GALATIANS 2:15 “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law [ergon nomou] but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law [ergon nomou]; for by the works of the law [ergon nomou] no flesh shall be justified. (NKJV) Here we are introduced to the phrase “works of the law” for the first time in the letter to the Galatians. This phrase has been the foundation for much Christian doctrine and theological understanding. Most Christians believe that “works of the law” is a reference to observing the Law of Moses. They interpret Paul’s words here to mean that obedience to the Torah is no longer required. In fact, some take Paul’s statement to mean that obedience to the Law demonstrates a lack of faith. Could it be that Paul’s use of the phrase “works of the law” was intended to refer to something other than the Law of Moses?The teaching brought to Galatia by the sectarians went above and beyond the requirements of the written Torah. GALATIANS 2:17 “If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. (NIV)Now Paul, in an effort to head off any counter argument that he was opposed to obeying the written Law of Moses, goes on the offensive against lawlessness (I John 3:4). He states that justification through the sacrifice of the Messiah does not give us license to sin. GALATIANS 2:19 For I through the Law died to the Law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (NKJV) GALATIANS 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain.” (NKJV)Here Paul finishes his opening remarks and establishes the premise for his attack on the teachings of the “false brethren” in Galatia that follows in chapter 3. Paul’s position is that legalistic observance of the Law (whether according to the sectarians’ “Works of the Law,” the Oral Law of the Pharisees, etc.) for the purpose of establishing one’s own righteousness is worthless in the sight of God. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul contrasts the two ways for gaining righteousness: (1) Legalistic obedience to the Law versus (2) obedience to the Law due to faith in the Messiah. To understand Paul’s comments about the Law in Galatians, we must realize his position about the PURPOSE of the Law. He speaks of this extensively in his letter to the Romans: ROMANS 3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says it speaks to those who are under the Law [hupo nomon], so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law [ergon nomou] no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (ESV)Taken in context, Paul’s words here show his true understanding of the purpose of the Law. The Law was intended to show the conduct God expected from mankind. Any deviation from that specified conduct was sin. As the apostle John tells us explicitly in the New Testament, “sin is lawlessness” (I John 3:4). ROMANS 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law By “works of the law” (legalistic observance of the Law to gain God’s favor), no one will be justified in God’s sight. The reason why this is so is because “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). However, God has provided a way for our justification other than through perfect observance of the Law. (Rom. 3:20, 28).
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March 20, 2008 at 6:58 pm
GALATIANS 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law [ergon nomou], or by the hearing of faith? (NKJV)
Now Paul begins to attack the premise underlying the sectarian teaching in earnest. He asks the Galatians if keeping the Torah perfectly (in this case, according to the sectarians’ “works of the law”) was what had initially allowed them to receive God’s Spirit, or whether it was hearing the gospel he had proclaimed and believing it in faith. Clearly, his implication is that they were first accounted righteous through faithful acceptance of Jesus sacrifice, not by legalistic observance of the Law Johnny!
GALATIANS 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain – if indeed it was in vain? 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law [ergon nomou], or by the hearing of faith? – (NKJV)
Here Paul reemphasizes his previous point: It was through faith that the Galatians had obtained the Spirit, not through perfect observance of the Torah such as that encouraged by the sectarians.
GALATIANS 3:6 Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (NKJV)
March 20, 2008 at 7:01 pm
HEBREWS 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (NKJV)
HEBREWS 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, (NKJV)
The author of Hebrews clearly shows that Abraham’s faith was confirmed by his OBEDIENCE to God. Faith is not a substitute for obedience. True faith leads to obedience, because the one who obeys believes that God “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6). This is affirmed in God’s confirmation to Isaac of the promises made to Abraham:
Paul’s statement in verse 6, when understood properly, perfectly compliments the words of James regarding Abraham’s faith:
JAMES 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that FAITH was working TOGETHER with his WORKS, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. (NKJV)
These Scriptures do not contradict each other; Paul and James were making the same point regarding Abraham’s faith. But Abraham’s faithful obedience and the Galatian’s legalistic obedience were two different things. The former showed faith in God’s imputed righteousness, while the latter indicated reliance on one’s own actions and abilities to become righteous.
March 20, 2008 at 7:02 pm
To further make his point, Paul next addresses the covenant God made with Abraham:
GALATIANS 3:15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the Law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the Law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. (NKJV)
Now Paul goes into the promises and blessings given to Abraham. God gave Abraham the promise of a multitude of descendants, but He also promised him one SPECIFIC descendant:
GENESIS 22:18 “In your seed [zar'akha] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (NKJV)
The Hebrew word zar’akha (root word zera, “seed”) is singular (as is the Greek word spermati used in the Septuagint). This verse is the source of Paul’s reference to ONE seed, the Messiah. Although Abraham certainly has a multitude of physical descendants, he has even more “offspring” through the work being performed by the Messiah.
Paul’s point here is that legalistic obedience to the Law, which came 430 years after God made the promises to Abraham, does not nullify God’s covenant with Abraham. This covenant promises God’s salvation to all mankind through the work of the Messiah. However, this salvation does not negate the importance of obedience. The promises were given to Abraham based on his faithful obedience. Abraham BELIEVED what God told him, and he DID what God said. This included obeying God’s laws, statutes and commandments, as God told Isaac (Gen. 26:5).
But here is the important point: Abraham believed FIRST, and then OBEYED. The sectarian approach was just the opposite of Abraham’s actions. They required perfect obedience to the Law FIRST as a qualification for the promised inheritance. In their view, faith was not the primary reason for observing the Law; ensuring one’s place as an inheritor of the promises of Abraham was.
GALATIANS 3:19 Why then the Law? It was added because of transgressions, until the Offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. (NRSV)
To correctly understand this verse, we must remember Paul’s position on the Law. It was not a tool to enable righteousness, but rather a way to know what God expects of us. Paul addresses this point more fully in verse 21.
The mediator mentioned in verse 19 is Moses, who stood between the people of Israel and Israel’s ‘elohim, the preincarnate Messiah. Paul mentions this to set up his next point:
GALATIANS 3:20 Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one
March 20, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Going back to Paul’s understanding of the PURPOSE of the Law discussed earlier, we see he recognized that it provided a guide for conduct and penalties for disobedience. But because of the sin nature of mankind, the Law was not a means for achieving righteousness. Paul tells us that all have broken the Law (cf. Rom. 3:9, 23). Therefore, all have incurred the resulting penalty, which is DEATH.
GALATIANS 3:23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the Law [hupo nomon], imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the Law was our guardian [paidagogos] until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian [paidagogon], 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (ESV)
March 20, 2008 at 7:06 pm
To fully understand Paul’s point with this comparison, let’s examine the difference between the two covenants:
EXODUS 24:12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.” (NIV)
JEREMIAH 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put My Law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.” (NIV)
The Law implemented at the first covenant was written on stone, but the Law of the new covenant will be written on the hearts of the people. The prophet Ezekiel also highlights the contrast between the first covenant and that “new covenant” which would come:
EZEKIEL 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. (NKJV)
Most misunderstand why there is a need for a “new” covenant. The Law was NOT the problem! Remember, Paul earlier told the Galatians that if any law could have given life, the Law of Moses would have given it (Gal. 3:21). Yes, there was something wrong with the first covenant, but it wasn’t the Law, as the author of Hebrews states:
HEBREWS 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with THEM, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because THEY did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD.” (NKJV)
The problem with the covenant made at Mount Sinai was not the Law; it was the PEOPLE. They could not keep the covenant because human nature made them weak through their flesh:
ROMANS 8:3 For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, (NKJV)
The Law governing the first covenant was written on tablets of stone and obedience depended upon the flesh. But due to human nature, the Israelites were weak; they couldn’t keep the covenant. Under the promised new covenant, the Law is to be written on the hearts of the Israelites, and it is to be kept through the power of God’s Spirit.
In Paul’s story, Hagar and Ishmael represented the efforts of the flesh. God had promised Abram that he would have a physical son who would be his heir (Gen. 15:1-5). But although Abram believed God (Gen. 15:6), his wife Sarai decided to help in the fulfillment of the divine promise. Considering her barrenness and advancing age, Sarai convinced Abram to take her Egyptian maid, Hagar, as a secondary wife for the purpose of bearing him a child (Gen. 16:1-2).
Abram did have a son by Hagar (Gen. 16:15); he was named Ishmael (“God hears”). But Ishmael was NOT the son God had promised Abram. Ishmael was born by the will and efforts of the flesh, not by the power of God’s Spirit.
GALATIANS 4:27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.” 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. (NKJV)
Soon after the birth of Ishmael, God reiterated the promise to Abram (“exalted father”) and changed his name to Abraham (“father of a multitude”), telling him that He would make him the father of many nations (Gen. 17:4-5). When Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah (then 90 years old) bore him the son of promise, Isaac, through divine intervention (Gen. 21:1-7). It was through this son that God intended to fulfill His promises to Abraham.
On the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham made a great feast for him (Gen. 21:8). Probably because of jealousy, Ishmael mocked Isaac and scoffed at him (Gen. 21:9). Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of her son and insisted that Abraham send him and his mother away (Gen. 21:10). Abraham didn’t want to do so, but God told him to listen to Sarah, because it was Isaac that was the son of promise (Gen. 21:11-12).
Using the backdrop of Ishmael and Isaac, we are able to see Paul’s point with this allegory. Paul is not disparaging the Law, because as we saw earlier, the Law is a part of both the first covenant and the new covenant. Rather, Paul is again contrasting those who seek to keep the Law through the efforts of the flesh (legalism) and those who seek to observe the Law by the Spirit (faith).
GALATIANS 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. (NKJV)
In this chapter, Paul focuses on the freedom believers have in Messiah. But he begins by speaking of the opposite of freedom. The “yoke of bondage” referenced here by Paul is the enslavement to the “elemental spirits of the world” he had mentioned earlier (Gal. 4:3, 9).
In the context of the Galatian problem, this slavery was typified by LEGALISTIC observance of the Law as a means of establishing one’s own righteousness. When viewed properly, the letter to the Galatians shows that Paul did NOT consider the Law itself a “yoke of bondage.”
GALATIANS 5:2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole Law. (NKJV)
Once again, we see that the false brethren troubling the Galatians were seeking to have them circumcised. Circumcision itself was not the principal issue; the meaning assigned to it was what Paul opposed. This ritual was being promoted by the sectarians for the purpose of making the Galatians righteous.
Paul reiterates that once they began depending on their own fleshly ability to keep the Law, the Galatians would have to keep ALL the Law perfectly to be considered righteous. The sacrifice of Messiah would be of no further benefit to them because they had ceased depending on his blood to cleanse them of sin.
GALATIANS 5:4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by Law; you have fallen from grace. (NKJV)
Because “all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), justification CANNOT come through the flesh. It only comes through God’s grace, which leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4) and faith in the sacrifice of the Messiah (Rom. 3:24-26).
However, the sectarians had nullified God’s grace, which had provided a way for the Galatians to be justified through Yeshua’s sacrifice. In its place, they had brought them a doctrine of legalism, teaching them that through the efforts of their flesh, they could achieve righteousness by the Law. Of course, Paul knew this effort was ultimately doomed to fail.
GALATIANS 5:5 For we through the Spirit eagerly WAIT for the hope of righteousness by faith. (NKJV)
Again, Paul highlights the true way to righteousness – faith in the sacrifice of Yeshua. Notice, Paul stated that believers were eagerly WAITING for the hope of righteousness by faith. Apparently, they had not YET attained that righteousness.
GALATIANS 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. (NKJV)
Paul states that it is only “faith working through love” that brings this righteousness. As Paul told the Romans, physical circumcision ALONE does not make a person righteous:
ROMANS 2:25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the Law, but if you break the Law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the Law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the Law. (ESV)
March 20, 2008 at 7:08 pm
GALATIANS 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Johnny should read this verse daily and maybe it will take root and grow.