Galatians 3

1 - 14 Justification by Faith

Paul contends that justification comes not through the law or the works of the law but by faith in Christ and in his death. My notes: "The gift of God's Spirit to the Galatians came from the gospel received in faith, not from doing what the law enjoins. The story of Abraham shows that faith in God brings righteousness. The promise to Abraham extends to the Gentiles." It is faith that matters, rather than circumcision and observance of the law

Those who depend on works of the law instead of faith are under cursed because they do not persevere in doing all the things written in the book of the law in order to gain life. My notes: "But scripture teaches that no one is justified before God by the law. Salvation, then, depends on faith in Christ who died on the cross, taking upon himself a curse (about executed criminals hanged in public view), to free us from the curse of the law."

15 - 29 The Law and the Promise

My notes again: "A third argument to support Paul's position that salvation is not through the law but by promise comes from legal practice and scriptural history. A legal agreement or human will, duly ratified, is unalterable. God's covenant with Abraham and its repeated promises is not superseded by the law, which came much later, in the time of Moses. The inheritance (of the Spirit and the blessings) is by promise, not by law. Paul's argument hinges on the fact that the same Greek word, diatheke, can be rendered as will or testament and as covenant.

Paul digresses: "If the Mosaic law, then, does not save or bring life, why was it given? Elsewhere, Paul says the law served to show that sin is. Here the further implication is that the law in effect served to produce transgressions. Moreover, it was received at second hand by angels, through a mediator, not directly from God. The law does not, however, oppose God's purposes, for it carries out its function, so that righteousness comes by faith and promise, not by human works of the law."