Freedom and Blessing

Hello everyone.

Today we will continue to go through Galatians 3, this time looking at verses 12-14:  Here is my translation: 

12 The law is not based on faith, but whoever keeps the law will live according to the Law.  13 The Christ has set us free from the curse of the law, by becoming cursed himself, on our behalf.  It is written. “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under a curse.” 14 So now, the Gentiles  can also receive the blessing of Abraham in Jesus Christ, so that we can receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 

We looked in my previous at verse 11.  Let's tie verses 11 and 12 together.  Paul has established, quoting the prophet Habakkuk, that the righteous will live their faith.  Then, in verse 12 he points out that the Law is not based on faith.  We may not connect those dots right away, but what Paul is saying is actually somewhat obvious, because the Law is based on obedience, and obedience and faith are related, but on the same thing. Paul goes on to say that those who keep the Law will live according to the Law. This, too, is obvious. So, let’s follow the logic together.  Paul is presenting two ways of thinking here.  In one, our righteousness/justification is based on obedience to the Law, and the other it is based on living by faith.   Which one is God looking for?  Paul is telling the churches in Galatia, that God is looking for them to live by faith. In his commentary, Douglas Moo explains the connection like this, the righteous person finds life ‘through faith,’ but the Law is not a matter of ‘through faith.’ (Moo, 208.) 

Continuing on, in verse 13, Paul goes back to the discussion of being under a curse.  This time, however, the discussion is a little more encouraging for the Christian.  Paul states that, “Christ has freed us from the curse of the law.”  This is good news for us.  Those who live under the law are under the curse of law, but those who follow Jesus and live by faith are freed from this curse, because Jesus has taken on the curse upon himself on our behalf.  We do not have to suffer the penalty of this curse.  We, as Christians, can enjoy the benefit of Jesus’s redemptive work. This is something that we cannot earn through our obedience to the Law. 

Paul also refers to Deut. 21:22-23, when he says, “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under a curse.” He is telling us that Jesus, in going to the Cross, took on the curse of the Law for us, and now, we have the responsibility to believe.

I think that at this point, we should qualify something.  As Paul has made his arguments, one could begin to minimize obedience.  Do we still need to be obedient?  Yes, of course we do. I don’t think Paul would ever have said that our freedom in Christ allows us to behave however we want, as long as we have faith. However, our thinking becomes different.  Our obedience becomes obedience prompted by our faith, not something that results out of a sense of duty, or in order to earn the blessings of Christ.  

In verse 14 Paul sums up two ideas central to what he has been talking about here. “So now, the Gentiles can also receive the blessing of Abraham in Jesus Christ, so that we can receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

The Gentiles can now enjoy the blessings of Abraham, just like the Jews.  The Gentiles receive this association, not through their connection to Judaism and the Law, but through their faith in Jesus.  

Secondly, we can now receive God’s Spirit through faith. Paul reaches back to the beginning of the chapter (verses 1-5) where he makes the point that when they first became Christians and received the Holy Spirit, it wasn’t because of their obedience to the Law that they received the Spirit, it was because of their faith.  (Their attempts to fall in line with the Old Law actually came after they had already received the Spirit.)  

Douglas Moo makes this statement about v. 14: “Paul’s association of union with Christ and faith as the way in which all God’s blessings are enjoyed….Paul ultimately insists that both the Abrahamic blessing and the Holy Spirit are experienced both ‘in Christ’ and ‘by faith.’ (Moo, 215.) Well said.  Let us make sure that we are enjoying these blessings that come 'in Christ' and 'by faith.'