The Gospel of Galatians
you foolish and thoughtless and superficial Galatians, who has bewitched you [that you would act like this], to whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified [in the gospel message]?
This is all I want to ask of you: did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying [the requirements of] the Law, or was it the result of hearing [the message of salvation and] with faith [believing it]?
Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]?
Have you suffered so many things and experienced so much all for nothing—if indeed it was all for nothing?
So then, does He who supplies you with His [marvelous Holy] Spirit and works miracles among you, do it as a result of the works of the Law [which you perform], or because you [believe confidently in the message which you] heard with faith?
Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, [as conformity to God’s will and purpose—so it is with you also].
So understand that it is the people who live by faith [with confidence in the power and goodness of God] who are [the true] sons of Abraham.
The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news [of the Savior] to Abraham in advance [with this promise], saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
So then those who are people of faith [whether Jew or Gentile] are blessed and favored by God [and declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with Him] along with Abraham, the believer.
For all who depend on the Law [seeking justification and salvation by obedience to the Law and the observance of rituals] are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed (condemned to destruction) is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, so as to practice them.”
Now it is clear that no one is justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing] before God by the Law, for “The righteous (the just, the upright) shall live by faith.”
But the Law does not rest on or require faith [it has nothing to do with faith], but [instead, the Law] says, “He who practices them [the things prescribed by the Law] shall live by them [instead of faith].”
Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs [crucified] on a tree (cross)”
in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might also come to the Gentiles, so that we would all receive [the realization of] the promise of the [Holy] Spirit through faith.
Brothers and sisters, I speak in terms of human relations: even though a last will and testament is just a human covenant, yet when it has been signed and made legally binding, no one sets it aside or adds to it [modifying it in some way].
Now the promises [in the covenants] were decreed to Abraham and to his seed. God does not say, “And to seeds (descendants, heirs),” as if [referring] to many [persons], but as to one, “And to your Seed,” who is [none other than] Christ.
This is what I mean: the Law, which came into existence four hundred and thirty years later [after the covenant concerning the coming Messiah], does not and cannot invalidate the covenant previously established by God, so as to abolish the promise.
For if the inheritance [of what was promised] is based on [observing] the Law [as these false teachers claim], it is no longer based on a promise; however, God granted it to Abraham [as a gift] by virtue of His promise.
Why, then, the Law [what was its purpose]? It was added [after the promise to Abraham, to reveal to people their guilt] because of transgressions [that is, to make people conscious of the sinfulness of sin], and [the Law] was ordained through angels and delivered to Israel by the hand of a mediator [Moses, the mediator between God and Israel, to be in effect] until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
Now the mediator or go-between [in a transaction] is not [needed] for just one party; whereas God is only one [and was the only One giving the promise to Abraham, but the Law was a contract between two, God and Israel; its validity depended on both].
Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a system of law had been given which could impart life, then righteousness (right standing with God) would actually have been based on law.
But the Scripture has imprisoned everyone [everything—the entire world] under sin, so that [the inheritance, the blessing of salvation] which was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe [in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s precious Son].
Now before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, [perpetually] imprisoned [in preparation] for the faith that was destined to be revealed,
with the result that the Law has become our tutor and our disciplinarian to guide us to Christ, so that we may be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] by faith.
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under [the control and authority of] a tutor and disciplinarian.
For you [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified and] are all children of God [set apart for His purpose with full rights and privileges] through faith in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ [into a spiritual union with the Christ, the Anointed] have clothed yourselves with Christ [that is, you have taken on His characteristics and values].
There is [now no distinction in regard to salvation] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you [who believe] are all one in Christ Jesus [no one can claim a spiritual superiority].
And if you belong to Christ [if you are in Him], then you are Abraham’s descendants, and [spiritual] heirs according to [God’s] promise.
Content source: the Amplified Bible (AMP) by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631.
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Paul continues to exhort the Galatians not to depart from the faith, to follow the legalistic Judaizing teachings that permeated the church, such as today, his exhortation is hard to a large extent because it was possible that being smart as he had Recognized, they could be deceived and be bewitched, deceived, to pay attention to folly, as believers we can be very intelligent, but intelligence that has not surrendered to God will always lead to pride, and this to the fall of faith.
The way in which he confronts his arguments is wonderful because he does not rely on the doctrine, but on his experience, they had not received the Holy Spirit by faith, so that they could return to the works? They had not experienced the Spirit only by believing? Then why would they go back to deception? Abraham is known as the man of faith, through whom the message of salvation and the savior came to bless our lives. We are blessed to have been able to receive by grace this blessing that allows us to believe and be justified by faith.
Nobody can reach the divine nature by means of the law, because in it there is no justification, but when we understand by faith and the revelation of God the work that has taken form in us, then we understand that justified in Christ is that we can live by faith, we no longer bear the heavy yoke of complying with the law, now the law becomes life in Christ and operates in our lives with greater force to the extent that we have more communion with God.
A sustained walk with God is factored by faith. Even when the noise in our environment and what we see tend to deviate us from our stance of believing, we must not be bewitched like the Galatians were. Through the thick and thin of the race, our eyes are to be fixed on Christ who was crucified. Our trust and faith on Him should be unwaivered as Abraham's
Lo! the faith-filled walk should be with the consciousness of our union with Christ.
Thank you @reliquary for sharing this chapter
Faith accepts the testimony of God confidently, in the manner of a child, and salvation as a free gift.
The law was given to guide us to Christ; but any use of the law as a means to earn salvation is a distortion of the gospel.
By nature, humanity presumes to seek salvation through works, it seems like an offense to believe that we can not, but the word of God says that it is an offense to the Lord to believe that we can.
That is why In this chapter Paul begins the defense of his Gospel reminding the Galatians that their Christian life, which began by faith in the crucified Christ and was certified by the gift of the Holy Spirit, was completely foreign to the law, would be foolish if they abandoned the ways of God to seek perfection by their own efforts.
In this sense the Judaizers are like evil sorcerers who distract the attention of their victims by taking them from the cross to the law, however, the Galatians have no excuse because Paul has clearly explained the meaning of the cross, because, they believed that the mere fact of being descendants of Abraham justified them before God.
Paul explains to them that Abraham pleased God by faith and not by the works of the law, since it did not exist in Abraham's time.
the justification by faith was the experience of the Galatians. For this reason Paul asked them: "Who fascinated you?" He reminded them that they had not received the Spirit for fulfilling the works that the law demanded.The Spirit was the evidence of their conversion to Christ.The Gospel is true regardless of the experience of the Galatians or anyone else, the Gospel is objective, it is about what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us.
Paul removes all distinctions regarding the intimate relationship with Christ, all who are in Christ are co-heirs of the grace of life.