Digging Deeper into Galatians: Chapter 3A

Verses 1-9 Justification by Faith

Verses 10-14 The Law brings a Curse

In chapter two, we saw that Paul went up to Jerusalem to meet the main apostles. It was like a “tale of two cities.” When Paul went to Jerusalem, he was warmly received—best friends with Peter and the other apostles, shaking hands, and receiving the right hand of fellowship. His ministry to the Gentiles was recognised. Importantly, none of his Gentile companions were forced to be circumcised.

But in Antioch, things were quite different. Paul had to confront Peter directly. When Peter fell back under the law, God sent Paul to correct him. Paul exposed Peter’s hypocrisy publicly because it was dangerous for the church.

Paul began to explain the difference between law and gospel. Circumcision, kosher food, and other aspects of the law were no longer required under the new covenant. He concluded that if we could be saved by obeying the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Moving into Chapter Three

Now, as we move into chapter three, here is some background: Paul had planted the churches in Galatia a few years earlier. In verses 2–5, Paul uses rhetorical questions—five or six of them—to bring the Galatians back to their senses, because they had been bewitched.

It is worth noting that Paul mentions the Holy Spirit 18 times in Galatians. The Holy Spirit is central to this letter, and Paul repeatedly cites Him as the agent of true conversion.

A rhetorical question, of course, is one that does not expect an answer because the answer is obvious. Paul uses this method powerfully in chapter three.

Verses 1–4: Justification by Faith, Part 1

“O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?”

Paul begins his defence of the gospel by reminding the Galatians that their salvation began with faith in Christ crucified, evidenced by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our salvation has nothing to do with the law of Moses.

It would be foolish for the Galatians to think that having begun with the Spirit, they could reach Christian maturity through human effort. Paul says it is as if a spell had been cast over them—they were losing sight of the cross and looking back to the law.

Verses 5–9: Justification by Faith, Part 2

“Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

Paul makes the point again: miracles come by faith, not by the works of the law. The Jews claimed Abraham as their father, but Paul reminds them that Abraham was declared righteous because he believed God—430 years before the law was given.

Therefore, the true sons of Abraham are not those who keep the law, but those who live by faith—both Jew and Gentile.

Genesis 12:3 says: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Paul explains that this promise finds its fulfilment in Christ, the true Seed of Abraham.

They had no excuse: it was Paul himself who had explained the true gospel to them, more clearly than anyone else could. Imagine the disappointment for a teacher to see his students abandoning the very truths he had carefully taught.

• First rhetorical question (v.2): How did you receive the Spirit? By faith.

• Second (v.3): Are you so foolish as to begin with the Spirit and then try to mature by the flesh? We begin in the Spirit and must continue in the Spirit throughout our Christian life.

• Third (v.4): Have you suffered so much in vain? Likely this refers to persecution from Judaizers, the same false teachers who pressured them about circumcision and kosher laws.

  
  

Verses 10–14: The Law Brings a Curse (Part 1)

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’ Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’”

Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26. His argument is that anyone who fails to keep even one of the 613 laws is guilty of breaking them all. It is like a chain: break one link, and the whole chain is broken.

So instead of bringing blessing, the law actually brings a curse, because it demands what no one can achieve. Only Christ ever fulfilled the law perfectly. The law requires absolute, continuous obedience.

Verse 11 reminds us that “the just shall live by faith.” From the very beginning—even in the Old Testament—God’s way was faith, not law-keeping.

Verses 13–14: The Law Brings a Curse (Part 2)

“Christ has 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’—that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Here Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 21:22–23. By being crucified (“hanged on a tree”), Jesus took the curse we deserved. The result is that the blessings promised to Abraham now come to the Gentiles through faith in Christ.

This is a wonderful inheritance: justification before God, removal of the curse, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Paul is using a Jewish method of interpretation called midrash—drawing deeper meaning from a phrase. He takes “hanged on a tree” and shows its prophetic fulfilment in Christ’s crucifixion.

Amen

Personal Prayer

In Chapter 3B We discuss the changeless promise God made to Abraham and to his promised Seed.