Read Galatians 3 at Bible Gateway.
Previous studies:
galatians 3:1-9, what saves a man 2013 apr 12
galatians 3:10-14, the curse of the law 2013 apr 14
galatians 3:15-29, the purpose of the law 2013 apr 15
galatians 3, the curse of the law, part one 2009 nov 04
galatians 3, the curse of the law, part two 2009 nov 05
There are several chiastic structures in Gal 3, however, today we will look at this one:
1a) Gal 3:6-9, Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” /blessing of justification by faith;
1b) Gal 3:10a, Those who seek justification by works of the Law are under the curse;
1c) Gal 3:10b, For he shall continue in all the Law, to do them;
central axis) Gal 3:11-12a, No one is justified by the Law/ “the just shall live by faith”/ the Law is not of faith;
2c) Gal 3:12b, But “The man who does them shall live by them.”
2b) Gal 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us;
2a) Gal 3:14, Blessing of Abraham upon the Gentiles in Christ/ the promise of the Spirit through faith.
It is so important to read the previous studies linked above to understand Paul’s meaning here. His topic is justification: what it is that saves a man. He reaffirms that he is talking about justification in the central axis, and also throughout the chapter, if the whole chapter is taken in context.
This is the gospel: that righteousness, right- standing, salvation, or justification before God is of faith, and cannot be obtained by obedience to commandments. This gospel is preached unaltered from Genesis through Revelation, yes, even by Moses.
The curse of the Law, is having to be justified, saved, or brought into right- standing before God, by our obedience to the Law. That is the curse from which Christ redeemed us. Our obedience need no longer justify us before God.
Many of us have mistakenly believed that since obedience to the Law does not save or justify a man, then obedience to the Law has no value at all, and the Law should be discarded wholesale. Jesus did not teach is to discard the Law, but to keep the commandments of the Law (Mat 5:17-19). There are other reasons for keeping the Law, rather than justification. (Hmmm … to be continued?)
Leave a Reply