Galatians is God's polemic against legalism of every and any description. The Law is not discredited, despised nor disregarded. Its majesty, perfectlon, demands, fullness and purpose are maintained. Yet these very qualities make it utterly impossible for man to come this route to God. Another way is opened -- which entirely bypasses law -- for man to be justified before God. The new route is by faith. Justification by faith is the theme, with the emphasis upon faith.
Three epistles in the New Testament quote Habakkuk 2:4, "The just shall live by his faith."
Romans 1:17 emphasizes the just;In Romans the emphasis is upon the fact that man apart from the Law is justified before God. In Galatians Paul is defending the gospel from those who would add law to justification by faith.
Hebrews 10:38 emphasizes shall live;
Galatians 3:11 emphasizes by faith;
Faith plus law was the thrust of Judaism;The Judaizers questioned Paul's authority as an apostle and his teaching that simple faith was adequate for salvation. Paul defends his apostleship and demonstrates the sufficiency of the gospel of grace to save.
Faith plus nothing was the answer of Paul.
Not by man -- the preposition dia indicates that is was not through man; that is, not ritualistic by means of laying on of hands, as by a bishop or church court. For example, marriage involves both the legal (license from the state) and the ritual (ceremony).
But through Jesus Christ -- Jesus laid His hand upon Paul, called him and set him apart for the office ( Acts 9:15, 16).
v. 2 -- The greeting is very cool, brief, formal and terse. No one is mentioned personally by name.
Churches -- a local church is in view, not the corporate body of believers as seen in Ephesians.
v. 3 -- This is Paul's formal greeting in most of his epistles (see notes on Ephesians for explanation).
v. 4 -- Gave himself -- at the mention of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul gives the germ of the subject. Nothing can be added to the value of His sacrifice.
Deliver us from this present evil [age] -- there is a present value of the gospel which proves its power and genuineness.
According to the will of God -- He can deliver us, not according to law, but according to the will of God.
v. 5 -- God gets more from the salvation by grace of a sinner than the sinner does. It is to God's glory.
v. 7 -- There is only one gospel--one in fact and interpretation.
Pervert (Greek: metastrepho) is a strong word, as in "sun turned to darkness" ( Acts 2:20); "laughter turned to mourning" ( James 4:9). Attempting to change the gospel has the effect of making it the very opposite of what it really is.
v. 8 -- If an angel dared to declare any other message than the gospel, he would be dismissed with a strong invective.
v. 9 -- If any message is received other than the gospel, it is spurious and counterfeit.
Accursed (Greek: anathema) is "be damned." The gospel shuts out all works.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. ( Romans 4:5)God saves only one class of humanity -- the ungodly. The reason is that this is the only class -- even the righteousness of man is as filthy rags in God's sight. Law condemns us and it must make us speechless before grace can save us.
Now we know that whatever things 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)The real difficulty is not that people should be "good enough" to be saved, but that they are not "bad enough" to be saved. Humanity refuses to recognize its lost condition before God. This is the human predicament.
The Judaizers did not deny the facts of the gospel; they perverted it and therefore were anathema. The "gospel" of law plus grace is a mixture that has no power, no growth, no victory.
It robs grace of its blessing, beauty and glory;v. 10 -- Persuade is "to make a friend of." The New Scofield Bible translates it "seek the favor of." In I Thessalonians 2:4, 4:1 it is "please God" in contrast to self or others. The preaching of the gospel is not pleasing to lost man. No man can please both God and man.
It robs the Law of its majesty and authority.
Authority of the apostle and glory of the gospel
Origin of the gospel and conversion of Paul
v. 12 -- Paul's gospel came directly by a revelation (apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ.
vv. 13,14 -- Paul now calls the religion in which he was brought up the Jews' religion. Paul was saved, not in Judaism, not by Judaism, but FROM Judaism.
vv. 15-17 -- After his conversion, Paul went into the desert of Arabia before conferring with other apostles.
vv. 18,19 -- Paul then went up to Jerusalem ( Acts 9:26-29). He spent less than 3 years in the desert.
v. 20 -- Either we believe Paul or we make him a liar.
vv. 21-24 -- Paul outlines his first years after conversion.
Oneness of the gospel and communication between Paul and other apostles
vv. 2-5 -- The church in Jerusalem approved Paul's gospel. Paul took Titus, a Greek, as a living example of a Gentile who was saved by faith apart from the Law.
vv. 6-10 -- The apostles accepted Paul's apostleship. Fellowship ( v. 9) is koinonia, one of the great words of the gospel and the highest expression of a personal relationship. It means sharing the things of Christ.
C. Experience of Paul in Antioch with Peter, 2:11-14 Opposition to the gospel and conviction concerning conduct
Opposition to the gospel and conviction concerning conduct
vv. 12-14 -- In the apostolic church they had a love feast that all shared. When Gentiles came into the church, it posed a problem, for they ate meat which had been sacrificed to idols and meat forbidden by the Mosaic Law. Two tables were set up. Peter ate with the Gentiles until the elders came up from Jerusalem. Then he beat a retreat back to the kosher table. His conduct indicated that he condemned the Gentile table. While he was free to eat at either table, he had no right to eat at the Gentile table and then withdraw as if it were wrong. He was, by his conduct, putting the Gentiles under law.
Justification by Faith
Faith vs. Works, Liberty vs. Bondage
v. 16 -- This is a clear-cut and simple statement of justification by faith. Man (Greek: anthropos) is the generic term, meaning both Jews and Gentiles.
Justified (Greek: dikaioo) is to have "declared a person right" -- not make him right. A sinner, who is guilty before God and is under condemnation, is declared right with God on the basis of his faith in the redemption in Christ. It is not just forgiveness of sins, a subtraction, but the addition of the righteousness of Christ. He is declared righteous. The Jew had to forsake the Law and take his place as a sinner in order to be saved by faith in Christ. No statement could be more dogmatic and crystal-clear than "by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
v. 17 -- The sense of this verse seems to be that since the Jew had to forsake the Law in order to be justified by Christ and therefore take his place as a sinner, is Christ the one who makes him a sinner? No, the Jew like the Gentile was a sinner by nature and could not be justified by the Law, as he had demonstrated.
Now, therefore, why put God to the test, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. ( Acts 15:10, 11)v. 19 -- This is the great principle that Paul states here and in Romans. We were executed as sinners in Christ. "He was made sin for us." We are now called to live unto God by a new principle stated in the next verse.
v. 20 -- We were crucified when Christ was crucified -- almost 2000 years ago. The new life of the believer is the life of Christ lived through him by the power of the Holy Spirit.
v. 21 -- Righteousness is "justification." In vain means "without a cause" (e.g. Christ said, "They hated me without a cause" [same word]).
Set forth, literally "placarded" or "painted." v. 2 -- They never received the Spirit by the Law. The Holy Spirit is evidence of conversion.
But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. ( Romans 8:9)
In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. ( Ephesians 1:13)The gospel is true irrespective of experience. The gospel is objective. Experience corroborates the gospel.
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him. ( Acts 5:32)vv. 3-5 -- The gospel is sufficient -- experience confirms this.
v. 8 -- When did God preach the gospel to Abraham? See Genesis 22:17, 18. It was at the time of the offering of Isaac upon the altar as a human sacrifice. The offering of Isaac is one of the finest pictures of the offering of Christ. Although God spared Abram's son, God "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all" ( Romans 8:32). (See author's book, Going Through Genesis.) James wrote in his epistle:
Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works, when he had offered Isaac, his son, upon the altar? ( James 2:21)This was toward the end of Abraham's life and refers to the offering of Isaac. His act of offering his son was "the work of faith," not works of the Law. paul said that Abraham was justified by faith before there were any works -- before Isaac was even born. This makes it evident that the writings of Paul and James do not conflict.
v. 9 -- Faithful is "believing." God saves the sinner on the same basis that He saved Abraham -- faith.
v. 10 -- The important word here is continueth. No one ever kept the Law day and night, 24 hours every day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks out of the year in thought, word, and deed. The Law could only condemn; faith justifies.
v. 11 -- Even the Old Testament made it very clear that the just shall live by faith ( Habakkuk 2:4).
v. 12 -- Faith and law are contrary principles for salvation and for living. One cancels out the other. The Law required that a man live by the Law. Any righteousness he might accumulate would be inferior to the righteousness of God. Man's righteousness is forever labeled "filthy rags."
v. 13 -- This quotation is from Deuteronomy 21:23. This was a very strange law since the method of capital punishment under the Law was by stoning. If the crime was aggravated and attrocious, the body of the criminal was taken after death and hung up to display the seriousness of the crime ( Deuteronomy 21:22, 23). "Cursed [of God] is everyone that hangeth on a tree." The cross is called a tree (xulon) in Acts 5:30; 10:39; 1 Peter 2:24 -- the cross is the "tree of life." We are not under law because Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law.
v. 14 -- Christ took our place that we might receive what the Law could never do. The Spirit is the peculiar gift in this age of grace.
vv. 15-18 -- The sense of this section is that the Law, which came 430 years after God's promise to Abraham, cannot alter or disannul it. When 2 men make a contract, one member of the agreement cannot alter it later to suit his personal wish. The orignal must stand inviolate. God's promise to Abraham cannot be abrogated. Actually God confirmed it in Christ.
Seed ( v. 16) refers specifically to Christ (see Genesis 22:18). Christ said:
Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad. ( John 8:56)v. 19 -- Why was the Law given? It was added for the sake of transgression.
Till indicates it was temporary. The Law reveals sin -- sin had already come.
Man is not a sophisticated, refined and trained sinner; he is a sinner by nature -- in the raw a primitive and savage sinner. The Law is a mirror to show the smudge spot. You do not wash it off with the mirror. God has provided a wash basin with the mirror:
v. 21 -- Law could not give life. Man is already dead in trespasses and sins. Man needs life -- only faith in Christ can give life.
v. 22 -- Man is in the state of sin, and the only help is by faith in Christ. The Law is inexorable and unchanging. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" ( Ezekiel 18:20).
vv. 23-25 -- The key word here is schoolmaster (Greek: paidagogos) and has nothing to do with a school teacher in present-day context. The term designated a slave or servant in a Roman home who had charge of any child born in the home. He fed, dressed, bathed, wiped the nose of, and paddled the son born in the home. When the little fellow reached school age, he took him by the hand and led him to school. This is where he got the name of paidagogos. The Law took mankind by the hand, led him to the cross of Christ and said, "Little man, you need a Savior." The Law turns us over to Christ. We are under Christ now and not under the Law.
v. 26 -- Children is rather "sons" (Greek: huios) Only faith in Christ can make us legitimate sons of God. An individual Israelite was never a son, only a servant. Although David was a man after God's own heart, the Scripture calls him "David, my servant." Nicodemus was a legalist and religious to his fingertips, but he was not a son of God. Jesus said, "You must be born again."
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the [sons] of God, even to them that believe on his name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ( John 1:11-13)
The most damnable heresy today is the "universal Fatherhood of God and universal brotherhood of man." Jesus said to the religious rulers, "You are of your father the devil" ( John 8:44). The Law could never bring a sinner to the place of sonship.
v. 27 -- Baptized into Christ -- the baptism of the Spirit puts us into the body of Christ, and we are identified with Him.
v. 28 -- There were 3 great divisions in the Roman world:
v. 29 -- All in Christ belong to the same family and all share in the inheritance.
Chapter 4 vv. 1-5 -- This section teaches the doctrine of adoption. Adoption does not have the same connotation here as it does in our thinking. A couple see a lovely little child in an orphanage and take legal steps to make the child their own. This is adoption in our contemporary society. However, the thinking here follows the practice of Roman society in the first century A.D.
v. 1 -- Child (Greek: nepios): a minor child in a Roman home was placed in the hands of a servant or slave. He plays uith the slave children and is disciplined by the adult slaves.
v. 2 -- Time appointed of the father is the important phrase. This points to the day when the boy becomes a full-grown adult with all the legal rights and privileges pertaining thereto.
v. 3 -- Israel under law was like a child under the discipline of a master.
v. 4 -- At the time determined by God, God the Father sent forth God the Son, born of a woman, born under the Law. He kept the Law in toto.
v. 5 -- Christ did this for a twofold purpose:
Adoption (Greek: huiothesia) means literally placing as a son. Now let's return to the Roman custom. One day the child's father notes that his son is growing up. He invites all the relatives in for the ceremony of the toga virilis. The father places a robe on the boy and a ring on his finger. That ring, a signet, is the father's signature. The boy is now a full-grown son. No slave better touch him now! He has the authority of maturity. God brings us into His family as full-grown sons, capable of understanding divine truth ( 1 Corinthians 2:9, 10, 13, 14; I John 2:20, 27). The mature saint and the babe in Christ are equally dependent on the Holy Spirit to teach them divine truth. The Law never did this for man.
v. 6 -- This is another accomplishment of the grace of God which the Law did not dare to offer. Abba is an intimate word that denotes the close and dear relationship between a child of God and the Father. It is during the time of testing and trial that God makes Himself real to the heart of the believer (see author's book, Reasoning Through Romans, vol. 1, comment on Romans 8:15,16).
v. 7 -- This does not mean that a child of God reaches the plane of sinless perfection. He still retains his old nature.
v. 8 -- Paul describes idols as vanities -- "nothings."
vv. 9-11 -- To turn to the Law now that they are saved by grace is the same as returning to their former idolatry. Ye have known God, not by law but by faith in Christ.
vv. 12-18 -- This is a personal and polite word injected in this section. Obviously Paul's thorn in the flesh was eye trouble ( vv. 14, 15). They would not be willing to pluck out their eyes for him if Paul's thorn was foot trouble. Verses 17 and 18 are more easily understood in the American Standard version:
They zealously seek you in no good way; nay, they desire to shut you out, that ye may seek them. But it is good to be zealously sought in a good matter at all times, and not only when I am present with you.
v. 21 -- They had not actually heard the Law. The giving of the Law was not beautiful and cozy, but terrifying (see Exodus 19:16-18; 20:18, 19).
v. 24 -- Not are an allegory, but contain an allegory. It is an historical event that contains an allegory.
A child born to a bond woman was a slave.
vv. 30, 31 -- Abraham could not have both the son of Hagar and the son of Sarai. He had to make a choice. Paul is saying that you cannot be saved by law and grace. You have to make a choice. If you try to be saved by Christ and also law, you are not saved.
Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. ( Galatians 5:2)