we learned in the series on James, deeds done without faith are dead. And Paul tells us why, they lead only to chaos. Our works, even when undertaken with the best intentions, will only lead to these deeds of the flesh. 

In verses 22 and 23, Paul distinguishes the deeds of the flesh—the work that comes out of our pride—from the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control spring not from our effort—or work—but arise in our lives from the presence of the Spirit. 
So, going back to something that Paul said earlier in this letter. Jesus died in order that the nations of the world might be blessed by the presence of the Spirit. Jesus died so that we might experience these fruits; something that would have been impossible otherwise. 

Paul closes out the chapter by stating: “25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well. 26 Let’s not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”

This is further evidence of what is happening in the church. “I’m holier that you.” “You are a sinner.” They are competing in the works of the Law—which will only lead to disappointment—when they should be competing in love.

Chapter 5 (NASB)

Chapter five begins with a declaration: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.”

"2 Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law.4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love."

In verses 2-6 Paul has his Moses—Deuteronomy 30—moment with the Galatians:
“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.” (17,18 NLT)

“…if you have yourself circumcised…” “…if you refuse to listen…” 

“You have been severed from Christ…” “…you will certainly be destroyed…” 

Paul remembers something that the neither the Galatians nor many of us Christians—and people in general—seem to have: There is a cost to every decision, every action, and every desire. If the men of Galatia choose to have themselves circumcised in honor to fulfill legal requirements, if they ignore Paul’s teaching that doing so will not make them righteous in God’s eyes, there will be a price to pay.

This is because the man does so “is obligated to keep the whole Law,” which cannot be accomplished! If they do submit to circumcision, they “have been severed from Christ,” because they “are seeking to be justified by the Law”. Verse 14 is intended to be a wake-up call for the erring Galatians: This is the cost of a wrong choice—because it was Adam’s choice. 

Paul is not being hyperbolic in these verses because he equates this different gospel, this gospel of the agitators, to the sin of Adam that said to God, “I no longer need You. I can make my own way, because I get to say what is right and wrong, good and evil.” If that isn’t still the common sentiment lurking in the human heart and head, I don’t know what it could be. Adam’s sin is at the core of social and cultural relativism, which is encapsulated in the commonly used phrases my truth and your truth. And our participation in this practice—this belief—tells God that we do not want Jesus Christ’s life as our own. 

Paul has already covered this ground with the Galatians, but here in chapter five he’s just getting down to the brass tacks. “If you make this choice, here is what it will cost you.” Moses tells Israel in Deuteronomy 30 that if they serve other gods, and turn from the LORD, they “will certainly be destroyed.” Paul tells the Galatians that if they submit to the Law, they are worshipping other gods: themselves. 

The act of willful circumcision is the refusal to listen to the truth of the Spirit—which was given to the Jews and the Gentiles only through Jesus’ death on the cross—and has only one result: a fall from grace. 
But please note, this fall does not result from God’s choice but from the Galatians’—and our—attempts to justify ourselves and earn—or make—our own salvation, which contradicts the very core of our Christian faith, that, “we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” Now what in the world does this mean?

Adhering to the Law does not require faith in God; it only requires a person’s striving. And who needs God for that? The NLT translates verse five as:

“But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us.”
We see merit and self-righteousness at the heart of the Galatians’ false gospel but hope and faith in Paul’s gospel. We live according to our will and by our own power in the former, but we must trust God to bring about His will in our lives in the latter. Proverbs 16:9 states: “The human heart plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps.” (NABRE)

Paul states in verse five that it is the presence of the Spirit that brings a person to righteousness, and this is only accomplished through faith in the power and work of God and not by our own efforts or merit. 
If to be righteous means to order one’s life according to the will of God, then Proverbs 16:9 is spot on the money. Only the Spirit can accomplish this in us; only the Spirt can keep us living in the Way—living like Jesus—and only living like Jesus will bring us to life. 

On the other hand, if we try to accomplish this by our own works and wits, if it is our heart that plans the way, we might as well all change our names to Sisyphus. Because no matter how close we get, we will never overcome that last obstacle. And then it’s back down to bottom of the hill to do ALL OVER AGAIN. 

In the final verse of this section, Paul reminds the Galatians of one simple fact: The only thing that matters to Jesus is “faith working through love.”  This is something that we have already heard in James’ letter in chapter 2:14ff, with his discussion of the faiths of Abraham and Rehab. Whether you are a Gentile or a Jew, Paul says here in verse 6, it doesn’t matter because through faith you can demonstrate love—agape specifically. 

"7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10 I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is."

Paul returns to asking the Galatians why they had started falling away, and we learn that he is confused about this. He begins by complimenting them, by telling them how well they had been doing, but now…
His question in verse seven, “who hindered you from obeying the truth”, is rhetorical; Paul knows who has done this: these agitators—who, although they have been rather persuasive, Paul states, are only human. Paul believes that the church will return to the Lord in the end; he has “confidence” in them. 

More interesting to me is something that Paul is implying here. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.” What affects one person in the church affects everyone in the church. The Galatians ARE NOT a gathering of free agents, each one trying to make his or her own way into heaven—each his or her on journey to Christ—but they ARE all one big lump of dough! How different a view this is than the one we modern Christians maintain today. 

The failure of one, the error of one, affects the whole church! And may in fact keep the church from being what it was created to be: the Body of Christ for the world. “…Jesus took the bread, gave thanks to God, and gave it to His disciples and said, ‘This is my body which is broken for you. Do this for the remembrance of Me.’”

Not only will the Galatians make their way back in faith, Paul says that he is sure that God will correct that little bit of yeast that has leavened the dough. Nevertheless, Paul knows that there will be cost involved in the church’s return to the true gospel. This is why he gets rather emotional and graphic in the last two verses of this section. 

"11 But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated. 12 I wish that those who are troubling you would even emasculate themselves."

It appears that the yeast, the agitators, may in fact have lied to the Galatians and had told the church that Paul was still preaching circumci...

PART II (NASB)

Paul begins this section urging the Galatians to become as he as, as one who has set aside the legal practices of the Law of Moses—as someone who has stopped seeking to be justified through his own merit. In this way, he has become like the Galatians: He now lives by faith—by Christ. 

"12 I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; 13 but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 14 and you did not despise that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, nor express contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. 15 Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I testify about you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them. 18 But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable way, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you— 20 but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you!"

Paul ends verse 12 by telling the Galatians, “You have done me no wrong,” but in verse 16 he asks, “So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” So the issue here is that the Galatians seem have come to view Paul as their enemy because he told them the truth concerning circumcision—specifically—and the legal works of the Law. 

In verses 13-15, we get a glimpse of the visit where Paul preached the gospel. The opportunity to preach arose because of some unidentified ailment—perhaps something to do with his vision since the Galatians, “would have torn out [their] eyes and given them to [him].” (15) But whatever this condition, it seems that it would have normally been considered off-putting; Paul calls it “a trial” to the Galatians. Nevertheless, instead of shewing him off as a demon, they welcomed him as an angel and his message as gospel truth. But now, at verse 16, they consider him an enemy. 

This reversal has happened because the agitators—the preachers of the different gospel—have been courting the Galatians. Paul says these teachers want to cut the Galatians off from the rest of the Church that lives by faith so that they will become the Galatians’ only source of instruction. Still, Paul says in verse 18, it’s good to be courted—just make sure that those who are courting you do so with the truth, do so commendably. 

"19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you— 20 but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you!"

Paul gave birth to the church in Galatia; he put all of himself into bringing them into life through Christ and through faith. It seems that like any parent, he had let the church go about its way, certain that it would continue in the way of truth, the way of faith. Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it.” Paul had cut the apron strings, and they had trapped themselves in the pantry, and he considers if he must go and give birth to them again.

I can hear him ask, “Am I going to have to start all over again with you, and this time stay until ‘Christ is formed in you’? Do I have to spoon-feed you the gospel until it pours forth from your hearts?”
He is frustrated, and I feel him. I’m sure every natural, adoptive, and spiritual parent knows exactly what Paul is thinking—knows what he is going through internally. 

These Gentiles, the Galatians, Paul considers his children, and I am sure when he was with them, he taught them that they were brothers and sisters—a spiritual family closer than blood relations. 
How different from our Church today in the twenty-first century—where we come and go as we please and our time together is founded on convenience. 

How desperately Paul wants to return to them; his family is in need—even though they don’t think that they are. I guess he assumes he’d calm down if he saw them face to face, but he knows that he’s being harsh in his letter, since he ends verse twenty with, “for I am at a loss about you!” Paul begins the final section of the chapter presenting his children, the Galatians, with a choice much like Moses did with Israel in Deuteronomy 30:

“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster…But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed…Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. No I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (NLT)

He first examples Abraham’s first two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and he distinguishes between the two according to how they were born: one is born from Sarah’s plans—from the flesh—and the other is according to the Promise of God. This is found in Genesis 16. 

In the final verses of the chapter Paul uses their births as an allegory for the Old and New Covenants, for slavery to the legal works of the Law and for the freedom of faith. And Paul reminds the Galatians that they are children of the Promise because of Christ, reborn in Him to be free and no longer born into sin and slavery. 

"21 Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the Law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman. 23 But the son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise."

Blessing only originates through the free woman—that is, Sarah. Ismail was born to be Abraham’s descendant through his parent’s efforts and by their merit. Since this son was “born according to the flesh” his life would be subject to those principles of the flesh that we talked about last episode. Accordingly, his life would be one of chaos and struggle (See Genesis 16 for more on this.)

"24 This is speaking allegorically, for these women are two covenants: one coming from Mount Sinai giving birth to children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is enslaved with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother."

In providing this explanation, we are reminded that Paul is writing to Gentiles, to people unfamiliar with the Hebrew scriptures. He here gives the Galatians a choice to attempt to live by the sweat of their brows—Ismael, Adam, and the Mosaic Law—or to live in the Spirit through faith—through believing in God’s promises, acting accordingly, and being forced into trusting in someone other than themselves. Freedom is only found through Sarah. 

"28 And you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so it is even now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? 'Drive out the slave woman and her son, For the son of the slave woman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.' 31 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman, but of the free woman."

Paul says here that there is no room in the Galatians’ hearts for both the old and new covenants—or to put it more broadly and in keeping with this chapter—no room for both the principles of the flesh—slavery—and the life of the Spirit in the same hu...

Chapter 4 (NASB)

Paul now begins here in chapter 4 to elaborate on this transformation of identity that he introduced at the end of chapter 3—which was, itself, an explanation of what he means back in chapter two when the apostle declares, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”

"Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God."

Because Jews and Gentiles were both “held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world,” as Paul writes in verse 3, the Law was given as a guardian (3:23-29) to protect us from ourselves—and a fat lotta’ good that did us! So instead of the “elementary principles’” impulse and reaction, the Law was given to reveal an intentional way of living. 

Sadly, this most simple reason for the Law was ignored or misunderstood, and the thing that God had provided to keep us from going over the cliff like a herd of possessed pigs became in our eyes how we were to earn our place in God’s household. The Law became an instruction manual for merit. And we descendants of Adam do like us some merit.

Eventually, however, over the course of time, the plan of God was revealed, and Christ Jesus’ ministry freed all of us—first the Jew and then the Gentile—to live by and through faith. This is done, according to verse 6, to give us access to the blessing of the Spirit of God that produces in is new life:

"6 Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”

Verse seven does call for closer examination: "7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. “Whoo-Hoo,” people cheer. “I’m an heir of the kingdom!” Although I do agree that this is cause for celebration, I am not convinced that Paul intends this declaration to be solely for this purpose. Remember, the purpose of this letter is to prevent the Galatians from enslaving themselves to legal works. Paul reminds them here that their faith in Christ has transformed them and freed them from—in their case—the natural, fleshly life. But also, he is reminding them that Christ had made them God’s sons and daughters and with that comes responsibilities. 

"8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again? 10 You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain."

Verse 9, “9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again,” summarizes verses 4:1-7 quite well and prove that verse seven—about being no longer slaves by sons and daughters—is about something more than making the Galatians feel good. Why do you want to be enslaved again to the very thing from which Christ has freed you? But according to verse eleven, the Galatians may have already gone too far down the path of this new gospel. “Perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

We will spend some time with this when we get to Romans, but I think it would be helpful to interject something here: Paul is doing everything that he can to keep the Galatians from taking back up the sin of Adam. And really, I think this is the struggle that we fight every day and in every trial. I know that it was a rather overused question in Christian culture some years ago, but I think that we modern Christians suffer from the same reason that the Galatians did: We fail to ask what would Jesus do. 

We end up trying to find our own solutions in tough and uncertain times—or we give into impatience or even complacency—because we, like Adam, don’t want anybody else, especially God, telling us what is right and wrong, good or hurtful for us, or what we should want or desire.
 
This is the choice and the temptation: like Jesus or like Adam. And if we choose the latter, we get to claim all the successes; we get to do it through our own merit. Sure, we may publicly share credit, but in the privacy of our own hearts and minds it’s, “I did this.”

In the next section, in verses 12-20, Paul wants to know what has prompted the Galatians to turn away to this new, different gospel.

(All scripture quoted is from the New American Standard  Bible, © 1960,1962,1963,1968.1971,1973,1975,1977,1995.2020 by the Lockman Foundation, A Corporation Not for Profit, La Habra, CA, All Rights Reserved, unless otherwise noted.)

In our last episode we hear Paul tell the Galatians that to adhere to the Law is to condemn oneself, but he then goes on to quote scripture from Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Habakkuk that declare that if we don’t follow the Law we are cursed. I know that if I were a Galatian, I’d be a little confused. Heck, I’m a little confused right now myself. Which is it Paul? To not follow the Law and be cursed or to follow the Law and be cursed? Here in the remainder of chapter 3 and on through the letter, Paul begins to resolve this confusion. 

Read verses 15-18
"15 Brothers and sisters, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. 17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise."

The blessing of the Holy Spirit does not come based on the Law but because of faith—I think Paul has already said this. But it seems that after entering into a covenant relationship with God through Christ, the Galatians are beginning to amend that covenant by taking up the legal practices of the Law of Moses. 

In verse 15, he examples a human will. He tells the Galatians that after a will has been ratified, things cannot be added or removed from it. It is the same with the covenant with God that has been ratified by Christ’s death on the cross. The Galatians cannot add anything to this covenant. In fact, I know he was speaking to Peter at the time, but the Galatians taking up the law after this ratification is just as sinful as he, as a Jew, taking the law back up.

Paul explains in verse 16 that the promise of God was made to Abraham and his descendant—his “seed”. Initially, this would have been Isaac, but teaches here that the seed of which the promise refers is ultimately Jesus. And the Galatians can only receive the blessing because of this. This blessing is based on a promise that God made AND IT CANNOT AND WAS NOT NULLIFIED BY THE LAW OF MOSES. 
“For it’s the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer a promise; but God granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.” (18)

The blessing that Jesus procured for all the nations was the Spirit, and that Spirit is given only by means of a promise. Therefore, Paul explains to the Galatians, following the legal works of the Law will not give you access to the blessing of God’s Spirit. 

Read verses 19-22
"19 Why the Law then? It was added on account of the violations, having been ordered through angels at the hand of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Far from it! For if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in [or the faith of] Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."

The purpose of the Law—as stated here—is to “confine everyone under sin”. This Law defined those actions that are contrary to the righteousness that God demands. The Law itself, Paul says, cannot give life—which we learned a second ago is the Spirit—because to do would not be its purpose. To put this another way, the Law doesn’t make us better but only proves to us how bad we are. This is why the Law cannot produce righteousness. Therefore, only through faith can human beings receive the promised blessing. 

This is because—as Paul stated in chapter two—we no longer live but Christ lives in us. This teaching deserves its own episode…so maybe one day. We receive the blessing because it is Christ who lives in us, and He lives in us through faith. Now if we use that blessing or not, that is a different story.

Read verses 23-29
"23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise."

Paul tells the Galatians that the Law existed in order to keep God’s people set-apart. It was a custodian and a guardian to keep them from destroying themselves and their status as God’s instrument of blessing. The law didn’t save them but simply kept them from jumping off a cliff because everyone else was jumping off a cliff. 

“But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (25,26) Paul tells the Galatians that the Law was never for them anyway! It was for God’s people—the Jews—in order that they might be set aside as “a kind of first fruits among His creatures,” (James 1:18) in order that through them the world might be blessed through a faith that is open to all. 

Paul says here that in Jesus all people—all people—receive a new identity, since they are “clothed in Christ.” (28) We do this when we say yes to the life of Christ and allow our old lives to die. And we clothed in Christ through faith—by believing God and ordering our lives accordingly. 

We are clothed in Christ when we love our neighbor as ourselves. Who we were before, however, whomever, or by whatever we defined ourselves as before faith came, we must let it die so that we can be “one in Christ Jesus.” (28)

We are subsumed into Christ Jesus and can, therefore, be recipients of God’s promise because in Christ we become Abraham’s seed. This is how they become members of the household of God—not by following the legal requirements of the Law.

(All scripture quoted is from the New American Standard  Bible, © 1960,1962,1963,1968.1971,1973,1975,1977,1995.2020 by the Lockman Foundation, A Corporation Not for Profit, La Habra, CA, All Rights Reserved, unless otherwise noted.)

I mentioned earlier that I think many Christians have come to the thought that believing in Jesus as the Messiah is the only thing necessary to receive salvation and that no work is required out of fear of being like the Galatians. And we see the grounds for this fear beginning in verse 10.

Read verses 10-14
"10 For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THE THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM.” 11 Now, that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS ONE WILL LIVE BY FAITH.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “THE PERSON WHO PERFORMS THEM WILL LIVE BY THEM.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

In verse 10, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 27:26 which says, “Cursed is anyone who does not fulfill the word of this Law by doing them.” Also in verse 12, Paul quotes from the beginning of Leviticus 18:

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the LORD your God. 3 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. 4 You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. 5 So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them; I am the LORD.”

These verses say that the person who does not keep the commandments, who does not keep God’s statues and judgements, is cursed. My question is why does Paul quote these verses here? This seems counterproductive since the point of the letter is to dissuade the Galatians from taking up the legal requirements of the Law. 

And to add to the confusion, he begins this section by declaring that anyone who performs the works of the Law is cursed, but then immediately quotes scripture that tells you if you don’t perform the works of the Law, you are cursed…In short: Cursed if you do. Cursed if you don’t. 

Paul does this—goes back and forth between adhering to the Law and then resting in trust—in the hope that the Galatians will stop trying to justify themselves by taking up the Law—a Law that was never intended for them in the first place. Cursed is anyone who takes up the Law, he tells them, because to break one part of the Law is to break the whole Law. It becomes a never-ending cycle. 
But I think there is something deeper going on here. 

At the end of my comments on chapter two, I said, or at least I should have said, that life is only possible though faith—be it our faith, if we translate that phrase in 2:16, “faith in Christ”, or be it Jesus’ faith, if we translate it “faith of Christ”. Regardless, life is only possible through faith—by believing in God and acting accordingly. What Paul knows is this: 

Life results from keeping God’s laws and commandments and statutes (Leviticus). And if we do not keep them, we are cursed (Deuteronomy). But to keep them, we have to keep all of them (Deuteronomy, again). And we cannot keep them all. We are blessed if we can—but we won’t and we can’t. So, we are cursed. But…

Paul would have known that God tells Isaac that Abraham was blessed because he had been obedient and performed the commandments and kept the statues and the laws (Genesis 26:5). So what’s going on?

We don’t know the outcome of our actions and choices if we are being honest. All we can do is trust that God is true to His word. Sure, Isaac could have believed God about His promise of provision during the famine, but what meaning would that have had if he had gone on to Egypt anyway. It’s the same with his dad back in Genesis 12. Abram could’ve BELIEVED God’s promise to give him descendants, but if he didn’t leave for the Promised Land based on God’s promise to him, what would it have mattered. 
And while we’re on the subject of Abraham, let’s not forget James’ reference to his willingness to offer back to God the promised son that he had received. 

Paul says that “the Law is not of faith” in verse 12. Abraham’s and Isaac’s faith was righteous because their choices and their deeds had come out of their trust in God and not their trust in themselves. This is the real reason why the one who lives by the Law is cursed. Faith is about living for God, but the Law is about living for oneself. “The righteous one will live by faith,” Paul says in verse 12, quoting Habakkuk 2:4.

Paul is not freeing the Galatians from the requirements of true religion; he’s not freeing them from the requirement of good works—he’s just freeing them from the works of the Law. He reminds them of this in verses 13 and 14 that it is about Christ and not themselves. Read verses 13,14 again.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Paul uses Deuteronomy 21:23 here to describe Jesus, thus associating Him with a sinner who deserves to die. This is case, Paul says, “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles…” So Jesus is the mechanism, the descendent of Abraham, through whom the nations would be blessed—or in Hebrew a possible alternative, “through whom the nations will bless themselves”. 
Paul goes on to define—that blessing: “the promise of the Spirit”. 

Paul does not explain here why this is the case; he simply states it as a matter of fact. But this is something that he will do later in his writings. I do believe, however, that he possibly covered all this with the Galatians when he shared with them the gospel. In verse 14, Paul defines this blessing that has been obtained for the Galatians through Jesus’ death on the cross: That blessing is the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 3
(All scripture quoted is from the New American Standard  Bible, © 1960,1962,1963,1968.1971,1973,1975,1977,1995.2020 by the Lockman Foundation, A Corporation Not for Profit, La Habra, CA, All Rights Reserved, unless otherwise noted.)

Thank you for listening to the First Day podcast. I am Patrick Cooley, the pastor of Northport Methodist Church, and I am so glad you’re spending some time with me. 

So, Paul has received word that the churches in Galatia are beginning to wander away from the gospel message that Paul had preached to them. Although he does not tell us what this new, false gospel is, based upon the details of the stories that he shares in chapter two—particularly the ones concerning his encounter with Peter in Antioch—it is safe to assume that this false gospel has to do with the necessity of Gentiles taking up Jewish practices to be justified. 

Paul ends the chapter by stressing how central Jesus Christ is to our justification and redefining, really, what it means to be alive. Let’s continue in the letter at chapter 3.

Read verses 1-5
"You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?"

“You foolish Galatians…” They are not ignernt—as we say in the South—they are not stupid. He doesn’t even say here that they lack knowledge, since Paul, himself, has preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. The Apostle here is accusing them of lacking wisdom and choosing to act on their own understanding.

“…did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” In Greek Paul’s comparison is between ex ergon nomou (from legal works) and ex akoes pisteos (from the message of faith). This second expression, akoes pisteos, can be translated in one of four ways: hearing with faith (as the NASB has chosen to translate it), hearing of faith, the message that results in believing, or the message of faith. 

Although quite different from each other, these four options have one thing in common, they do not refer to the believer earning the Holy Spirit’s presence through their legal observances or ritual acts. 
The presence of the Spirit is the gift of God through faith—which we first come to experience when we hear the message of the gospel—the message of Jesus Christ crucified and risen.
“Did you receive the Spirit from hearing the gospel that preached,” Paul asks, “or by your observance of the law?” The issue at hand gains some clarity with Paul’s next question. “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

In his letters, this is the first time Paul refers to the Spirit. It is this Spirit that enables the Galatians to live the life of faith—the life of Christ. It is only in the Spirit can a believer be perfected. It appears as if the Galatians, although they had entered into their relationship with Christ by hearing the message that was preached to them through faith, now are trying to sanctify themselves by performing legal works—in particular, physical circumcision. 

They have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, and they seem here to have suffered because of it. The empire was yet to begin open persecution of Christians, so in view here is not the same kind of suffering that James’ audience was experiencing. 

The Galatians’ suffering would have arisen from reordering their lives by making the things of God take priority. Their hearts’ treasure would have changed. This would undoubtedly have resulted in shattered relationships with others and struggles in the broader culture there in Galatia. 
Thankfully, Paul concludes this question with “if indeed it was in vain”, making this question about the futility of the Galatian’s conversion a rhetorical one. 

Their experience of and suffering for the Spirit was not in vain. This is because it is God, “who provides [them] with the Spirit and works miracles among [them]” and not by their efforts to keep the legal works of the Law. 

Read verses 6-9
"6 Just as Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, recognize that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. 8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer."

Here, Paul refers to Genesis 12:3 when he reports what God said to Abraham, the “All the nations will be blessed in [him].” For the apostle’s first declaration in this section, that “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” he is quoting Genesis 15:6, “Then he believed the LORD; and He credited it to him as righteousness.” But to fully get at what Paul is saying here, remember back to the previous series on James and his discussion of this same declaration and outcome of Abraham’s faith. James referred to Genesis 22 and the offering up of Isaac on Mount Moriah as the example of faith that has been credited as righteousness. 

Genesis 22:15-18 declares:
"15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of  their enemies. 18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

And please do not forget that James says that “even the demons believe and tremble.” Faith, therefore, is belief with obedience. Put another way, faith without deeds is dead. Without obedience, faith is just the same belief that the demons have. This “faith is belief plus obedience” thing is reiterated in Genesis 26, when God extends the promise that He made to Abraham to Isaac, when Isaac appears to be planning to go down to Egypt because of a famine. 

God tells him to stay in Gerar and to trust in His provision through the famine. It’s in verses four and five that God explains why Abraham’s faith was considered to be righteousness. God makes a covenant with Isaac. 

"4 I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth  shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Abraham didn’t only believe; he demonstrated that he had faith. 

So in verse 8, Paul points out that God had always planned to bless the Gentiles and bring them into a saving relationship with Him. And in verse 9, Paul tells the Galatians that God has extended the covenant to them through the same faith that Abraham—and Isaac—had. Though they are Gentiles, they are now because of faith God’s covenant people. 

I know that I might be beating a dead horse here, but I think that this is of the utmost importance. I think many Christians—out of fear of being like the Galatians—have come to the thought that believing that Jesus is the Messiah is the only thing necessary to receive salvation. This means that all you must do is make an “I believe”...

In this episode I spend a little more time fleshing our the differences between "faith in" and "faith of" Christ. If you notice a change in the podcast's sound, it's because I recorded it at my home studio (i.e., the dining room table). 

PART III (NASB)

We closed out last episode with Paul taking up one of the most unavoidable subjects in our world today: identity. “Who am I,” Paul asks. “Have I changed or am I the same person that I have always been?” 
Have you seen those widow decals on cars that are from that Hawaiian lifestyle company: HE>i? Their website states that it’s referring to John 3:30— “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” (NLT) This doesn’t even come close to what Paul is telling the Galatians here in chapter 2 which is this: There is no longer an I!

And Paul doesn’t stop there. In verse 20b he writes:
“…and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” 

Let’s put all of verse 20 together before we continue with the verse’s second part:
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, by Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

en pistei zo te tou hyiou tou theou—Please forgive my Greek. This expression can be rendered: “I live by faith in the Son of God”—an objective genitive—or, “I live by the faith of the Son of God”—a subjective genitive. And this is what is known as a sticky wicket: “faith in” or “faith of”, that is the question. Which translation we choose will help shape the meaning of Paul’s theological message to the Galatians. 

Let’s hear option one, one more time: 
The objective genitive: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” This is from the NASB. And here is the same verse from the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition that uses the subjective genitive:
“…with Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me.”

Do you hear the difference? Most translations translate the passage in the objective genitive, with some of them, like the NLT, CSB, and NRSV providing the alternate translation in the footnotes. 

By using “in Christ”, translators are juxtaposing the efficacy of one’s legal works with that of one’s faith. We cannot justify ourselves by the works of the Law that we perform but only when we choose to believe in Jesus Christ, “who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Can you see a potential problem with this interpretation? 

Now let’s take a quick gander at the other possible and equally legitimate translation. “…I live in the faith of the Son of God…” Paul lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness and not his own. The life he has doesn’t result from either his performance of the works of the Law or even by his act of choosing to have faith. Life is given to him, since he—Paul—no longer lives but it is Christ who lives in him. 

Now back to that potential problem. I’ll quote from the Sacra Pagina commentary on Galatians, page 100:
“To interpret the phrase…as an objective genitive [that’s faith in Christ] is to establish a contrast between a person’s legal works and a person’s faith in Christ. While there is clearly an important difference between the two, both are human actions: one active, the other passive. 

"The more powerful contrast is between a person’s legal works and the work of Christ, i.e., Christ’s faithfulness in handing himself over for our sins; Christ’s faithfulness in accepting the curse of the cross; Christ’s faithfulness in fulfilling the mission entrusted to him by the Father.” 

This is the benefit of using the subjective “faith of Christ” and why it ties in with Paul’s complaint about Peter and the others. Paul’s reminding the Galatians—and us—that we live only because of Christ’s willingness to suffer and die for us. To put this another way, we are justified not by our choice to believe but by the Jesus’ choice “to love [us] and give Himself up for [us]” (20) 

On the other hand, as Occam’s razor dictates simplest answer is usually the correct one, faith in Christ does tend to be the translators’ default. And it is also the one that appeals to most Christians because—again—it’s the simpler of the two options: It doesn’t require as many terms to be defined and, quite frankly, it’s easier and a whole lot less demanding. 

But what if the simpler answer isn’t the correct one? What if Paul actually means of Christ here? If he does, we might ought to pay more attention to what James says about faith in his letter, that we covered in the last series. There will more on this to come.

Paul closes out the chapter with the declaration, 
“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” God brings justification through Jesus’ action on the cross; we do not justify ourselves—make ourselves right in God’s eyes—through the performance of the Law. So Paul will not throw away this gracious gift from God by taking up the law once again.

(All scripture quoted is from the New American Standard  Bible, © 1960,1962,1963,1968.1971,1973,1975,1977,1995.2020 by the Lockman Foundation, A Corporation Not for Profit, La Habra, CA, All Rights Reserved, unless otherwise noted.)

At the end of our last episode, Paul is relaying a story to the Galatians about a visit that Peter makes to Antioch and the problem that arises from it. Even though Peter, James, and John had verified Paul’s gospel as authentic, and Peter had even declared that Christ’s grace has gone out to all, circumcised and uncircumcised alike, and even though they had not forced Titus to be circumcised, Peter turned his back on fellowshipping with Gentiles when Jewish Christians from the Jerusalem Church arrive in Antioch. 
Paul calls it like it is: hypocrisy. 

I can see this to be yet another proof to the Gentile Galatians of his trustworthiness. “See,” he says, “I defended your race against those of my very own. I stuck my neck out for you.” So I’m called; I never ingratiated myself to you; my life has changed completely; my gospel was verified by the Church; AND I stood up to my own people for your full inclusion into the Church—just as you are. 

In verses 14 to the end of the chapter Paul gives Peter and the other Jewish Christians there what we call nowadays a “come-to-Jesus.”

"14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"

“In front of all the others,” Paul criticizes Peter for his hypocrisy. “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?” (14 NLT) 

So, it seems that these Jewish Christians may not have been simply keeping their distance from their Gentile compatriots but trying to force them to adopt a Jewish way of life. There is no live-and-let-live here. But here is the opportunity to share with the Galatians theological truth—the preeminence of Christ in salvation over practicing ritual behaviors and traditions.

“You and I are Jews by birth,” Paul says to Peter in verse 15, “not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles.” I can see Paul makes flesh-bunnies when he says sinners. The word used here is hamartolos. It can refer to a person who commits depraved acts—to someone who is wicked—or to one who falls short of what God approves—living against God’s will—or even to tax collectors, or heathen, or one who does not keep orthodox traditions and behaviors. It is this final possibility—one who does not keep orthodox traditions and behaviors—that Paul has in mind, I think.
 
"16 nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified."

With this, Paul is saying to Peter, “We grew up keeping orthodox traditions and behaviors, but we know that that doesn’t make us right with God: only faith does. ‘For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.’(16)”

He adds to the gravity of Peter’s and the other’s insistence that the Gentiles become like the Jews when Paul says in verse 18, “I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down.” This would be a radical thought for Jews, since that system is the thing that defined and separated them as a people from all other nations. To use an in-vogue word: The Law of Moses gives the Jews their identity. 

Jewish Christians like Paul, Peter, and James’ friends are in the same situation as their Gentile brothers and sisters. They must rely upon Jesus for their justification and cannot make themselves worthy of ultimate salvation. This is why Paul states that he would become a sinner if he were to take back up the Law. By not fulfilling the Law—or even one part of it—he dies to it so that he might live the life of Christ. We will come back to this later in Romans. 

Paul then begins a detailed, Christ-centric theology in which he redefines what it means to be a person. In verses 19 and 20, Paul gives the Galatians a new definition of human existence:

“For through the Law [capital L, meaning the works of the Law of Moses through which a person intends to make oneself deserving of a relationship with God] I died to the Law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (19,20a)

Here Paul is laying the foundation for something that he will later flesh out in chapter 3—a thought to which he will return in 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Colossians 3:11, and one to which he will devote his letter to Rome. This is: Our lives are no longer our own. 

Of course, this is not necessarily a novel thought to Paul or any Jew—even though they ignore it when they take back up the Law—since in Jeremiah 10:23 the prophet prays, “I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course.” (NLT), but to the Galatians this would be radical—and maybe even to some of us!

Paul states here that the Christian’s identity is replaced by Christ’s—that our very being is changed. We are no longer what we were and have become Someone different—which is yet again revisited in Philippians 3:5-9 when the apostle to the Gentiles disregards the entirely of his past, who he had always been and worked to become—rejecting it even to point of calling it bio-waste—for the sake of taking Christ’s life as his own. 

"5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

7 But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss [c]in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith…"

In fact, later in Revelation, it can be argued that this is the sin that the church at Laodicea is accused of committing: not letting Christ be their life fully. But more on that in a later series. 

Paul claims Christ’s crucifixion as his own crucifixion—the death of what was. Here, he is urging the Galatians to let themselves die to the world and its practices and to resist those who would force the Galatians to take the Law up for the first time—or in Peter’s case, again. 

Although taking up the Law is well intentioned, it is, nevertheless, grounded in pride and in the self. Paul sets about explaining this as the verse continues. And by way of a warning, this is what we call in the biz “some heavy theology”. 

When Paul was alive to the Law, he was the controlling force in his life—he was what mattered to himself. But now, he no longer lives—Christ lives within him—so that he—Paul—is alive to God. Christ has replaced Paul’s old self. We’ll see this again in Romans where the apostle gives a nod, I think, back to James, where he declares that our problems in our faith as Christians all stem from the sin that keeps on clinging. To put this simply…
Christ has replaced the I.