Galatians 3

Galatians 3:1-18

Chapter 9 “Who Hath Bewitched You?” Galatians 3:1-18 Paul is astonished that those very same men and women who had received him and the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ were now so easily turned away from the gospel and counted him as their enemy (Galatians 4:13-16). “I marvel,” he wrote in chapter 1, “that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel,” which is not even similar to the Gospel of Christ. Here he again writes in utter astonishment, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?” The Galatian church was being turned away from the Gospel. They were being persuaded to exchange Calvary for Sinai; Christ for Moses; sonship for slavery; liberty for bondage; and faith for works. They had been charmed into evil, hoodooed by false prophets who flattered them with the notion that they must seek righteousness by their own works, and that they could attain it. Oh, how foolish, how senseless they were! Yet, there are multitudes today, who, in the face of this horrible example, follow after the Galatians, clinging to Moses, legal principles, religious ceremonies, the commandments of men, and their own filthy rags of self-righteousness, refusing to submit themselves to the righteousness of God, refusing to trust Christ alone for all righteousness with God (Romans 9:31 to Romans 10:4). Justification by Faith Paul had proved that the gospel he proclaimed—justification received by faith in Christ apart from any human effort—is the gospel of God. He now proceeds to show in chapters 3 and 4 that both the universal testimony of Holy Scripture and the experience of every saved sinner verify the doctrine of the gospel. Sinners receive the justification that Christ accomplished at Calvary (Romans 4:25) by faith alone, apart from anything done or experienced by them. When the Scriptures speak of justification by faith, they are speaking of faith’s reception of the finished work of Christ, not of faith’s contribution to it and completion of it. It is this reception of Christ and his finished work as our all-sufficient, effectual Substitute and Savior by which our hearts and minds are reconciled to God. Sinners are not judicially pardoned by their faith, but by the blood of Christ. We simply receive the knowledge of that pardon and the peace that knowledge brings by faith in Christ (Romans 3:24; Hebrews 9:11-12; Ephesians 1:7; Romans 4:25 to Romans 5:5, Romans 5:10).Bewitching Doctrine Galatians 3:1—“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” Here Paul does the same thing with the Galatian church that he did with Peter at Antioch (Galatians 2:11-17). He confronts them head-on because of their departure from the gospel. He writes, as he does, not in a harsh spirit to reproach them, or provoke them to anger. His language was not a violation of our Lord’s admonition (Matthew 5:22). Rather, he wrote with the tenderness of a pastor’s heart (2 Timothy 3:15), as one like the Savior (Luke 24:25), concerned for the souls of men. The Galatians had been bewitched. They had been turned away from the simplicity of the gospel. The word “bewitched” implies deceitful charm, a seduction. They had been charmed away from the gospel by teachings that flattered the flesh. There is witchery in the very air of works religion. It is a deceitful flattery of the flesh.

As the deceitful harlot allures a foolish man to her bed by appealing to his pride, so Babylon’s religion seduces foolish men and women and destroys them forever (Proverbs 7:1-27). Satan’s ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, teaching sinners to live good, morally righteous lives, even to live by the law. Thereby the fiend of hell beguiles the souls of fools from the simplicity (the singleness of faith) that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The Galatians had verbally denied Christ. They had begun to mix works with grace, their own righteousness with Christ’s righteousness, their performances with Christ’s blood. They had been tricked into thinking that Christ’s work must be supplemented by their own works. Paul’s object in this Epistle (in all his Epistles) is to demonstrate the fact that Christ supplemented is Christ supplanted (Galatians 5:2). In the matter of faith, Christ is all or he is nothing. “Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently setforth”—These men and women were in great danger of total apostasy. Paul was very concerned for their souls (Galatians 4:11; Galatians 4:20). The doctrine they had embraced from false teachers was horrible and deadly. Yet, Paul is hopeful that they will recover. He addresses them as brethren, people who know and trust Christ, and reasons with them upon the basis of their professed faith in Christ. Paul himself had preached Christ to them. He had clearly set forth the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God as the crucified, accepted Substitute for sinners. With this phrase, Paul gives us a clear description of what preaching is. It is the setting forth of Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). Many preach a vague, indistinct Christ, who did something or other, but no one knows just what or why; not Paul. He distinctly painted a picture of Christ before the eyes of his hearers (2 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Romans 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:23-24; Galatians 6:14). If we do good to the souls of men we must constantly set Christ crucified before them. There is no righteousness for sinners, except the righteousness of God in Christ, the righteousness he brought in by his perfect obedience to the law in his life and his infinitely meritorious, effectual satisfaction of its justice by his blood. Life’s Beginning Galatians 3:2-5—“This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” Paul moves from a denunciation of justification by works to the denunciation of sanctification by works. Justification is righteousness imputed. It is a work done outside our experience. Sanctification is righteousness imparted in the new birth. Both are totally the works of God’s free grace, works of grace to which we contribute nothing. The Spirit of God comes into our lives in regeneration sovereignly (John 3:8). He comes in and works his work through the preaching of the gospel (1 Peter 1:23-25), “the hearing of faith.” The gifts of the Spirit come through the preaching of faith, not of law works (Romans 10:16-17; Acts 11:14; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31-32; Ephesians 1:12-13; John 7:38-39). Sanctification comes not by the law, but by Spirit wrought faith in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). I am fully aware that this is not commonly accepted. But I am just as fully convinced that it is the teaching of Holy Scripture. To those who try to teach salvation by grace alone and still make sanctification to be the result of our works, I ask only that they show their doctrine from the Word of God. That cannot be done. The words “sanctify,” “sanctified,” “sanctifieth,” and “sanctification” are used more than thirty times in the New Testament. We are said to be sanctified by the purpose of God, by the blood of Christ, by the Spirit of God, by faith in Christ, and by the Word of God. But never, not even once, are we said to sanctify ourselves. Sanctification is the work of God alone. We are not made perfect, complete, by the works of the flesh. Our life in Christ began as a life of faith, and must continue to the end as a life of faith (Colossians 2:6). Abraham’s Justification Galatians 3:6-9—“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” The first mention of a man having righteousness accounted (imputed) to him is found in Genesis 15:6. That man was Abraham. He was not justified by being circumcised. Circumcision had not yet been commanded. Abraham was justified by faith alone (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:2; Romans 4:9-10; Romans 4:13; Romans 4:20-25). If Abraham was justified by faith without works, only those who are justified by faith without works, and all those who are justified by faith without works are the children of Abraham. That is to say, the people of God, the heirs of God’s covenant and God’s promises, those who are saved, the Israel of God are all those, and only those, who trust Christ alone for all their acceptance with God (John 8:39; Philippians 3:3). Cursed Galatians 3:10— “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Justification must be by faith and cannot come by the works of the law, because all who live (profess to live) under the law are under the curse of the law. No man can obey God’s holy law. No man can perform the righteousness required by the law. No man can satisfy the debt owed to the law. Only Christ, the God-man, could do that. Sincere obedience is not sufficient. Obedience must be perfect. The law can do nothing but condemn and kill (Romans 3:19). It can never justify and give life. If we would be justified, we must be justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ. It is very important for us to take note of the fact that Galatians 3:10 is a quotation of Deu 27:26. It is important for this reason—Those who endeavor to make the law of God the believer’s rule of life insist that when the New Testament teaches our total freedom from the law in Christ (Romans 6:14-15; Romans 7:4; Romans 10:4), it is only talking about freedom from the ceremonial, Levitical law. But the passage cited here has nothing to do with the ceremonies of the law. Deuteronomy 27:14-26 speaks only of what is called “the moral law.” Galatians 3:10 specifically states that all who attempt to live before God by the ten commandments are yet under the curse of the law.Evident Fact Galatians 3:11-12— “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.” Justification must be by faith, because the life of faith is above the law. The life of faith has a superior principle. Faith works by love (2 Corinthians 5:14; Galatians 5:6; Hebrews 8:10; 1 John 3:23). The life of faith has a superior power. Christ lives in us (1 John 3:9). The life of faith has a superior promise. Moses, in the law, promised only temporal blessedness to moral obedience. Christ in the gospel promises eternal life to the obedience of faith (12, John 17:2). Many were justified before the law was given at Sinai (Abel, Noah, Job, Abraham); and many were justified during the legal dispensation; but none were justified by obedience to the law. The law was given to identify, expose, and condemn sin and to lead us to Christ. It has no other function. The Scriptures declare, “The just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Hebrews 10:38). The law is not of faith. The law does not demand faith. It demands obedience, perfect obedience, external obedience, internal obedience, constant obedience, perfect obedience, obedience in thought, in motive, and in attitude. Therefore, it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Redeemed Galatians 3:13-14— “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Justification must be by faith, because Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, thereby fulfilling the law and bringing the law to its end. Christ is the end of the law (Romans 10:4). He is the conclusion of the law. He is the purpose for which the law was given, the One to whom it pointed. And he is the termination of the law (Hebrews 10:1-14). He endured its curse for us and redeemed us from it (2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:5-6). “Christ”—the appointed, anointed, accepted Redeemer and Savior, God’s own dear Son—“hath”—once and for all, with finality, by his one great sacrifice for sin—“redeemed”—effectually ransomed and delivered by a just and legal payment—“us”—God’s elect, every sinner who trusts him—“from the curse of the law”—from all possibility of judgment, condemnation, penalty, and death by the law—“being made a curse for us”—being made to be the object of God’s just wrath, the object of the law’s just curse, by being made to be sin for us!—“For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). Christ died in our room and stead, satisfying all the demands of God’s holy law as our Substitute for this purpose—that the blessing of Abraham, the same blessing that God gave Abraham - justification, imputed righteousness, and eternal life, might come upon us (Romans 4:7-10) through him. Abraham was not justified by works, or by circumcision, but by Christ (Romans 4:20-25). When Paul says, “that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith,” he is not saying that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in regeneration by faith. It is this gift and operation of the Holy Spirit that creates faith in us (Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 1:19; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 2:12). The promise of the Spirit, which we receive, is the gift of faith which was symbolized in circumcision, by which all the blessings of God are sealed and assured to us, the Spirit of adoption that enables us to confidently call God himself our Father, through faith in Christ (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:4-7; 1 John 3:1-3). Promises Galatians 3:15-18— “Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” Justification must be by faith, because all the promises of God are made to faith. Justification before God cannot be by the law, because all these promises were made by God in a covenant 430 years before the law was given. A covenant or testament made by a man cannot be overturned or nullified once it is confirmed. Certainly, if a man’s covenant cannot be nullified, God’s covenant cannot be. These promises of acceptance with God, justification and eternal life, were not made to Abraham’s physical seed, but to Christ as the federal head and representative of God’s elect, his church, his body, Abraham’s spiritual seed. They were made to him for us before the world began (Ephesians 1:3-6; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2). The Levitical law, which was given 430 years after the covenant God made with Abraham concerning Christ and the blessings of grace in him (Genesis 12:1-3), does not and cannot nullify God’s covenant grace or make his promises of mercy, grace, salvation, and eternal life in Christ of non-effect. What Paul says in Galatians 3:18 is very much the same thing he says in Romans 4:16; Romans 11:6. — “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all… And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” If justification can be obtained by something we do, it cannot be received by faith in Christ. Faith and works cannot stand together. If we bring in works, we push out faith, push out grace, and push out Christ completely. But God gave the inheritance of grace to Abraham by promise. How long beneath the law I lay, In bondage and distress! I toiled the precept to obey. But toiled without success. Then all my servile works were done, A righteousness to raise; Now, freely chosen in the Son, I freely chose his ways. To see the law, by Christ fulfilled, And hear his pardoning voice, Will change a slave into a child, And duty into choice. In the matter of salvation Christ is all (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). Let us trust him, love him, serve him, and seek his honor always and in all things, who loved us and gave himself for us (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Galatians 3:2

Chapter 11 The Holy Spirit and the Hearing of Faith “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (Galatians 3:2) “This only would I learn of you.” ¯ Here Paul strikes at the heart of the Galatians’ great error, and demonstrates that the gift of the Holy Spirit, that is to say grace, salvation, eternal life, and all the blessings of the covenant of grace of which the gift of the Spirit is the seal and assurance (Galatians 3:13-14; Ephesians 1:13-14), come to chosen, redeemed sinners only by the hearing of faith, not by the works of the law. “Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” ¯ John Gill asserts, “This question supposes they had received the Spirit; that is, the Spirit of God, as a spirit of wisdom and knowledge in the revelation of Christ; as a spirit of regeneration and sanctification; as a spirit of faith and adoption; and as the earnest, seal, and pledge of their future glory.” True Believers Paul addresses the Galatians as brethren, as genuine believers. His hope was that their apostasy was not a total departure from the faith. He hoped they had not yet made shipwreck of their souls. It is very important to observe this fact. Writing by divine inspiration, Paul shows us that men and women may embrace much error regarding gospel doctrine, who do truly trust Christ. The Galatians were involved in grave error, just as the apostle Peter had been at Antioch (Galatians 2:11-16).

They appeared to be in danger of total apostasy (Galatians 5:1-4). Indeed, some may have totally abandoned the faith they had once professed to believe. But Paul’s language in this verse clearly indicates that there were some in the Galatian church who were truly born of God, who had true faith in Christ, who were possessors of the Holy Spirit, who embraced in measure the horrible heresy of legalism. I stress this as a matter of importance, because there is a terrible, proud, self-righteous tendency among God’s people in this world, and among preachers of the gospel, to set themselves up as judges of others, to quickly condemn as reprobate everyone who falls into doctrinal error regarding the gospel. What sad divisions there are in the visible church (among true believers) because of this tendency. In matters of judgment concerning others, if we err, let it be on the side of leniency, not severity. Still, Paul uses the language of stern reproof. His purpose is to settle the issue in our hearts and minds. When he says, “This only would I learn of you,” he is saying, answer this question and the matter is settled. ¯ “Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” If salvation’s initial experience (regeneration and conversion) is altogether the work of the Holy Spirit in us, a work of grace alone received by faith alone then the whole of salvation must be the same. The Holy Spirit, who had been given to them in their initial experience of grace (Acts 10:44; Acts 11:16), was to them, as he is to God’s saints now, the proof of God’s favor and their acceptance with God in Christ. If we receive justification without works, we also receive sanctification, perseverance, and glorification without works. “They had been converted. They had received the Holy Spirit. They had had abundant evidence of their acceptance with God; and the simple matter of inquiry now was, whether this had, occurred as the regular effect of the gospel, or whether it had been by obeying the law of Moses?” (Albert Barnes) This gift of the Holy Spirit is in no way connected with obedience to the law of Moses, or of any other law. It was not a matter of works. This, Paul implies, is a matter of such absolute clarity to any believer that none who know God can call it into question. The indescribably rich gift of God’s salvation has nothing to do with something we do. The Hearing of Faith When Paul asks, “Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”, he is asserting that it is ludicrous to imagine that we merited and procured the Spirit of God by our obedience to the law, or that the Spirit of God came into our hearts by the preaching of the law. Though the law gives a knowledge of sin, it can do nothing else. The law is a killing letter. It brings a sense of wrath, condemnation, and death, but not the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes by “the hearing of faith,” that is by the hearing of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is the declaration of righteousness and justification, redemption and forgiveness accomplished by Christ (Romans 4:25; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 9:12). “In this way,” as John Gill stated, “the Spirit of God is received. While the Gospel is being preached he falls on them that hear it, conveys himself into their hearts, and begets them again by the word of truth.” In other words, if we are God’s children, it is because we have heard the voice of God in the gospel and responded to it by faith. “I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Come unto me and rest; Lay down, thou weary one, lay down thy head upon my breast.’ I came to Jesus as I was, weary, and worn, and sad. I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad. I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Behold, I freely give The living water – thirsting one, stoop down, and drink, and live.’ I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream; My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him. I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘I am this dark world’s light; Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.’ I looked to Jesus and I found in Him my star, my sun; And in that light of life I’ll walk till traveling days be done.” ¯Horatius Bonar The Scriptures teach that all of God’s children have heard in their hearts the voice of Christ, and have responded to that voice by faith (Romans 10:17). It is clear that the life of the Christian is a life of faith, of faith in Christ (Hab. 24; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). The believer’s life is from beginning to end a life of faith. We are not saved by the law, sanctified by the law, nor kept by the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the gift of God, with and by whom all the gifts of grace, salvation, and eternal life are received into the soul. It is by the Spirit that the works of the Savior are known and received. The Holy Spirit is himself the seal of God’s favor, the seal of his covenant, and the token of our peace with God. When he enters our hearts we are saved, resurrected from death to life, and brought into a conscious awareness of adoption (Galatians 4:6-7; 2 Timothy 1:9-10). He is the source of light, life, faith, love, and liberty in our souls. He even sanctifies our bodies, making our very bodies the temples of God. The experience of God’s people, as it is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, is a clear demonstration of the fact that the Spirit of God comes to sinners by the hearing of faith. He had been promised to the disciples, and he was given as they in faith waited for him (Acts 1:4-5; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-4). The same thing happened at Samaria (Acts 8:12-17). Thus the Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius and his household through the hearing of faith (Acts 10:44-45). When Paul preached the gospel among the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit fell sovereignly on those who heard (Acts 15:7-12). The Holy Spirit and Salvation When Paul speaks of the reception of the Holy Spirit by the hearing of faith, he is not talking about a second work of grace, but about the initial experience of grace in salvation. Ephesians 1:13, as it is translated in the King James, has been horribly misinterpreted by many to imply that after sinners are saved, if they are really good, praying, spiritual Christians, then they may receive a higher form of spiritual life by receiving the Holy Spirit. That text in the King James Version reads, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” That translation might appear to teach that there is an interval between faith in Christ and the seal of the Spirit. But that is incorrect. Ephesians 1:13 would be far more accurately translated, “In whom you also trusted, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” In other words, every chosen, redeemed sinner is, by the effectual call and irresistible grace of God the Holy Spirit, granted faith in Christ when he is made to hear the word of truth, “the word of faith,” the gospel of his own salvation accomplished by Christ. And, trusting Christ, he is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He has sealed to him, that is he is given the conscious assurance of all the blessings of God’s everlasting mercy, love, and grace in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-7); and he is sealed in grace, sealed up in infallible, indestructible security in the grace of God (John 10:27-30). There can be no question regarding this interpretation of Paul’s teaching about God’s people receiving the Holy Spirit, because it is the universal testimony of Holy Scripture that no sinner is saved who has not received the Holy Spirit. All the graces of faith, hope, and love that are wrought in us are the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24). It is the Holy Spirit who reveals Christ in us, grants us faith in him by the mighty operations of his grace, and assures us of our acceptance with God in Christ (Galatians 1:15; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 2:13; Colossians 1:12). Salvation is the knowledge of the one true and living God as he is revealed in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:3). But there is no possibility of anyone knowing God, knowing Christ, except God the Holy Spirit take the things of Christ and reveal them unto him (John 16:8-14). If we belong to Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). We have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit. He showed us our guilt, convincing us of sin. He convinced us of righteousness, of righteousness accomplished and brought in by Christ our Substitute.

He convinced us of judgment, judgment finished, justice satisfied, condemnation forever removed by the death of Christ in our room and stead at Calvary. It is God the Holy Spirit who has revealed the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to us (Romans 3:24-26; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6). This great gift of grace is altogether without our works. We received faith by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our works could never bring it. We received peace by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:1-5). Our works could never give it. We have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

It is God the Spirit who formed Christ in us in the new birth, making us partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Our works could no more sanctify us than they could justify us. We have communion with God the Father by the Holy Spirit. Our works could never give us access to him. The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray and helps us in prayer (Romans 8:26). The law could never do so.

The Holy Spirit, as we have seen already, is our seal and pledge and assurance of heaven (Ephesians 1:13). The law never secured that for anyone. The Lord Jesus Christ brings his people into rest, which Moses and Joshua could not do, by the operation of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 4:9-10). The Holy Spirit is a fountain of living water springing up in the soul (John 7:36-39). The works of the law are a broken cistern. The Connection Clearly, the doctrine of Holy Scripture is that salvation is wrought in us by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit, without our works. But what is the connection between the hearing of faith and receiving the Holy Spirit, between the hearing of faith and the experience of salvation. It is just this ¯ “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Not only has the Lord God ordained who shall be saved, as well as the very time and place when he will work his grace in them, he has also ordained the means by which grace, salvation, and faith shall come to them; and that means is the preaching of the gospel. This is exactly what he says in his Book, God’s elect are “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” And he does not leave us to guess what he means by that. He says, “And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:23-25). When the time of love has come (Ezekiel 16:8), when the Lord God will call out a sinner, he raises up a man to preach the gospel to that sinner and causes their paths to cross by one means or another. He causes the chosen sinner to hear the gospel preached; but the sinner has no ability to understand it. He cannot receive the things of God. They are foolishness to him (1 Corinthians 2:14). But when the Spirit of God conveys the gospel to the heart, he comes with it, enlightens the mind, gives understanding, and sweetly, irresistibly, effectually inclines the heart to believe and the will to receive and embrace Christ, as he is set forth in the gospel (John 1:12-13; John 6:63; 1 Corinthians 2:9-13; Hebrews 4:12). Then, believing on the Son of God, having received God’s salvation by the hearing of faith, the saved sinner sings with David, “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee!”

Galatians 3:3

Chapter 12 “Are ye so foolish?” “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3) The Galatians were acting foolishly, in utter stupidity. They had received the message of the gospel under the powerful demonstration of the Holy Spirit. They had trusted Christ as he was revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. They had received the great blessings of the gospel under the sovereign influence of the Holy Spirit. But now they were being bewitched. The servants of Satan came among them preaching another gospel. The old serpent began to deceive many and turn them away from the simple faith of the gospel. These false teachers were saying that something must be added to faith; and that, though we are justified by faith in Christ, yet we are not perfected, or sanctified by faith. They taught that if men would be true Christians, if they would be sanctified, then the works of the flesh must be added to the righteousness of Christ to accomplish this. They did not openly deny the gospel. They did not come out and say, “You must be saved by grace and by works.” Satan is too slick for that.

What these Judaizers declared is that though we are saved by grace, we must finish the work ourselves. Paul says, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, having been justified by the work of Christ and having received it by the Spirit, do you now think that you can perfect yourselves?” Flesh and Spirit Our Savior declares, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63). The Spirit is life. The flesh is death. The indwelling of God the Holy Spirit is the indwelling of Christ, the indwelling of Life. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are born again. We have faith by the gift and operation of the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us assurance of the forgiveness of sin, and of sonship. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds, assure our hearts, and keep us sealed in grace as the purchased property of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness with us, and who enables us to bear witness to others. The flesh can do none of these things. The flesh speaks of the absence of Christ. As it is used here, the word flesh indicates anything apart from Christ, or in addition to Christ, which we depend upon as meritorious before God. The Galatians were beginning to renounce Christ as the all-sufficient Savior. Having begun in the Spirit, they were now placing their confidence in fleshly things, such as legal works, the observance of ceremonies, the practice of circumcision, sabbath keeping, and even the things they ate and drank, or did not eat and drink! They hoped to make themselves perfect, complete, and holy by the works of the flesh. What stupendous, disastrous stupidity! Paul seems to say, “Your beginning was so hopeful, but your continuation is so sorrowful. And just think of it, those false guides whom you are following have a name for this process of going down hill. They call it “becoming perfect.” How foolish! What Paul here says of the Galatians applies equally to those who trust in anything except Christ for salvation in our day. If a man bases his hope for life, or anything in heaven upon anything apart from, or in addition to Christ, he is depending on the flesh. Christianity is “Christ in you;” and Christ in you is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Trinitarians Christians are Trinitarians. We believe, according to the plain statement of Holy Scripture, that there is one living and true God, and that there are three persons in the Godhead: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each is equal to the other in all things. This is what the Book of God declares. ¯ “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are One” (1 John 5:7). Yet, for the purpose of our redemption, in the covenant of grace each of the Sacred Three voluntarily assumed to himself one aspect of the great work of saving the elect. Ephesians 1 teaches this with complete clarity. In the covenant of grace God the Father is the great Architect of salvation. He purposed the great work (Galatians 3:3-6). God the Son is the great Accomplisher of salvation. He purchased salvation (redemption and forgiveness) for his people (Galatians 3:7-11). God the Holy Spirit is the great Applier of salvation.

He produces the work of grace in the heart and effectually applies it to chosen, redeemed sinners (Galatians 3:12-14). Let us never think lightly of God the Holy Spirit. He is not a mere influence upon us. He is our great God, and it is his office in the Covenant of Grace to apply the finished work of Christ to the hearts of the elect, and to bring them safely to heaven. Salvation, in the experience of it, is altogether the work of God the Holy Spirit. The Beginning At the very beginning of our experience of grace, in the new birth, in the gift of faith, and in effectual calling salvation is the work of the Spirit. Our Lord Jesus tells us plainly that our being born of God and our believing on him is not the result of something we do (John 1:12-13). He told Nicodemus that no man could either see or enter into the kingdom of God until he is born again; and that that new birth is the sovereign, irresistible work of the Spirit (John 3:1-8). Yes, God’s elect were saved from eternity in the purpose of God. Let men argue with that as they may, God states it plainly (Romans 8:28-30; 2 Timothy 1:9). Yes, every chosen sinner was saved by Christ when he redeemed them from the curse of the law ((Romans 5:10; Galatians 3:13). In preaching the gospel we declare to eternity bound sinners, utterly helpless before God, dead in trespasses and in sins, redemption accomplished, and salvation finished by the crucified Son of God. In that sense salvation is altogether outside our experience. Yet, salvation is something every chosen, redeemed sinner experiences in time. The chosen must be born of God. The redeemed must be called. The called must believe. The believing must follow Christ. The follower must persevere unto the end. The whole of salvation, as it is experienced in time, is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Those who are spiritually dead can no more raise themselves up to spiritual life than the physically dead can raise themselves. Resurrection to life is the work of God the Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-5). Unbelievers can no more make themselves believers than blind men can make themselves see. Faith is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), the gift of his grace (Ephesians 2:8), and the operation of his omnipotent, irresistible mercy (Ephesians 1:19; Colossians 2:12). It is God the Holy Spirit who, at the appointed time of love, causes chosen sinners to hear the gospel, not in word only, but in power and in much assurance, creating life and faith within (1 Thessalonians 1:5; Romans 10:17; 2 Pet. 1:23-25). He makes the gospel effectual, making it to each of the redeemed the gospel of his own salvation accomplished by Christ (Ephesians 1:12-14). He works faith in us by revealing Christ to us and in us by the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Galatians 1:15-16; Zechariah 10:12). When Christ is revealed, the Holy Spirit convinces the sinner of his sin, of righteousness accomplished, and of justice satisfied by the crucified Son of God (John 16:8-11). And it is God the Holy Spirit who preserves us, by whom we are sealed until the day of our resurrection (Ephesians 1:14; Ephesians 4:30). We persevere in faith because we are kept by his grace. In all this great work there is nothing to be attributed to the flesh. The whole work is the work of grace, free, sovereign, irresistible, indestructible, everlasting grace. ¯ “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.” Indwelt The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. The church universal is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16). Every true local church is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17), an habitation of God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). He is the antitype of the Shekinah in the Old Testament (Numbers 9:15-20; 2 Chronicles 7:1-3). And every believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. He is our ever abiding, indwelling Comforter, Teacher, and Keeper. That is the doctrine of Christ in John 13-16. The Holy Spirit keeps every believer in absolute security (John 10:28; 1 Peter 1:5). He is our Sanctifier, the One whose presence with us, giving us a new nature, has sanctified us in the experience of grace. He is the Anointing and Unction of God, by whom we are taught all things (John 14:26; 1 John 2:27; 1 Corinthians 2:14). He comforts our hearts by taking the things of Christ and showing them to us (John 14:16-18). He gives us the peace of pardon by revealing Christ to us, by sprinkling (applying to our hearts and consciences) the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God crucified for us (Hebrews 9:12-14). We know that we have the forgiveness of sins, because the Holy Spirit speaks pardon to our hearts, declaring that Christ’s blood has satisfied justice. We have assurance of salvation and eternal, immutable acceptance with God by the Holy Spirit who gives us faith in our immutably accepted Substitute (Romans 8:16; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:14; Hebrews 11:1-2). It is this gift of faith that assures us that we are indeed the children of God (Galatians 5:6). Finish Yes, the Holy Spirit began the work of grace in us, and he will finish it. That is what the word “perfect” means in Galatians 3:3. The legalists who were seducing the Galatians away from Christ taught that, though saved by grace, we must now finish the work God began in us by contributing the works of our flesh (self-righteous, law obedience) to the work of the Spirit to make God’s work of grace complete. What horrid blasphemy! Yet, it is the commonly accepted religion of the world. How often I have heard people say to me, after hearing the gospel of God’s free, sovereign, saving grace in Christ, “According to what you preach there is nothing for me to do. God does everything.” My response is always, “I’m glad you heard what I said.” Did you get that? In this business of salvation, there is nothing for you to do. God does everything. He who called you will keep you. He said so. He who began his good work in you with finish it (without your help). He said so (Philippians 1:6; John 6:39). He who brought you out of the grave and raised you in the first resurrection spiritually will bring you out of the grave and raise you up to glory in the second resurrection. He said so (Romans 8:11-23). Faith To walk in the Spirit is to live by faith in Christ, trusting Christ alone for the whole of our salvation. To live after the flesh is to seek in some way, to some decree, by some means to establish some sort of righteousness for ourselves. Therefore, the Apostle Paul writes, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Colossians 2:6). “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” How did you receive Christ? We did not receive Christ by the works of the flesh, or by the hearing of the law, but by faith (Galatians 3:1-3). That is how we must live, if we would honor God. We honor God, fulfill the law, and magnify our Savior, only by faith in him (Romans 3:31). There is no other way to do so. How did you receive Christ? If you have received him, you received him by faith. You came to him as a sinner, trusting him as your Savior (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). You bowed to him as a servant, receiving him as your Lord. You came to him as a Bride, like Gomer, conquered by his love, embracing him as your husband. As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, trusting him alone for all things. The flesh and the Spirit can never come together. God’s work of grace Paul refers to here as “Spirit.” The law he calls “flesh.” I know that appears strange to many, and offensive to others. The reason is clear. ¯ Multitudes seek to make themselves perfect by the flesh. The works of the law he calls flesh, because the ordinances of the law were “carnal ordinances” (Hebrews 9:10). Imposed upon the Jews during the Old Testament. The commandments of the law are called the “rudiments of the world” (Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:20) and “beggarly elements of the law” (Galatians 4:9). In the Old Testament, for the Jews of that Mosaic age, the ordinances of the law were spiritual, the ordinances of God. But all the law was temporary by design, pointing to Christ who fulfilled the law and is the end of the law. The law was a schoolmaster to lead to Christ.

Now that Christ has come, having died, and risen again from the dead, the carnal ordinances of the law became useless. Besides that, God never intended them to be anything other than temporary rudiments and first elements. We are no longer under the law. We worship and live after the Spirit (Philippians 3:3). To return to the law is to become apostate. It is to depart from Christ and deny the grace of God. That is how serious the matter is (Galatians 5:1-4). It is for that reason that Paul spoke so strongly about the believer’s freedom from the law in Christ. And it is for that reason that we must reject and flee from every attempt by men to bring us back under the yoke of legal bondage today, no matter what their pretense is for doing so. ¯ “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.”

Galatians 3:6-14

Chapter 13 “Children of Abraham “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:6-14) Paul’s purpose in this chapter is to demonstrate that the believer’s standing before God is completely upon the merits of Christ, and not upon anything done by himself. Salvation in all its fullness is obtained by faith, and not by legal works. The judicial act of justification took place when Christ was delivered up to death upon the cursed tree because of our offences imputed to him and raised again because of our justification accomplished by him (Romans 4:25). Our justification is the result of justice being satisfied by the sacrifice of Christ. It is a work of grace accomplished totally outside our experience. Yet, the Scriptures speak of God’s elect being justified by faith (Romans 3:28; Galatians 3:24). How can this be? The answer is very simple. ¯ We receive justification by faith. We were justified in the court of heaven upon the merits of Christ as considered in him, so that God looks upon us with the same complacency as if we had never sinned. It is only because this is true that God can deal with sinners in mercy. If his justice were not already fully satisfied, he could not allow any sinner to live.

We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son long before we believed. When he gave us faith in Christ, we received that reconciliation and justification by faith (2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 5:9-11). We come to experience justification in the court of conscience by faith. That is when the Holy Spirit speaks peace to our hearts, and declares us to be free from condemnation by applying the blood of Christ to our hearts. Thus our carnal mind, which is naturally at enmity with God, is reconciled to God. It is in this sense, and only in this sense, that we are justified by faith. Paul has shown that this doctrine of justification by grace alone is exactly what all our Lord’s apostles taught. This is the doctrine of Christ. He has declared that if righteousness could be had in any other way, or by any other means, then Christ died in vain. In the opening verses of this chapter Paul shows that every saved sinner’s experience verifies this truth of the gospel. Now, he appeals to biblical history to prove that believers are not justified by the law; and that we do not live by the law, but by faith in Christ. He points us to Abraham, the friend of God. It is likely that Paul selected this reference to Abraham in order to show that at the very beginning of Israel’s history it was clearly evident that God had chosen this nation in order that it might be a blessing to all nations through its “Seed,” the Lord Jesus Christ, and to show that from the beginning this blessing of grace had been received by faith alone and not by works. In the passage before us Paul identifies who the children of Abraham are. He shows that all of God’s elect in every age are truly the children of Abraham. They are the true Israelites. Abraham is the father of the faithful. He is called “the father of all them that believe” (Romans 4:11), because he is the first person of whom the Book of God declares he “believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6). Abraham’s Children The true Israel of God are not the natural descendants of Abraham, but the spiritual descendants of Abraham He was the father of the nation from whom Christ sprang, who is the Author of our faith; and all of God’s children are children of faith. As the Holy Spirit puts it in Philippians 3:3, “we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” The Word of God shows this to us with unmistakable clarity. The natural, physical seed of Abraham, Jews, or Israelites, after the flesh, are not the people of God by right of their physical birth. It is true that God made definite promises to the physical seed of Abraham, but these were all fulfilled (Joshua 21:43-45; Joshua 23:14-15), and they were given upon condition of obedience. Israel, after the flesh, has denied Christ and was judged by God for having done so (Matthew 22:1-14; Matthew 23:37-38). Paul clearly asserts that Israel after the flesh is not the true Israel (Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:4-7). God has cut off the natural seed in order to bring in the greater spiritual seed (Romans 11:22; Romans 11:25-36). “The Israel of God” is that holy nation and royal priesthood of saved sinners who live by the rule of the gospel (Galatians 6:14-16), “who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.” Paul holds Abraham before us as “the father of all them that believe”, because we see in Abraham certain marks, certain characteristics by which all God’s elect are identified in this world. God’s Declaration Those who opposed Paul’s preaching of free-grace and insisted so strenuously that the works of the law must be added to faith in Christ vehemently claimed that they were Abraham’s true descendants, that they were God’s true children (Acts 15:5; Galatians 2:3; Galatians 5:2-3; Galatians 6:12-13; Galatians 6:15; Matthew 3:9; Luke 3:8; John 8:33; John 8:39-40; John 8:53). Therefore, Paul turns to the declaration of Abraham’s righteousness and makes two statements concerning it, which destroy all carnal hope, both for the Jews and for Gentiles who hope for righteousness upon the basis of their works. First, Paul asserts that Abraham was justified by faith, apart from any works of his own. ¯ “ Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Galatians 3:6). 1. Abraham’s justification preceded his circumcision by many years (Genesis 15:6; Genesis 16:16; Genesis 17:24; Romans 4:9-12). He believed God. The Object of his faith was God, especially the Son of God, who is the Word of God (Genesis 15:1; Genesis 15:6). He was Abraham’s Shield (Ephesians 6:16) and his Reward (1 Corinthians 1:30). Abraham trusted Christ. It was Christ, the Object of Abraham’s faith that was imputed unto him for righteousness, not his act of faith (Compare Romans 4:22-25; John 8:56). His faith was the channel through which he received the blessing of justification, the righteousness of Christ. Then, the Apostle declares, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). All who, like Abraham, believe God are justified by faith; and they are the children of Abraham. Physical lineage from Abraham guaranteed no spiritual blessing to Jews (Matthew 3:9). And being the physical descendants of godly (believing) parents secures no spiritual blessing to any today (John 1:11-13). All spiritual blessings (all the blessings of grace, salvation, and eternal life) are in Christ and come to sinners by grace alone. All who are of faith (all who trust Christ) have right to all the promises, which God made to Abraham. The Gospel Preached to Abraham The Holy Spirit tells us plainly that the gospel was preached to Abraham (Galatians 3:8-9). ¯ “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” For some strange reason, many are terribly uncomfortable with that fact. They are uncomfortable with it because they do not know the gospel. They vainly imagine that God saved people in a different way and by a different gospel in the Old Testament than he does today. But that is not the case. It was never God’s purpose to limit his church and kingdom to the physical nation of Israel, but to use them as a means of saving his elect among the Gentiles (Matthew 8:11-12). This he determined before the world began, and, therefore, before Abraham was called to life and faith in Christ by the gospel, by the revelation of Christ in the gospel. Yes, Abraham saw Christ, knew Christ, and trusted Christ, just as believers do today. I do not mean to suggest that Abraham had the full revelation of Christ that is given with the completion of Holy Scripture. But I do mean to assert that Abraham believed on the Son of God as he is revealed in the gospel. Our Savior himself declared, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56). God promised Abraham that the Seed would be from his loins, who would be the Messiah, in and by whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Abraham believed in Christ, his Messiah-Redeemer. God promised him that the Messianic blessings were to be worldwide (Matthew 28:19-20; 1 John 2:2), that all the nations of the earth would be blessed in and by him In Galatians 3:9 Paul was inspired of God to draw a very logical and necessary conclusion. All who believe God, upon the hearing of the Gospel, are the sons of Abraham; hence, they are blessed with him. What Paul is here teaching is the important truth that the church of both the Old Testament dispensation and the New is one. All believers are one in Christ. All of God’s people were chosen in Christ (Ephesians 1:4). All enjoy being clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

All are redeemed by Christ (Isaiah 53; Matthew 1:21; John 3:16). All are his sheep, have one Shepherd, and belong to one fold (Ezekiel 37:22; John 10:16; Ephesians 2:14-15). The names of all the elect are recorded in one Book of Life (Revelation 13:8). All the elect are predestined to the same glory (Romans 8:29-30). All partake of the glories of the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12-14; Matthew 8:11-12). And all will be perfected together (Hebrews 11:40). Living by Faith We read in Galatians 3:10-12 ¯ “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.” We understand the impossibility of law righteousness. Every believer does. We know that the law demands perfection we cannot perform, righteousness we cannot produce, and satisfaction we cannot give. Knowing that fact, all who are just before God, all who have been justified by his grace and have received that justification by faith in Christ, live by faith, just like Abraham did (Hebrews 11:1-3). They obey God because they believe him. Read the life of Abraham, and learn what it is to live by faith. By faith Abraham left his own country to seek another (Genesis 11:28-32). By faith Abraham left his family (Genesis 12:1; Hebrews 11:8). By faith Abraham separated himself from Lot (Genesis 13:1-13). By faith Abraham received a son (Genesis 17). By faith Abraham sacrificed his son (Genesis 22). By faith Abraham received his son back from the dead (Genesis 22). By faith Abraham sojourned through this earth seeking the city of God, not receiving one parcel of land for himself (Genesis 13:14-18; Hebrews 11:10). By faith Abraham died (Hebrews 11:13). If we seek to live by the law, Paul declares that we do not live by faith (Galatians 3:12). To embrace the law as a principle of life is to abandon faith, abandon grace, and abandon Christ (Galatians 5:1-4). Redemption Redeemed sinners are free from the curse and condemnation of the law. We cannot and shall not be cursed by the law. ¯ “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). What a blessed, clear statement this is of particular, effectual redemption! Christ’s object in redeeming us, as it is here declared, was that we might receive the blessing of Abraham, the Spirit of God, and all the gifts of grace and salvation in him by faith in Christ. ¯ “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:13-14).

Galatians 3:11

Chapter 14 “The Just Shall Live By Faith” “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11) “The just shall live by faith.” God’s people in this world live by faith, trusting him, believing his Word. That has always been the case and shall continue to be the case until time shall be no more. Trusting Christ as our Savior, we trust him as our Lord, living by faith in him. Benjamin Beddome captured the meaning of these words in one of his hymns. “‘Tis faith supports my feeble soul, in times of deep distress, When storms arise and billows roll, great God, I trust Thy grace. Thy powerful arm still bears me up, whatever griefs befall; Thou art my life, my joy, my hope, and Thou my all in all. Bereft of friends, beset with foes, with dangers all around, To Thee I all my fears disclose, in Thee my help is found. In every want, in every strait, to Thee alone I fly; When other comforters depart, Thou art forever nigh.” Justification Clearly, Paul’s doctrine in this text is an undeniable declaration that justification can be obtained from God only by faith in Christ, without the deeds of the law. God’s elect were justified before the law was given just as we are today, by grace through faith, trusting Christ. Abel, Noah and Job, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph, Moses and Aaron trusted Christ just as we do today, believing God’s revelation concerning his Son, and obtained justification by faith in him. Since the law had not yet been given, it is not possible that obedience to the law had anything to do with their justification. Many were justified during the legal dispensation. No one was justified by his obedience to the law, even in that day. The law was not given to justify, but to condemn. The law never made anyone holy, except in a ceremonial (typical) way. The law’s only purpose was to lead us to Christ, shutting us up to faith in him alone for redemption, righteousness, and grace. All the types and commandments of the law were given to reveal both our need of Christ as our Substitute and the blessed efficacy of his work as our sin-atoning sacrifice. Therefore, it is written, “The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith.” Sanctification The apostle Paul here quotes, by divine inspiration, the prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:4). In fact, this statement, “The just shall live by faith,” must have been one of Paul’s favorite passages. He quotes Habakkuk’s words three times in his epistles (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). The fact that the Holy Spirit inspired the writing of these words four times in Holy Scripture certainly implies that there is much in them that we need to learn and remember. If we carefully read the context from which this quotation is taken and the context in which Paul was inspired of God to use it, it will become obvious that the Holy Spirit’s intent is to teach us that as we experience justification by faith in Christ, so too we experience sanctification by faith in him. Clearly, this is what Paul is teaching (as we have seen) in Galatians 3. That faith by which we live is the gift and operation of God’s grace in us. It is not native to man, but the gift of God, the fruit of his Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:12). The operation of faith in the heart produces love; and love produces obedience. These gifts of grace are not the cause of life before God, but the fruit of it. These things do not produce righteousness, but flow from it. In the spring we feast our eyes on the beautiful roses and flowers blooming around our homes, with their fragrances filling the air; but no one imagines that the flowers cause the plants to live.

We know that it is the living plant that brings forth the flower and its fragrance. So it is with the believer. It is the grace of God that gives us life; and the life we live in faith, righteousness, and sanctification is the fruit of his grace. Love for and obedience to Christ are the fruit of grace, not the cause. They neither give us life, nor maintain it. They are the result of life given. Habakkuk’s Questions The Spirit of God here (and throughout the Scriptures) teaches us that faith is the distinctive principle of the believer’s life. By faith we embrace the Savior and live upon him. In Habakkuk 1 (Galatians 3:2-3) the prophet cried beneath the heavy weight of his burden, “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!…Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance?” Then, at the end of the chapter (Galatians 3:13-17), he asked the Lord to explain himself to him, to explain to him why he would choose to use the Chaldeans to punish Judah? His question is, “How is it you, O Lord, God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, will execute your wrath upon Judah by a people even worse than they?” These were not the questions of a rebel, or a reprobate unbeliever, but the questions of a faithful man perplexed by God’s providential works. We might not be honest enough to put them into verbal expressions; but they are questions that frequently disturb us too. Are they not? Habakkuk’s questions remind us of David’s great struggle in Psalms 73. God’s Answer We must admit that we have struggled with the same questions. The earth is filled with glaring inequity. The wicked do seem to prosper while the righteous suffer. After raising these questions, Habakkuk resolves to wait for God’s answer. We would be wise to do the same, and to lay the answer to heart. In chapter 2 Habakkuk stands upon his watchtower to await God’s answer, and the Lord gives it to him in a vision. He does not tell us what he saw; but it must be assumed that the rest of his prophecy is the result of the vision God gave him. I say that because God commanded him to write out the vision and make it plain (Galatians 3:2-3); and the declaration of God’s vision was first and foremost a word of instruction, reproof, and assurance to Habakkuk and to us (Galatians 3:4). Let us hear the instruction, bear the reproof, and rejoice in the assurance. ¯ “The just shall live by his faith.” The first thing we learn is that God is running things in this world right on schedule (Galatians 2:3). Our time and God’s time are not measured by the same clock. Israel offered sacrifices for centuries in anticipation of Christ, the coming Sacrifice, by whom sin would be put away. The Jews, in unbelief, fell into idolatry and were cast off by God, because, they refused to live by faith. They stumbled over the Stumbling-Stone (Romans 9:33 to Romans 10:4). Going about to establish their own righteousness, they refused to submit to the righteousness of God, never realizing that, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” “The just shall live by his faith.” But they refused to believe and perished. Yet, ‘‘when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5). You can count on it, not one thing willed, purposed, predestined, and/or promised by God will fail to be accomplished, and accomplished in exactly the way and at the precise time God has ordained. A thousand years are as a day in God’s sight. He never gets in a hurry, and he is never late. This is God’s answer to all Habakkuk’s questions and his answer to our own questions as well. ¯ ‘‘The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). As I mentioned at the beginning of this study, this great statement made by God to Habakkuk is repeated three times in the New Testament, all by the apostle Paul. Each place describes a specific aspect of Christ’s all-sufficient and infallibly effectual work on behalf of his people as our Surety and Substitute. Romans 1:17 The first New Testament quotation is found in Romans 1:17. It follows Paul’s declaration, ‘‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Romans 1:16). Then he says, ‘‘For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith’’ (Romans 1:17). In Romans 1 Paul is standing, as it were, upon the threshold of his great Epistle on Justification, in which he shows us how sinners are made righteous and just before God, not by works, but by grace. In the Book of God we are given an inspired record of his wondrous work of redemption by Christ, a record of redemption accomplished by the righteousness and blood of his darling Son. Faith believes God’s witness, says, “Amen,” to the testimony of God concerning his Son, and believing the record God has given concerning his Son, believing God, we receive righteousness, free, unconditional, irrevocable and eternal justification. I repeat: faith does not make us righteous. Christ did that at Calvary (Romans 4:25). Faith receives the atonement and the righteousness brought in by it (Romans 5:11). Like our brother Abel, believing God, offering God the blood of his own Son, we obtain witness that we are righteous (Hebrews 11:4). Galatians 3:11 The second quote is here, in Galatians 3:11. ¯ “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for, The just shall live by faith.” Here, Paul is saying much the same thing as he wrote in Colossians 2:6. ¯ “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.” The Galatians were being tempted by false preachers, Judaizing legalists, to forsake Christ and the grace of God altogether (Galatians 5:1-4). These false teachers tried to persuade them that, having been saved by grace (justified by grace), they must now keep themselves saved and make themselves perfect, that they must sanctify themselves by their own works. Paul is not confusing justification and sanctification, but clarifying them. In the context (Galatians 3:1-10) he is clearly addressing the matter of sanctification. He is telling us that both are found in Christ, that both are received by trusting Christ, that both are works of grace received by faith. He is saying, “If you could make yourself perfect by works, you could justify yourself by your works. But that is evidently impossible, “for the just shall live by faith!’” In Galatians 3:11 Paul is talking about the believer’s walk of life in this world. Just as we are saved by faith, we continue in life by faith. Hebrews 10:38 We see Habakkuk’s words again in Hebrews 10:38. Here the Holy Spirit is talking about perseverance and the assurance of it (Hebrews 10:39). When the night is darkest, faith pierces the darkness and, seeing the light of God’s promise and grace in Christ, refuses to quit. Faith embraces and clings to Christ. Back in the book of Habakkuk, the prophet of God tells us that judgment is coming. Every proud rebel shall be destroyed. But, even in the midst of the providential calamities of divine judgment in time, and when the great and final day of wrath shall come, those who live by faith have their eyes on One who is the Anchor of their souls, knowing that he is in his holy temple (Galatians 2:14; Galatians 2:20). ¯ “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Certainly, this is talking about that last day, when judgment is over and God makes all things new. It is equally certain that this is talking about this gospel age, in which the gospel of God’s free, sovereign, saving, grace and glory in Christ is spread over all the earth, even as God destroys the nations by the great whore of false religion, Babylon. Still, there is more. If you have a marginal translation, you will see that the words of Hab 2:14 might be translated, “the earth shall be filled by knowing the glory of the Lord.” That is to say, “We who believe God, who live by faith, knowing the glory of God in Christ, see the fulness of God’s purpose in all things through all the earth” (Romans 8:28-39). This is exactly what our Lord declares to be the case in John 11:40. As it was upon Mt. Sinai that the whole earth was full of the glory of God (Habakkuk 3:3-4), so it is now. If only we had eyes to see it, the whole earth is full of God’s praise. One day soon, all things shall show forth his praise. Even when God marches through the earth in wrath, with his glittering sword drawn, he is riding upon his “chariots of salvation” (Habakkuk 3:8), and goes forth for the salvation of his people by Christ, his anointed (Habakkuk 3:12-13). We are justified by faith; we walk by faith; we will be delivered by faith. This is the vision God gave the prophet of old. Habakkuk declares, “God is working out his eternal purpose of grace for the salvation of his people. In wrath, he does remember mercy. He is making himself known. He is preserving his church and kingdom. Blessed be his holy name!” In consideration of all these things, the Holy Spirit tells us four times, “The just shall live by faith.” Habakkuk’s Faith Knowing this, the troubled, heavy-hearted prophet closes his song and his prophecy with a marvelous declaration of determined faith, bowing to the wisdom, goodness and grace of God’s adorable providence, even when it appears dark and difficult (Galatians 3:17-19). “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” That is exactly what is meant by these words, “The just shall live by faith.” May God the Holy Spirit, whose words these are, teach and give us grace, constantly, to live by faith.

Galatians 3:13

Chapter 15 Christ Our Redeemer “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13) In Galatians 3 Paul is showing us that salvation is entirely the gracious and sovereign work of God, upon the merits of the shed blood of Christ, apart from any human effort. He makes what must be to all legalists a very astonishing and grating statement in Galatians 3:10. “As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.” When a man tries to save himself by doing good, by keeping laws and commandments, he is cursed in his very effort. Such a statement is in direct opposition to the natural opinion of man, and all other forms of religion. Men, by nature, assume that Christianity should address itself to men and say, “You ought to do good. Do this and that and thou shalt live. Obey these commandments and you will have eternal life.” But the revelation of God says just the opposite. “As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” The Law The giving of the law was an awesome and terrifying event. Mount Sinai burned with fire. It was covered with thunder and lightning and thick darkness. The giving of the law was accompanied by the blast of a trumpet. It sounded like the day of doom, of damnation, of destruction. So awesome and terrible was that sight that Moses said, “I do exceedingly fear and quake.” It was such a fearful time that if so much as the hand of a beast were to touch the mountain it was to be stoned, or thrust through with a dart. The awesomeness of that drama was concluded by the law of God being given to man upon two huge tables of stone. The law is hard, unbending, and impersonal. It was written on rock, heavy rock that cruses us to powder. “Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Paul shows us that no man can stand before God and claim salvation upon the footing of his own works, because his very works are a curse to him. In verse thirteen he tells us how sinners are saved. They cannot be saved upon their own merit, but they can be saved upon the merits of Another. Jesus Christ, the Representative Man, is the only one whose righteousness God will accept. And He graciously accepts as righteous all who are in Christ. Sin is an accursed thing. The holy Lord God must curse it. His righteousness demands that he punish all sin and punish men for sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the all-glorious Son of the Everlasting Father, became a man and suffered in his manhood the curse, which was due his people. In the sacrifice of his own Son as our Substitute, God has satisfied his justice in the punishment of sin, and bestows his boundless mercy, love, and grace upon all who trust his Son, receiving salvation at his hand. Our Ruin All men are guilty of sin and under the curse of the law (Galatians 3:10). You and I have broken God’s holy law (Exodus 20:1-17). The mere reading of the law should be enough to convince us of our guilt. We have all broken the law continually, from our youth up. No sinful human being is capable of keeping even one of the commandments. You may think, “But the Lord knows, I have done the best I could.” But that very thought is itself a lie; and you know it. No man has ever done the best he could do. It is ever our nature to choose evil. Yet, even if it were true, the best that we can do is but sin. God’s law demands perfect obedience, inwardly and outwardly, without a break. Some try to find comfort in the supposition that, though they have sinned, they are no worse than others. But that will be no solace when God sweeps nations into hell. In that terrible day the wrath of God will be felt by every sinner as though he alone were damned. Unless you have kept the whole law of God perfectly, from the dawn of your life to the end of it, you are guilty before God. Though it is impossible for us to keep God’s law because of the corruption of our hearts, were it possible to do so, we are still guilty. We all sinned and fell in Adam (Romans 5:12). We were all born in sin (Psalms 51:5; Psalms 58:3). We do not become sinners by what we do. We do the evil that is in us because we are sinners. We were born that way. Our very nature is evil (Mark 7:20-23). Therefore we all live by nature after the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh (Ephesians 2:1-3). Our Curse Because we have broken God’s holy law, we are under the curse of his law (Deuteronomy 27:14-26). What is the curse of the law, but the curse of God? It is a completely just and righteous curse, a curse we have earned (Genesis 2:17, Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23). And the curse of God is indescribably great (Nahum 1:2-6; Malachi 4:1). He who destroyed the world once in water will soon purge it with fire. He who rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah will pour out the unquenchable fire of his holy wrath and the everlasting brimstone of torment upon every sinner who is found by his avenging justice outside Christ, the only City of Refuge. But let no one imagine that the wrath of God is something that may fall upon them sometime in the future. The wrath of God is presently upon the unbelieving (John 3:36; Deuteronomy 28:15-19). Eternal hell is the place where that wrath shall be forever executed, without abatement, upon the ungodly. Redemption But there are some people in this world who are no longer under the curse of the law, who are no longer condemned, and can never be condemned. Let every believing sinner rejoice and sing. Christ our Mediator has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (1 Corinthians 12:3; Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Joshua 10:24-27). The Word of God declares that there is only one way of redemption ¯ Substitution. The only way God can or will forgive sin is by the sin-atoning death and justice satisfying sacrifice of a Substitute of infinite worth and merit. The Lord Jesus Christ is that Substitute. ¯ “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was made to be sin for us. When he was made sin, the Lord God poured out all his infinite, holy wrath upon him. And, with one tremendous stroke of his glittering sword, justice was satisfied. The sword of justice that would have tormented us forever was swallowed in our holy Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. “With one tremendous draft of love, He drank damnation dry!” Yes, he redeemed us from the curse of the law by his one great sacrifice for sin. The Redeemer “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.” ¯ Our Redeemer is Christ, the Son of God, who was appointed and called to this work by his Father. He agreed to be our Redeemer and became our Redeemer in eternity, in the everlasting covenant. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He was spoken of in Old Testament prophecy as our Redeemer, and was typified as our Kinsman Redeemer both by the law and by Boaz. In the fulness of time he came, not to become our Redeemer, but as our Redeemer. And he has, by the sacrifice of himself, obtained eternal redemption for us. Our Lord Jesus is abundantly qualified to be our Redeemer. As man, he is our near kinsman, to whom the right of redemption belonged by the law. As God, he was able to accomplish the great work. The Redeemed Those who have been redeemed by Christ are “us,” God’s elect (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), the objects of his eternal love (Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 8:28-30). They are a people scattered through all the world, a peculiar people, the peculiar and distinct objects of grace. They are the people of Christ, “his people,” whom he came into the world to save (Matthew 1:21), those the Father gave to him before the world began (John 6:39). Those who were redeemed by Christ are his sheep (John 10:11-16), those for whom he made and makes intercession (John 17:9; John 17:20). Surely, no reasonable person can imagine that the Lord Jesus would lay down his life for those for whom he refuses to pray! Those Christ redeemed are those who are, in fact, redeemed.

Is it not ludicrous beyond comprehension to imagine that the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed some who are not redeemed? All those redeemed by Christ are “us” who in time are brought by grace to believe on Christ. Our faith in him in time is the result of the redemption he accomplished at Calvary. By his death upon the cursed tree, by the infinite merit and efficacy of his blood, the Lord Jesus Christ effectually redeemed God’s elect (all for whom he died); and the blessing he obtained for them is eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). When Paul says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,” his meaning is ¯ “At one time in the past, by a finished, once for all act, Christ bought us out of the curse of the law and delivered us from it to himself, by a price.” And the price of our redemption was his own life’s blood (1 Peter 1:18-20). We were his before he died by the Father’s gift. Now, we are his by lawful ransom. He purchased us with the price of his own blood and delivered us “from the curse of the law,” its sentence of condemnation and death, and from the execution of it in eternal wrath. That simply means that all who were redeemed by Christ have been so thoroughly and effectually delivered from the curse of the law, “so that,” as John Gill puts it, “they shall never be hurt by it, he having delivered them from wrath to come, and redeemed from the second death, the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.” Made A Curse How did our Savior accomplish this great work? The Holy Spirit tells us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law “by being made a curse for us.” That does not mean that he was simply made to be like one who is cursed by the law. It does not merely mean that he was looked upon by the men of his day as an abominable, wicked man, or that God merely looked upon him as though he were such. There is much more here than a supposed curse. When our all-glorious Substitute was made to be sin for us, he was made to be “a curse for us.” As our Surety the Lord Jesus was made under the law. He stood before God in our place legally as our Representative. Having all the sins of all his people imputed to him, and having assumed total responsibility for us as our Surety, he stood before God as to one answerable for them, the only one answerable for them. The law, finding our sin on him, charged him with them and cursed him for them. When the Son of God was made to be sin for us, justice executed upon him the full measure of God’s infinite wrath and fury, until it was fully satisfied with the payment received from him. God the Father himself, who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us, awoke the sword of his angry justice against him, and commanded his death, even the horrid, ignominious, accursed death of the cross. Thus, he was made a curse: “made a curse,” by the will, counsel, and determination of the eternal God. And as our great Savior and the Father’s righteous Servant, the Lord Jesus freely consented to the work. He freely laid down his life for us. He voluntarily gave himself for us. He made his own soul an offering for sin in full agreement with the Father, because of his great love for us. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” ¯ It is so written in Deuteronomy 21:23. ¯ “He that is hanged on a tree is accursed of God.” That phrase in Deuteronomy 21:23 is translated in the margin, “He that is hanged on a tree is the curse of God.” Stronger words could not be used to describe our Redeemer’s agony, the magnitude of his sacrifice, and the efficacy of his work upon the cursed tree. When he hung on the cross, in our room and stead; the Lord of Glory was made a curse, not for himself, or for any sins of his own, for he had none. He was made a curse, the curse of God for us, in our room and stead, because of our sins that were made to be his. He was made the curse of God to make atonement for us. The curse of God fell upon his darling Son as our Surety. His own Father, who made him to be sin for us, made him the curse of God for us, that he might redeem us from the curse of the law. God’s holy law requires a penalty against sin. The penalty is death. That is its curse. The only way anyone can ever be delivered from the curse of the law is by enduring its curse, death, to the full satisfaction of justice. But no man can ever do that. Indeed, whatever hell is, it is eternal, precisely because all the damned suffering the wrath of God in hell can never satisfy its infinite curse. Here is the great beauty, wonder, and glory of the gospel. ¯ The Lord Jesus Christ, when he was made the curse of God for us and all for whom he died endured the curse of God in him to the full satisfaction of justice, for when he died, we died in him. Now, upon the grounds of justice satisfied, both the law of God and the grace of God demand the eternal salvation of all for whom Christ died. Because “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,” God is both just and the Justifier of all who trust his Son (Romans 3:24-26). There is no other way in which he can be, as he declares himself to be, “A just God and a Savior” (Isaiah 45:20).

Galatians 3:15-20

Chapter 16 Salvation The Promised Inheritance of Free Grace “Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law?

It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.” (Galatians 3:15-20) Paul’s purpose in Galatians 3 is to show us that salvation, in its entirety, is the inheritance of free grace, the result of God’s absolute and unconditional promise through the blood of Christ. He is showing us that no part of the inheritance can be obtained by the works of the flesh, by obedience to the law. Paul, writing by divine inspiration, uses argument after argument to demonstrate the fact that this is not some new doctrine, but that it is the doctrine of Holy Scripture, constantly taught throughout the Old Testament. In this passage he shows us that the blessing of Abraham, the blessing of salvation by the blood of Christ and the operation of God’s omnipotent grace is an eternal, covenant blessing. An Illustration Paul has already shown us that the promise God made to Abraham was the promise of the gospel. That promise is an eternal, covenant promise. Here the apostle shows us the steadfastness of that covenant and the certainty of the promises of grace and salvation in the covenant, using earthly things as illustrations of heavenly things. ¯ “Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto” (Galatians 3:15). Because the promise was given to Abraham 430 years before the law was given on Mt. Sinai, it should be obvious that the law can never nullify the promise. It is a matter of common knowledge that once a covenant has been ratified, it cannot be changed. Its terms cannot be altered. Paul’s point is this: ¯ Because the promises of grace and salvation were made before the law was given, the law cannot alter or in any way nullify those promises. Therefore, justification, salvation, sanctification, and eternal life cannot come by the law. All the blessings of the gospel come by God’s free, unalterable promise, through the merits and efficacy of Christ’s redemptive accomplishments to all who, like Abraham, believe the gospel. Paul’s Argument If a man’s covenant cannot be overturned by something that happens after the covenant is ratified, you can be sure God’s covenant cannot be. ¯ “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). The promises of the gospel were given long before the law and cannot be annulled or modified by the law that came later. The word translated “covenant” in Galatians 3:15 refers to what we would call “last will and testament.” There is no doubt that Paul uses the word in that sense here to illustrate his point. Yet, he is using it to refer to something far greater than a man’s last will and testament. He is using it to refer to God’s everlasting, immutable, unalterable covenant of grace, and the promises of it made with his Son as our Surety before the world began. Paul stresses the fact that the promise God made to Abraham was totally wrapped up in one person, Abraham’s “Seed,” the Lord Jesus Christ. The promise was, from the beginning, based upon the work that Christ accomplished from eternity as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and would accomplish in time as our Surety, Redeemer, and Covenant Head. Therefore, as it has been from the beginning of time, so it is now. Grace, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life flow to believing sinners freely through the sacrifice of Christ. That which God confirmed to Abraham in Christ by the gospel that was preached to him cannot be nullified by the law given at Mt. Sinai. And that which God gave us in Christ from eternity, before the world began, which has been confirmed to us by the gospel (2 Timothy 1:9-10; Ephesians 1:3-7; Ephesians 1:13-14), cannot be nullified by anything that appears in time. ¯ “And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect” (Galatians 3:17). “And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect” (Galatians 3:18). The inheritance Paul speaks of is an eternal inheritance, everlasting life and happiness in heaven. This is the gift of God in, by, and through Christ. It is not gained by obedience to the law, but by the gift of grace. This inheritance of grace includes all the blessings of grace and glory (Ephesians 1:3; 1 Corinthians 1:30-31). Paul is distinctly asserting that this inheritance includes justification and sanctification in Christ, the distinct blessings of grace promised in the covenant to Abraham and his spiritual Seed, that is to all God’s elect, both Jews and Gentiles, in Christ, Abraham’s Seed. These bounties of grace do not belong to those who seek them by the deeds of the law. They are not the heirs of the promise (Romans 4:14). These promises are obtained by faith alone, without works (Romans 4:16). And there can never be a mixture of faith and works, of grace and law, of mercy and merit. If salvation comes by promise, it cannot come by law. If it comes by law, it cannot come by promise. Salvation is the free gift of God by grace in Christ, without the works of the law. As John Gill states it, “God gave it, freely, without any consideration of the works of the law, to Abraham by promise; wherefore justification is not by works, but by the free grace of God, through faith in the righteousness of Christ; and in this way men become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” 430 Years The fact that Paul speaks of the space between God’s promise to Abraham as being 430 years sometimes causes confusion. There were considerably more than 430 years between the time God’s covenant promises were given to Abraham (Genesis 12) and the giving of the law on Sinai (Exodus 20). Actually more than 600 years elapsed between the two events. Did Paul make a mistake? Is there an error found in the Bible? Of course not! I am certain that Paul understated the space of time on purpose, taking the 430 years from Exodus 12:40-41, which refers to the time of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt. He was simply using the event as an illustration. Without question, Paul chose this figure by the direction of God the Holy Spirit.

Using this figure, he dates the covenant promise, not back to Abraham alone, but to the last of the patriarchs to whom the Lord successively renewed the promise (Jacob – Genesis 28), lumping them all together as one. By writing this way, he both gives the goats a can to chew on and the sheep something else to rejoice their hearts. Just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were one before God and all blessed with the same covenant blessings, freely and fully by grace alone, so all God’s elect are one in Christ and are all blessed with all the blessings of grace in the covenant, because we are one with Christ, our Covenant Head. God’s Covenant That which Paul obviously has in mind, when he speaks of God’s covenant with Abraham and the blessings of it, is the everlasting covenant of grace, so often spoken of in the Book of God (Jeremiah 31; Psalms 89; Hebrews 8; Hebrews 12; Ephesians 1; 2 Timothy 1). John Gill tells us that, “The covenant of grace is a compact, or agreement made from all eternity among the divine Persons, concerning the salvation of the elect.” This covenant of grace is an eternal covenant. Before there was a star in the sky, before the sun was fixed in its place, before there was an angel in heaven to sing the praises of the triune God, before there was a man on earth made in the image and likeness of God, the everlasting Father determined to have a people for himself, like his only-begotten Son. As he loved his Son, so he loved his people before the world was (John 17:23-24). It was a covenant of pure grace and free mercy, made for God’s elect in Christ our Surety (Hebrews 7:20). These are the words of that covenant as they are given in Scripture. ¯ “Mercy shall be built up forever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever, and build thy throne to all generations. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him” (Psalms 89:2-4; Psalms 89:28). The Psalmist declared, “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalms 103:17). This covenant of grace, and redemption, and life, was made between the sacred Persons of the blessed Trinity before the world began. Man had nothing to do with it. The foundation of the covenant is the love of God and his sovereign pleasure. The covenant was entirely free. The grace of God is its only cause. This everlasting covenant is the basis of all of God’s decrees and works.

It is “his own purpose” according to which he brings all things to pass (Romans 8:28-30). He made the angels to be the servants of those whom he had appointed heirs of salvation. He made the earth as the abode of his elect. He created a race of men to call his people from among them. He ordained the fall of that race in order to show the fullness of his love in redeeming his people from the ruins of the fall. He gave the law to show us the terror we deserved.

He gave his Son into the hands of the law to magnify the law and make it honorable, to satisfy its holy justice, and to display his great love for us in redeeming us. He ordained every step of our lives so that each of his elect might show forth most brilliantly the riches of his grace and glory forever. He sent his Spirit to fetch us to himself. What does all this mean to believing sinners, to poor, weak, worthless sinners who look to Christ alone for salvation and eternal life? It means, “All things are yours, for ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” It means, “all things work together for good” to you. It means that “no evil shall happen” to you. It means that you “shall never perish.” God’s covenant encompasses all things for us. I remind you, too, that this is an immutable covenant. It is “ordered in all things and sure.” God will never break his covenant.

Of our God it is written, he is a God “keeping covenant” (Nehemiah 9:32). His faithfulness, which he will never allow to fail, is engaged in the covenant. “My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee” (Isaiah 54:10). “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips” (Psalms 89:34). This covenant is never to give way to another. It was hidden in ages past, under the law, in types and shadows; but it stands forever. “God hath sent redemption to his people: He hath commanded his covenant forever: holy and reverend is his name” (Psalms 111:9). It is just this point for which Paul is arguing in Galatians 3:15-20. In Hebrews 13:20 he calls it “the everlasting covenant”. The law, as a covenant of works, has waxed old and vanished away. It has been replaced by the full revelation of the covenant of grace, which will continue until the end of the world when Christ shall give up his mediatorial kingdom unto the Father and God shall be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24). The Law’s Purpose In Galatians 3:19-20 Paul shows us that the law was given, not as a system by which sinners should seek to be saved, not as a rule of conduct by which believer’s are to measure their spiritual might and superiority over others, but it was added as a temporary thing to restrain wickedness by the threat of punishment, until Christ came and brought in the fulness of God’s covenant promise. ¯ “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.” The law was given long after the promise of eternal life was made (Titus 1:2). It was given to reveal and expose the sin and guilt of men, to constantly remind and make men conscious of their sin. The law was given at Sinai to show sinners their need of a Substitute and to reveal Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, in types and pictures until he came (Hebrews 10:1-9). Even as God gave his law on Mt. Sinai, he graciously showed Christ as the Mediator between God and men, typically, in Moses’ mediation. Moses stood as the mediator between sinful Israel and the holy Lord God (Exodus 20:18-19). The angels of God were messengers and instruments God used in the giving of the law. Christ Our Mediator As Moses was mediator between God and Israel on Sinai, the Lord Jesus Christ, our God-man Savior, is the Mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 12:24; Acts 4:12). A mediator has to do with more than one party. There can be no mediator if only one person is involved. Yet, God is only one person; he is the one offended, standing off at a distance, giving the law in the hands of a mediator, revealing their alienation. Therefore, justification cannot be expected through the law. Someone must step in, take up our cause, and satisfy the law for us, or we must perish.

That Someone is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Mediator and Surety. He took up our cause from eternity, assumed total responsibility for our souls before the world began, and has sworn to his Father that he will bring his own elect safe to glory at last in the perfection of his righteousness and holiness (John 10:16; Hebrews 2:13), according to the terms of the covenant (Ephesians 1:3-6), presenting us before the presence of his glory holy and without blame before the holy Lord God.

Galatians 3:19-29

Chapter 17 “Wherefore Then Serveth The Law?”Galatians 3:19-29 False teachers crept into the Church at Galatia and convinced many that they must seek to live by the law, that the believer’s justification and sanctification were not accomplished by grace alone. They taught we must be saved by grace, by faith in Christ; but we must also keep the law, if we would be saved. Paul boldly and dogmatically asserted that there can be no mixture of law and grace. Paul could not have stated himself more clearly than he did in Romans 11:6 and Galatians 5:1-4. In those two places, he declares ¯ If you add your works to the grace of God, for justification, for sanctification, or for righteousness of any kind before God, then you deny the grace of God altogether and are lost, totally ignorant of the grace of God, without Christ, and without hope before the Holy Lord God. In Galatians 2:21, having dashed in pieces the notion of mixing law and grace, he makes this bold, dogmatic assertion - “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law (justifying righteousness or sanctifying righteousness), then Christ is dead in vain!” He simply could not have used stronger language to state his case. He declares that those who teach that righteousness may be obtained before God by our personal obedience to the law both frustrate the grace of God and assert that Christ died for nothing. With that as the background, read Galatians 3:19-29. “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” These eleven verses of Inspiration tell us the purpose of God’s law. Paul, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, anticipated the carping of the legalists who would denounce his doctrine. He knew they would come along and say, “If the law has nothing to do with the believer, if it has nothing to do with our justification and nothing to do with our sanctification, if it is not to be used as a rule of life, why was it given? What is its use?” That is the question he answers in these verses. ¯ “Wherefore Then Serveth The Law?” “Added Because of Transgressions” “The law was added because of transgressions.” ¯ The law of God, (the ten commandments and the legal precepts of worship, civil government, and daily life given in the Old Testament), was never intended to be a means of righteousness, a means of grace, or a means of salvation. It was not given as a code of moral ethics. It was not given as the believer’s rule of life. It was not given as a motive for Christian service. It was not given as a measure of sanctification. It was not given to be the grounds of our assurance.

It was not given as a basis for reward in heaven. It was never the intent, purpose, and use of the law to make sinners holy, righteous, and just before God. The Book of God is crystal clear in its language in this regard. Believers are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:14-15). It is impossible to be under both. We are dead to the law (Romans 7:4). “Christ is the end of the law” (Romans 10:4) The purpose of God’s holy law is to identify and expose man’s sin, shutting him up to Christ alone for acceptance with God. It is written, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19. “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). Before anyone is converted, he must be convinced of his sin and guilt. And so we preach the holy law of God to convince men of their sin. Before anyone is given the newness of life in Christ, he must be slain by the law. The law is God’s deep cutting plow, by which he breaks up the fallow ground of a man’s heart and conscience, and prepares the soil for the gospel. This plowing is a painful and difficult work, but must be done. “Given Until” Look at the next line in Galatians 3:19. The law was given until “the Seed should come to whom the promise was made.” The Seed spoken of here is Christ. The promise spoken of is the promise God the Father made to God the Son before the world began. That promise was the promised gift of grace, salvation, and eternal life by the Holy Spirit to his elect. It was a promise made on condition of Christ’s obedience and death, upon condition of righteousness established by him for us as our Substitute. I am not guessing about this. The context declares it. The Mosaic law given at Mt. Sinai was given to Israel in the hands of a mediator who was but a man. But the promise was given to Christ our Mediator from God our Father; and these two are one God. Look at the Scriptures. That is the meaning of Paul’s words here in Galatians 3:20 ¯ “Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.” God the Father promised eternal life to his elect before the world began. But he made the promise to Christ as our Covenant Surety (Titus 1:1-3). We who believe have obtained this promise of eternal life in Christ because the Lord Jesus Christ purchased it and effectually obtained it for the seed of Abraham, Abraham’s true, spiritual seed (Galatians 3:13-14; Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 2:16). No Law Righteousness “Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law” (Galatians 3:21). ¯ What a plain statement this is! It is utterly irrefutable. The law, which was given by Moses, cannot be contrary to the promise of eternal life to God’s elect before the world began. It is absurd, monstrously absurd, to imagine that God would have sacrificed his darling Son for nothing. If righteousness could be obtained by us doing something God would never have sacrificed his Son at Calvary to bring in righteousness for us! “Kept Under the Law” Now, look at Galatians 3:22-23. ¯ “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” The law was not given to makes us righteous, but to shut us up to Christ. The law of God, set forth in Holy Scripture, concludes all under sin. We are all by birth, by nature, by choice, and by practice under sin (Romans 3:19-23). We are under sin’s dominion, corruption, penalty, and curse. The reason for this is ¯ “That the promise (the same promise he has been discussing throughout the chapter, the promise of grace, salvation, and eternal life) by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” Read that last sentence carefully and understand the gospel. ¯ Grace, salvation, and eternal life come to chosen sinners upon the ground of and because of the faith, faithfulness, or faithful obedience of Jesus Christ as our Substitute. It was Christ alone who brought in everlasting righteousness for us. It was Christ alone who redeemed us. It was Christ alone who put away our sins. It was Christ alone who made atonement for us by satisfying the justice of God with his own blood. It was Christ alone who, with his own blood, obtained eternal redemption for us. Our faith in him has no part in the accomplishment of these things! What does faith do? Nothing! Faith receives. Believing God, every sinner who believes has been given grace, salvation, and eternal life by God the Holy Spirit because God the Father promised it and God the Son purchased it! “Salvation is of The Lord!” Before faith came, that is before we came to trust Christ, before God gave us faith in his Son, “we were kept under the law.” As we read in Ephesians 2 ¯ We were by nature children of wrath, just like everyone else. Though we were justified from eternity by God’s decree and justified at Calvary by Christ’s blood atonement, we knew nothing about it. We lived as wrathful children, hating God, under a sense of guilt, as cursed, condemned sinners, without hope. Our first convictions, our first thoughts toward God, filled us with terror. The law condemned us, condemned us justly. When the law came, sin revived and I died! That is what Paul said (Romans 7:9). Shut Up to Faith Why? The Spirit of God tells us. We were thus (by the terror of the law in our consciences damning us) shut up to Christ. Look at it in Galatians 3:23-24. ¯ “Shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.“The law’s purpose, function, and use is to bring sinners to Christ. Once it has served that purpose it has no other function. That is not my opinion, interpretation, or theological view. That is exactly what God the Holy Spirit tells us in Galatians 3:25. ¯ “But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” What does that mean? It means exactly what you think it means. It means spiritually what Martin Luther King proclaimed with the passage of the Civil Rights Bill. “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!” So it is with the law. Once the sinner has come to Christ, he is free from the law. The law has no more dominion over him (Romans 6:14-15; Romans 7:4; Romans 10:4). Faith Alone Salvation comes to sinners, in its entirety, by faith in Christ, by faith alone, without the works of the law. Is that, or is it not the doctrine of Holy Scripture? Read the Galatians 3:26. ¯ “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Paul took the Galatians at their word. Because they professed faith in Christ, he charitably assumed that their profession was genuine. Therefore, he says, “Ye are the children of God by faith in Christ.” Paul is not suggesting that our adoption into the family of God is the result of our believing, not at all. It is just the other way around. Our faith in Christ is the result of our adoption. We were adopted by God before the world began in divine predestination (Ephesians 1:5). It was our adoption that sent the Holy Spirit to us in effectual, regenerating grace. Our adoption in election was the cause of Christ’s atonement and the Spirit’s call (Galatians 4:3-7; 1 John 3:1). Baptized Into Christ “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). ¯ Paul does not imply here there were some in the church who were baptized and some who were not, or that there were some Christians who submitted to the gospel ordinance of immersion in the name of Christ and some who did not. His language here is simply that there might be some of them, who though baptized in water, yet did not know Christ. John Gill explains the text correctly, saying, “Those who are truly and rightly baptized, who are proper subjects of it, and to whom it is administered in a proper manner, are baptized into Christ.” Paul is not saying that by baptism we are brought into union with Christ, but into communion with him. When baptism is an act of faith in and obedience to Christ, believers are baptized in the name of Christ, by the authority of Christ, according to the doctrine of Christ, in obedience to the command of Christ, into the body of Christ, and in hope of the resurrection with Christ. And all who have truly been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, both before we were baptized and when we were baptized. Before we were baptized we put him on as the Lord our righteousness by faith. We put him on as our robe of righteousness. When we were baptized we put on Christ by public profession, declaring him to be our Lord and King, declaring ourselves to be his voluntary servants forever, resolving to walk with him in the newness of life. “The allusion,” Gill suggests, “is to the priests putting off their common clothes, and then bathing or dipping themselves in water, and putting on the garments of the priesthood before they entered on their service.” One In Christ “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). ¯ All who are in Christ are one in him. In Christ all social, economic, racial barriers are dissolved. The only place in the world where race and place make no difference is in Christ, in the church of Christ. Grace alone can make sinful men and women truly one. And God’s elect really are truly one in Christ. In Galatians 3:29 the apostle brings his argument to a tremendous conclusion. ¯ “And if ye be Christ’s,” nothing else really matters. If you belong to Christ by the Father’s election, the Son’s redemption, the Spirit’s call, and your own faith in him, if you believe on the Son of God, all is well. If not you’re going to hell. ¯ “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed.” This is what that means. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are the object of God’s love, the recipient of his grace, and “heirs according to the promise.” If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are God’s forever and he is yours forever! You are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, “according to the promise,” according to the promise of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, made to his Son before the world began!

Galatians 3:22-26

Chapter 19 The Faith of Christ and Our Faith in Christ Galatians 3:22-26 The Scriptures speak of both “the faith of Christ” and our “faith in Christ.” In Galatians 3:19 Paul tells us that the law of God given at Mt. Sinai was given for a specific, designated period of time. — “It was added because of transgressions till the Seed (Christ) should come to whom the promise (the promise of God’s blessing, grace, and salvation) was made.” In Galatians 3:21 the apostle assures us that the law of God given at Sinai is not in any way against, or contrary to God’s covenant promise of salvation by Christ, and that it was never intended to produce righteousness. The law is, as Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 3:7, “the ministration of death.” It has nothing to do with life. It cannot produce righteousness. — “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Galatians 2:21). Galatians 3:22-26 Galatians 3:22 — “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin.” — The whole volume of Holy Scripture and particularly the killing letter of the law of God, declare that all men, all that is in us by nature, and all that is done by us are under the power, dominion, and guilt of sin. All the sons and daughters of fallen Adam are defiled, sinful, and guilty. Paul’s language is inclusive of all things relating to all men. — All the members of our bodies. — All the faculties of our souls. — All the thoughts of our minds. — All the emotions of our hearts. — All the intentions of our wills. — All our choices. — All our works. — All our services to God and men. — Even all our best works of righteousness, which are but “filthy rags.” — All are sinful and polluted. The Word of God declares that we are guilty and shuts us up as prisoners under the sentence of death, without hope in ourselves. “That the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” — The promise of life is the promise of eternal life and salvation, of everlasting righteousness and the never ending smile of divine approval. All included in the promise belongs to all who believe. It is not our believing that fulfilled God’s covenant promise and brought in that blessed righteousness by which we now stand before him in life. The promise is given to all who believe. But the promise was fulfilled and comes to us “by faith of Jesus Christ.” It was Christ to whom the promise was made as our Surety in the everlasting covenant, upon condition of his obedience unto death as our Substitute. And it is Christ who obtained the promise by his faithful fulfillment of his covenant engagements as our Surety (Hebrews 10:5-14). Galatians 3:23 — “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” — What faith is Paul talking about here? Whose faith is this? Is it yours? Is it mine? The faith that came by which we were delivered from the curse of God’s holy law, by which we were justified, is “the faith of Jesus Christ” spoken of in Galatians 3:22. It is this, “the faith of Jesus Christ,” that is revealed to us by the gospel. We are shut up to Christ, the faith that is now revealed in the gospel. Our faith in Christ is not revealed to us, it is given to us and worked in us by the mighty operations of God the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:19-20; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:12). It is Christ (“the faith of Christ”) who is revealed. When God the Holy Spirit comes to chosen, redeemed sinners in the saving power of his omnipotent grace, he convinces them of all that Christ accomplished by his faithful obedience as our Substitute. When he reveals Christ in a person, he convinces him that his sin has been put away by Christ’s atonement, that righteousness has been brought in by Christ’s obedience, and that justice has been satisfied by Christ’s blood (John 16:8-11). And the sinner, being convinced of these things, trusts Christ. Galatians 3:24 — “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” — Be sure to note that our translators put the words “to bring us” in italicized letters to call our attention to the fact that these words were added by them to make the sentence read more smoothly and that there are no corresponding words in the original language of the text. So Galatians 3:24 would be more accurately translated, — “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster unto (or until) Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Everyone in Galatia would have understood exactly what Paul meant by comparing the law to a schoolmaster. A schoolmaster was a servant to whom a man would commit the care and education of his children until they reached maturity. It was his responsibility to teach and protect the children and see to it that they got their education. It was the law’s purpose, like a schoolmaster, to direct God’s elect to Christ and make sure they get to Christ. It was our schoolmaster until Christ came and fulfilled it by his faithful obedience to it and satisfaction of it. Once that was done the schoolmaster’s service ended (Romans 10:4). Now that the righteousness of the law has been fulfilled by Christ’s obedience in life as our Representative and the justice of the law has been fulfilled by Christ’s satisfaction of it in his death (Romans 4:25), we can be and are “justified by faith.” Because justification has been accomplished by Christ in the court of heaven, we can now be justified in the court of our own consciences by faith in Christ. Faith looks away from self to Christ. Looking to Christ we see our justification fully accomplished in him and we are justified by him. Trusting Christ, we receive complete, final, full justification in him and have peace with God in him “by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 4:25 to Romans 5:12, Romans 5:18). Galatians 3:25 — “But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” — Since faith has come, that is to say, since Christ has come, we are no longer under the law. It was the law’s purpose, like a schoolmaster, to direct God’s elect in the Mosaic age to Christ and make sure they got to Christ. It was the children’s schoolmaster until Christ came and fulfilled it by his faithful obedience to it and satisfaction of it. Once that was done the schoolmaster’s service ended (Romans 10:4). Galatians 3:26 — “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” — Obviously, just as it is in the case of justification, our faith in Christ does not cause God to adopt us as his children. That was done in eternal election (Ephesians 1:3-6). Rather, our faith in Christ is the fruit and evidence of our adoption (Galatians 4:6-7), just as it is the fruit and evidence of our justification. Our faith in Christ is the assurance of our adoption as the children of God. Believing on the Son of God, we stand before God with the confident assurance that we are justified, accepted in Christ, the children of God, “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” “The Faith of Christ” The Scriptures declare that we are “justified by the faith of Jesus Christ.” That means that our justification was totally accomplished by Christ, that it was accomplished outside our experience, altogether without us, by the faith (faithful obedience) of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Substitute. Paul uses this phrase, “the faith of Christ,” seven times in his writings (Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; Philippians 3:9). Every time he speaks of justification accomplished for us, he uses this phrase or its equivalent ¯ “the faith of Jesus Christ.” We have been conditioned to think of faith only in connection with ourselves. We believe in Christ. We trust the Son of God. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life.” When we read in the Book of God about “the faith of Christ” we automatically think, “That must just be an odd way of saying ‘faith in Christ.’” Correct Translation That is exactly what the vast majority of the commentaries do with this phrase. They tell us the words, “faith of Christ,” really means, “faith in Christ.” These words, “the faith of Christ,” are commonly treated as though they were a mistranslation of the Greek text; but they are not a mistranslation. I have checked everyone of them carefully. Our translation is correct. Yet, almost every modern English translation (those “great improvements” upon the old, archaic King James Version) mistranslates this phrase and makes it read, “faith in Christ.” I do not think that the mistranslations were made accidentally! We are told by the commentators and led by the modern translations to believe that the phrase is really just an odd way of saying “faith in Christ” and that it really refers to our faith in Christ. Such recklessness in handling the Word of God, be it deliberate or otherwise, completely alters the meaning of Holy Scripture. Clear Distinction When Paul speaks of our faith in Christ and of the faith of Christ as distinct things, the distinction is clear and unmistakable. When he speaks of our faith, it is obvious (Romans 3:25; Romans 3:28; Romans 4:5; Galatians 3:26; Colossians 1:4). There’s no ambiguity at all. In these, and the dozens of other passages like them, there is no question about whose faith Paul is referring to. He is talking about our faith. And when he draws a distinction between our faith in Christ and the faith of Christ, the distinction is equally obvious (Romans 3:21-22; Galatians 2:15-16; Galatians 3:22; Philippians 3:9). Both Vital Paul is not simply declaring our faith in Christ twice in the same sentences, just in different ways. He is not being redundant. Not at all! When he speaks of “the faith of Jesus Christ” he is talking about Christ’s faith. When he speaks of our faith in Christ, he is talking about our faith. Both are vital. We could never be saved by our faith in Christ were it not for the faith of Christ; and we can never be saved by the faith of Christ until we have faith in Christ. Yes, we must have faith in Christ; and our faith in Christ is the result of “the faith of Christ” as our Savior while he was in this world. Our Faithful Surety “The faith of Jesus Christ” — What exactly does that mean? When the Holy Spirit speaks about “the faith of Jesus Christ,” he is referring to our Savior’s faithful performance of all the Father’s will as our covenant Surety, Substitute, and Redeemer. “The faith of Jesus Christ” refers to our Savior’s fidelity as Jehovah’s righteous Servant. It speaks of his faithful performance, in our place as our Substitute, of all that was necessary for the salvation of God’s elect. “The faith of Jesus Christ” refers to his faithfulness in accomplishing all that which the Father trusted to his hands as our Mediator (Ephesians 1:12). Faith and Faithfulness When the Word of God speaks about “the faith of Christ,” the word “faith” speaks both of our Savior’s trust in God as the perfect man and of his faithfulness to God as his Servant. It speaks not only of trust, but also of loyalty and fidelity. We see a clear example of the word faith being used this way in Romans 3:3-4. ¯ “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” When Paul speaks here of “the faith of God,” it is obvious that he is referring to the truthfulness, veracity, fidelity, and faithfulness of God. In fact, the word commonly translated “faith” in the New Testament is translated “fidelity” in Titus 2:10. There, when Paul exhorted servants to be faithful in all things to their masters, “showing all good fidelity,” the word could be translated, “showing all good faith.” It is in this sense that he uses the phrase “the faith of Jesus Christ.” Our justification was accomplished and eternal redemption was obtained for us by Christ’s faithfulness in doing all that he came here to do for us, according to the will of God (Matthew 1:21; Hebrews 10:1-14). Our Kinsman Redeemer As portrayed in the book of Ruth, the Lord Jesus Christ is our Kinsman Redeemer. As Boaz did for Ruth all that she could not do for herself, what we could not do for ourselves Christ has done for us as our Substitute and Savior, as our Kinsman Redeemer. He took our place before the law of God, assumed total responsibility for us, obeyed the law perfectly, bringing in everlasting righteousness, and died under the penalty of the law, satisfying all its holy demands by his death upon the cursed tree, when he was made to be sin for us. Redemption, as described in the law and illustrated in the book of Ruth, required two things on the part of the redeemer. First, the redeemer had to be able and willing to redeem. Second, he had to faithfully perform all that was required by the law to buy back the lost inheritance of his needy kinsman. The one needing redemption was totally dependent upon the faithfulness of the kinsman redeemer for deliverance. Ruth laid herself down at Boaz’s feet, looking to him alone for everything her soul required. And she found all in him. He would not rest until he had performed the thing. So it was with us. The debt and penalty of our sins was one from which we could not escape. The righteousness required by God’s holy law we could not perform. — “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified!” None of our works, no matter how well intentioned, no matter how well performed, can propitiate God’s justice and justify us in his sight. We desperately need and must have a Redeemer, One who is able and willing to do everything required by God’s holy law and justice for us. We must have a Redeemer who is able and willing, but more. — We must have a Redeemer who has actually stepped out onto the stage of time and faithfully performed all the work for us. “Behold the Man!” — Here is our mighty Boaz, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God ¯ “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). Thanks be to God for “the faith of Jesus Christ” and the redemption, justification and salvation he accomplished by his faithfulness as our Substitute and Surety! The Verses Look at the passages in which Paul uses this tremendous phrase, — “The faith of Jesus Christ,” and rejoice in the glorious good news of the gospel — redemption obtained and justification accomplished by the faithful obedience of Christ as the sinner’s Substitute. “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Romans 3:21-22). “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Galatians 2:15-16). “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Galatians 3:22). “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). Free Salvation The “righteousness of God,” justification, the promise of justification unto eternal life, does not come and could never come through something we do. Never! — “Salvation is of the Lord!” It has been accomplished and comes to sinners by “the faith of Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:11-12; Ephesians 3:8-12). It costs our Savior dear; but the salvation he gives is a totally free salvation. In him “we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” The Father trusted his darling Son as our Surety from eternity and he was faithful to that trust. Truly, the riches of Christ are “unsearchable riches!” By his faithful obedience unto death in our room and stead, every sinner who trusts him has been made completely worthy of God’s everlasting approval in heaven’s eternal glory, and shall have it. Let us give thanks to our great God for such grace by such a Savior (Colossians 1:12-14). The life we now have and enjoy in Christ, that eternal life which is God’s free gift to us, comes to us “by the faith of the Son of God” (Galatians 2:19-20). Our Faith in Christ Does all of this mean that sinners must not be called upon to believe in Christ? Does this mean that “faith in Christ” is unnecessary? Not at all! Our “faith in Christ” is every bit as necessary for our eternal salvation as “the faith of Christ” as our Savior. The Scriptures speak just as often and just as forcefully about our “faith in Christ” as they do of “the faith of Christ” as our Surety and Mediator (Acts 3:16; Acts 24:24; Romans 3:25; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:15; Colossians 1:4; Colossians 2:5). We call upon sinners everywhere to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do so with this word from God Almighty. This is a sure thing. It is a lead pipe synch. — “He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life.” We say to sinners everywhere exactly what Paul said to the Philippian jailor when he came trembling and fell down at the apostle’s feet crying, “What must I do to be saved?” — “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!” If you trust Christ, you now live “by the faith of the Son of God” who loved you and gave himself for you. You have redemption, righteousness, justification, and eternal life. You have everything included in that magnificently huge word – “!” It was all obtained for you by “the faith of Jesus Christ.” Even your faith in him, and mine, were obtained for us by “the faith of Jesus Christ.” No wonder Paul speaks as he does in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31. ¯ “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

Galatians 3:26-29

Chapter 18 “All the Children of God “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29) Under the legal Mosaic dispensation there were many distinctions. The Jews were distinguished above all nation of the world, as God’s chosen people, to whom alone he had given the revelation of his Word. Masters were more highly favored than servants. And men were more greatly honored than women, even in the worship of God. But with the coming of this new, gospel dispensation, all these things were changed. This change was very difficult for many in the early church to accept, just as it is difficult for many of our day to accept. For many it is very difficult to realize that God no longer blesses the nation of Israel above other nations in the world. They cannot accept the fact that Israel, as a nation, has been forever cast by God because of her unbelief. Many suppose that Israel is still the chosen nation of God. For others, it is extremely difficult to accept the fact that all of God’s children are equally his sons and daughters. Some suppose that the Christians of the gospel age will have a peculiar advantage over the believers of the Old Testament. Others are of the opinion that some Christians will have greater blessings in heaven than their redeemed brethren. These erroneous opinions arise because of a failure to understand that all the blessings of God in Christ Jesus are free grace gifts procured for all of the elect by the blood of the Savior. Our standing before God is not one of merit, but of grace. Our rewards are not because of our efforts, but by Christ’s obedience unto death as our Substitute. They are things earned and bought for us by our Redeemer. This is true of saints in the Old Testament as well as those of the New. The reward of Abraham’s faith is Jesus Christ, and he alone is the reward of our faith. One Church The church of God is one. All true believers are one body in Christ. We ought always to defend and uphold the local assembly. It is the privilege and duty of God’s people to be a part of a New Testament church. But we must never to exalt any local church on earth to that glorious position of the church universal. All of God’s children of every age and time are members of the “church which is his body,” the family of God. In Jesus Christ we are one. This is what our Savior prayed for and what he accomplished when he tore down the middle wall of partition between us. If we are one in Christ with all other believing men and women we ought to behave as one. In this age of “political correctness” and “multiculturalism” almost everyone gives lip-service to the notion that all men are one and pretends that he is free of prejudice. But it is nothing more than lip-service. Every nation in the Western world has tried, for the past fifty years, to legislate social oneness, abolishing racial and social barriers between men. But it has not worked. Though most everyone pretends otherwise, the barriers are bigger and the racial and social prejudices in society are worse than ever. There is only one place in the universe where the color of a person’s skin, the measure of his wealth or poverty, the amount of his education or lack of education, is absolutely irrelevant. That place is the church and kingdom of God. Galatians 3:26-29 does not tell us that these distinctions cease to exist when a snner is converted by the grace of God. They do. Black people do not cease to be black when God saves them; and white people do not cease to be white. Men do not cease to be males when they are born of God; and women do not cease to be females. What Galatians 3:26-29 does teach is this ¯ In Christ those things that naturally separate people no longer matter. In Christ we are all one. In Christ all the social, racial, sexual, and even continental lose all significance (Colossians 3:11). All God’s elect are one with Christ and one in Christ. All are equal before God in him. All are accepted in the Beloved, only in the Beloved, fully in the Beloved, and equally in the Beloved. And all have an equal inheritance in him, secured by the blood with which he obtained eternal redemption for us. “The Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is His new creation By water and the Word. From Heaven he came and sought her To be his holy bride; With his own blood he bought her, And for her life he died. Elect from every nation, Yet one o’er all the earth, Her charter of salvation, One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses With every grace endued.” In this third chapter of Galatians, Paul is showing us the advantages of this gospel dispensation over the Mosaic age. Under the gospel dispensation, we enjoy a clearer revelation of divine grace and mercy than the Jews did under the Old Testament economy. More than this, we are also freed from the state of bondage under the law and the terror it imposed. In the gospel age we are no longer treated as children who are minors, but as full-grown sons. And being sons of full age, we are granted greater freedoms and privileges than those of the old dispensation. In the verses before us this Paul shows us our privileges as the children of God. Children of God “Ye are all the children of God.” ¯ All believers are the children of God. We all have one heavenly Father. We are all redeemed by one great Redeemer. We all have one Elder Brother ¯ Christ. We are all born again, sealed and indwelt by one Holy Spirit, our blessed Comforter. All who are taught of God live by “one faith.” We are all married to one Husband ¯ the Lord Jesus Christ. All believers make up one singular body of Christ, “the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”. We are one church universal (John 10:16; Ephesians 5:25; Hebrews 12:23). Paul tells us that we are “the children of God.” We are God’s children by adoption (Galatians 4:6-7; Ephesians 1:5; 1 John 3:1). Every believer possesses all the rights and privileges of full-grown sons. We were adopted as sons in eternity, in electing love, by the free and sovereign grace of our God, and brought into the enjoyment of adoption when God the Holy Spirit gave us faith in Christ. We are “the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Here Paul’s emphasis does not lie in the eternal act of God, but in our receiving God’s gracious gift by faith. Faith does not make us God’s children, it simply receives the gift of sonship (John 1:12). The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the sons of God when he gives us faith in Christ (Galatians 4:6). In adoption we receive the title “sons of God.” Faith in Christ does not make us the children of God. That is God’s work alone. God the Father predestinated his elect to the adoption of children, giving us all the blessings of adoption in the covenant of grace before the world began. God the Son, our all-glorious Christ made a way for us to receive and enjoy this incalculable boon of grace by redeeming us at Calvary. Because we were adopted in eternity and redeemed at Calvary, God the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of adoption, giving us faith in Christ, declares our sonship and thereby declares our freedom from the law. Paul compares the Jews of the Mosaic age to children still under a schoolmaster and believers in this gospel age to children who have reached the age of maturity. We are no longer children under the law as our schoolmaster, but full grown children, led and taught by the Spirit of God. Our Lord Jesus said, quoting Isaiah 54:13, “they shall be all taught of God” (John 6:45; Jeremiah 31:34). Being taught of God, we no longer need the law as our schoolmaster ((Hebrews 8:10; Hebrews 10:16). Baptism We read in Galatians 3:27 ¯ “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Paul is not teaching that we get to be in Christ by the act of water baptism, or that God’s elect are mysteriously baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Word of God nowhere teaches either of those things. The simple meaning of this statement is that all who are rightly baptized, that is baptized as believers, looking to Christ alone for all grace and salvation were baptized into Christ and have put on Christ symbolically, professing themselves to be his. All who are immersed in the waters of baptism as believers thereby publicly confess that they are his and that they are one with him. Believer’s baptism is that which our Lord Jesus commands of all his disciples. It is “the answer of a good conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21). Baptism is rightly performed and its end properly answered, when a person, being conscious that it is the ordinance of Christ and his duty to submit to it, does do so upon profession of his faith in Christ, in obedience to his command, confessing him as Lord and Savior and symbolically confessing his union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection as our Substitute (Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:11-12). By this public confession of faith, all who are baptized are united in one body ¯ the body of Christ, in one cause ¯ the glory of Christ, and to one another. It is this union of faith in the body of Christ by this “one baptism” that Paul uses in Ephesians 4:3-6 as a reason why we should ever endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” No Social Distinctions There are certain duties to be performed in the body of Christ. Because of this there are some distinctions in performance. Pastors are given to be spiritual teachers and rulers in the church (Ephesians 4:11; Hebrews 13:7; Hebrews 13:17). Deacons are given to serve the carnal, material needs of the church. Each member Jew and Gentile, male and female, black and white) has his proper function in his own realm of responsibility. Yet, there are no class distinctions to be permitted in the body of Christ.

In Christ the old, worldly lines of separation are all blotted out. All who are in Christ are one in Christ and equal before God, possessed of one character; accepted in one way; belonging to one family; under one head ¯ Christ; and equally entitled to all the blessings of grace and privileges of sonship through him. All God’s church is one person, as it were, “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15) of which Christ is the head. All, without regard to race, blended into one whole. That is the meaning of Paul’s words in Galatians 3:28. ¯ “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Abraham’s Seed “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). ¯ Since we are Christ’s, the Father’s gift to him, the purchase of his own blood, his by the power of his grace, making us willing to give up ourselves to him, since Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, all who are born of God are “Abraham’s seed.” Obviously, faith in Christ does not make us Abraham’s natural seed. Rather, we are Abraham’s spiritual seed, the seed that should come, to whom the promises were made, (Galatians 3:16; Galatians 3:19). All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ make up that one “holy nation” and “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5-9) called, “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). Throughout the whole world God owns no other nation as his own. Being Abraham’s seed, we are “heirs according to the promise.” All who are born of God are the children of the promise, which are counted for the seed. All who are born of God are the promised seed, the redeemed seed (Psalms 22:30; Isaiah 53:10-11; Hebrews 2:10), and the righteous seed (Romans 9:7-8). They are all, according to the promise made to Abraham and his spiritual Seed, heirs of the blessings of the grace of life, and of the eternal inheritance, “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” All the blessings of God bestowed upon Christ as our Mediator and covenant Head when he ascended to glory after his resurrection belong to all are in him. In Christ, by his blood atonement and the imputation of his righteousness we are made worthy of this great honor. Yes, our great God has made us “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints” (Colossians 1:12). The foundation of this union of believers is the blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 3; Ephesians 2). If we are one in reality, let us demonstrate oneness in Spirit (Philippians 2:1-4). May God our Father give us grace to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith (we) are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:1-6). “Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love! The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above. Before our Father’s throne We pour our ardent payers; Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, Our comforts and our cares. We share our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bear; And often for each other flows The sympathizing tear. When we asunder part It gives us inward pain; But we shall still be joined in heart, And hope to meet again.” John Fawcett