Galatians 3 Commentary
You foolish Galatians! Vintage Paul! Unparalleled! Same old Paul! But there is an important message, critical to their Christian walk. The key word is faith. We could also underline the words, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Law’.
Under the old arrangement, God gave the Law. Under the new arrangement, God has given the Spirit. Don’t mix the two. An airplane doesn’t have side mirrors! Don’t live in the past. Don’t look for side mirrors. You won’t find them.
Is the Spirit God’s new invention? No. This is God’s plan through and through. The Law was a placeholder until the real stuff – the LORD Jesus Christ! Verses 19 and 24.
Salvation is a blessing that comes to individuals through the LORD Jesus Christ. This is God’s promise to Abraham – long before the Law was introduced. The blessing is based on faith.
Chapter 3 simplifies salvation for us: It is the Spirit against the Law; or, the Spirit in place of the Law. The Spirit stands where the Law stood – it’s a rough estimate. The Spirit does more. The Law forbade greediness and encouraged love, but the Spirit is the love within an individual that flattens greediness. He is the light that outshines and clears the darkness – all the works of darkness.
He will later talk about the following fruit of the Spirit – the physical manifestation of the presence of the Spirit: Love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
A trip into Lawland is misguided; it is sinful and enslaving. Flow with the Spirit. The Just shall live by faith. Paul quotes this injunction more frequently than anyone else.
Galatians is written to dispel the notion that there is another route to Heaven apart from faith in Jesus Christ. Under the “Jesus arrangement”, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free, we are all one in Christ Jesus. The complications of the Law disappear altogether!
More resources visit http://www.lovingscripture.com
LOVING SCRIPTURE 