Galatians 3
3
Faith is the only way to be saved
1You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you?#Dt 27.26 (LXX). 2I want to know only one thing. How were you given God's Spirit? Was it by obeying the Law of Moses or by hearing about Christ and having faith in him? 3How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God's Spirit started in you? 4Have you gone through all this for nothing? Is it all really for nothing? 5God gives you his Spirit and works miracles in you. But does he do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in him?
6The Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith.#Gn 15.6; Ro 4.3. 7And so, you should understand that everyone who has faith is a child of Abraham.#3.7 a child of Abraham: God chose Abraham, and so it was believed that anyone who was a child of Abraham was also a child of God. See the note at 3.29.#Ro 4.16. 8Long ago the Scriptures said that God would accept the Gentiles because of their faith. That's why God told Abraham the good news that all nations would be blessed because of him.#Gn 12.3. 9This means that everyone who has faith will share in the blessings that were given to Abraham because of his faith.
10Anyone who tries to please God by obeying the Law is under a curse. The Scriptures say, “Everyone who doesn't obey everything in the Law is under a curse.” 11No one can please God by obeying the Law. The Scriptures also say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live.”#3.11 The people God accepts because of their faith will live: Or “The people God accepts will live because of their faith.”#He 2.4.
12The Law isn't based on faith. It promises life only to people who obey its commands.#Lv 18.5. 13But Christ rescued us from the Law's curse, when he became a curse in our place. This is because the Scriptures say that anyone who is nailed to a tree is under a curse.#Dt 21.23. 14And because of what Jesus Christ has done, the blessing that was promised to Abraham was taken to the Gentiles. This happened so that by faith we would be given the promised Holy Spirit.
The Law and the promise
15My friends, I will use an everyday example to explain what I mean. Once someone agrees to something, no one else can change or cancel the agreement.#3.15 Once someone…cancel the agreement: Or “Once a person makes out a will, no one can change or cancel it.” 16That is how it is with the promises God made to Abraham and his descendant.#3.16 descendant: The Greek text has “seed”, which may mean one or many descendants. In this verse Paul says it means Christ. The promises were not made to many descendants, but only to one, and that one is Christ. 17What I am saying is that the Law cannot change or cancel God's promise that was made 430 years before the Law was given.#Ex 12.40. 18If we have to obey the Law in order to receive God's blessings, those blessings don't really come to us because of God's promise. But God was kind to Abraham and made him a promise.#Ro 4.14.
19What is the use of the Law? It was given later to show that we sin. But it was only supposed to last until the coming of that descendant#3.19 that descendant: Jesus. who was given the promise. In fact, angels gave the Law to Moses, and he gave it to the people. 20There is only one God, and the Law did not come directly from him.
Slaves and children
21Does the Law disagree with God's promises? No, it doesn't! If any law could give life to us, we could become acceptable to God by obeying that law. 22But the Scriptures say that sin controls everyone, so that God's promises will be for anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ.
23The Law controlled us and kept us under its power until the time came when we would have faith. 24In fact, the Law was our teacher. It was supposed to teach us until we had faith and were acceptable to God. 25But once a person has learnt to have faith, there is no more need to have the Law as a teacher.
26All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. 27And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. 28Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman. 29So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham's family,#3.29 you are now part of Abraham's family: Paul tells the Galatians that faith in Jesus Christ is what makes someone a true child of Abraham and of God. See the note at 3.7. and you will be given what God has promised.#Ro 4.13.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Galatians 3
3
God’s Blessing Comes Through Faith
1You people in Galatia are so foolish! Why do I say this? Because I told you very clearly about the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But now it seems as though you have let someone use their magical powers to make you forget. 2Tell me this one thing: How did you receive the Spirit? Did you receive the Spirit by following the law? No, you received the Spirit because you heard the message about Jesus and believed it. 3You began your life in Christ with the Spirit. Now do you try to complete it by your own power? That is foolish. 4You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted? I hope they were not wasted! 5Does God give you the Spirit because you follow the law? Does God work miracles among you because you follow the law? No, God gives you his Spirit and works miracles among you because you heard the message about Jesus and believed it.
6The Scriptures say the same thing about Abraham. “Abraham believed God, and because of this faith he was accepted as one who is right with God.”#Quote from Gen. 15:6. 7So you should know that the true children of Abraham are those who have faith. 8The Scriptures told what would happen in the future. These writings said that God would make the non-Jewish people right through their faith. God told this Good News to Abraham before it happened. God said to Abraham, “I will use you to bless all the people on earth.”#Quote from Gen. 12:3. 9Abraham believed this, and because he believed, he was blessed. All people who believe are blessed the same as Abraham was.
10But people who depend on following the law to make them right are under a curse. As the Scriptures say, “They must do everything that is written in the law. If they do not always obey, they are under a curse.”#Quote from Deut. 27:26. 11So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by the law. The Scriptures say, “The one who is right with God by faith will live forever.”#Quote from Hab. 2:4.
12The law does not depend on faith. No, it says that the only way a person will find life by the law is to obey its commands.#3:12 the only way … commands See Lev. 18:5. 13The law says we are under a curse for not always obeying it. But Christ took away that curse. He changed places with us and put himself under that curse. The Scriptures say, “Anyone who is hung on a tree#3:13 hung on a tree Deut. 21:22-23 says that when a person was killed for doing wrong, his body was hung on a tree to show shame. Paul means the cross of Jesus was like that. is under a curse.”#Quote from Deut. 21:23. 14Because of what Jesus Christ did, the blessing God promised to Abraham was given to all people. Christ died so that by believing in him we could have the Spirit that God promised.
The Law and the Promise
15Brothers and sisters, let me give you an example from everyday life: Think about an agreement that one person makes with another. After that agreement is made official, no one can stop it or add anything to it, and no one can ignore it. 16God made promises to Abraham and his Descendant.#3:16 Descendant Literally, “seed,” which could also mean “family.” In that case, it would refer to the one family of God in Christ. The Scripture does not say, “and to your descendants.” That would mean many people. But it says, “and to your Descendant.” That means only one, and that one is Christ. 17This is what I mean: The agreement that God gave to Abraham was made official long before the law came. The law came 430 years later. So the law could not take away the agreement and change God’s promise.
18Can following the law give us the blessing God promised? If we could receive it by following the law, then it would not be God’s promise that brings it to us. But God freely gave his blessings to Abraham through the promise God made.
19So what was the law for? The law was given to show the wrong things people do. The law would continue until the special Descendant of Abraham came. This is the Descendant mentioned in the promise, which came directly from God. But the law was given through angels, and the angels used Moses as a mediator to give the law to the people. 20But when God gave the promise, there was no mediator, because a mediator is not needed when there is only one side, and God is one.#3:20 Literally, “But the mediator is not of one, but God is one.”
The Purpose of the Law of Moses
21Does this mean that the law works against God’s promises? Of course not. The law was never God’s way of giving new life to people. If it were, then we could be made right with God by following the law. 22But this is not possible. The Scriptures put the whole world in prison under the control of sin, so that the only way for people to get what God promised would be through faith in#3:22 faith in Or “the faithfulness of.” Jesus Christ. It is given to those who believe in him.
23Before this faith came, the law held us as prisoners. We had no freedom until God showed us the way of faith that was coming. 24I mean the law was the guardian in charge of us until Christ came. After he came, we could be made right with God through faith. 25Now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law to be our guardian.
26-27You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This shows that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 28Now, in Christ, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or free, male or female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. 29You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You get all of God’s blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham.
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