By Kyle Beshears
Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
True Life
Galatians 3:1–14
At one point the churches in Galatia tracked with Paul. They joyfully received his gospel and were liberated from spiritual death, not through their own efforts but through faith in the work of Christ alone. The Holy Spirit indwelled them to obey, not to merit righteousness but to live in light of Christ’s righteousness. But then they lent their ears to a false gospel (Gal. 1:6–10).
Suddenly, instead of working from justification, they began working for justification. Paul challenges them to return to the gospel by reminding them of their conversion, demonstrating how Abraham was saved by faith and noting that obedience to the law cannot save them.
The Spirit Confirms It (1–5)
How did the Galatians receive the Holy Spirit? Was it by faith alone or by working really hard to get themselves together so the Spirit could indwell them? Their answer, of course, was by faith alone. The same goes for us. The Spirit works through us to conform us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8).
So often, we find ourselves in the same boat as the Galatians, especially in American culture where independence that allows us to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and success is valued. We can easily slip into a lifestyle where we act as though we have the ability to diagnose our problem, prescribe the solution and fix ourselves.
We think that we need to “get right” before we stand before God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Absent the Holy Spirit, we are jobless and deeply indebted, with the insane delusion that we can come out from under liability. Yet absent the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we are wholly unable to save ourselves. With the Holy Spirit, however, we are redeemed from our debt to a life filled with grace.
Abraham Believed It (6–9)
Paul reminds the Galatians that this same point also applied to Abraham, who merely believed in God’s covenant promises and was considered righteous. Abraham did not work toward his justification but was justified by his faith alone.
Don’t believe Paul? Then just think about the timeline of Abraham’s story. Was he justified before or after the law? The answer, of course, is before because the law wouldn’t arrive until generations after Abraham.
The Galatians placed the cart before the horse, and it crippled their ability to press forward in the Spirit. Abraham was blessed by faith and we can experience the same.
The Curse Demands It (10–14)
Why can’t we be blessed through our Spirit-less works? Why can’t we pull ourselves up by the bootstraps to stand before God? The answer is simple; the moment we try is the very moment we fail. Even if we think we’ve kept the law, we’ve still broken it in our hearts (Matt. 5:21–30).
Part of the reason God gave the law is to demonstrate how far we have fallen. The law is not a list of dos and don’ts; it is a mirror that reveals our sin. The law is a standard of righteousness that we can never attain, let alone maintain. It doesn’t bring us blessing but cursing.
How then can we ever achieve the holy standards of God? We can’t and that’s the point. While we can’t, Jesus could.
Praise be to God that His Son took the curse for us even though He was able to keep the law. In faith, Christ takes on our curse and awards us His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). This is the great exchange of the gospel — our curse for His righteousness, made possible by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
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