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READ   Galatians 2:21   21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.     This is a significant verse. It applies not only to the Old Testament law but to good works of any kind. If one could be made right with God by those means, the death of Jesus was a useless death. Such thinking would negate the plan of God in providing for the redemption of all who would believe in Jesus.

READ   Galatians 3:1-2   1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.      Paul’s teaching had made clear to the Galatians the importance of Christ’s d

READ   Galatians 3:3-4   3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?     Paul was greatly disappointed with the Galatians who had trusted in Jesus by faith but were now adding laws to what Jesus had done for them. The word “perfect” refers to that which is “mature” or “complete.” Only God is “perfect” in t

READ   Galatians 3:5-7   5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. 6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.     Paul continued to contrast good works with faith. The Galatian believers had not received the

READ   Galatians 3:8-9   8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.     Paul continued to emphasize to the Galatians the importance of faith rather than works. Having cited Abraham

READ   Galatians 3:10   10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”     These are strong words to anyone today who tries to live the Christian life by a set of rules. If one depends on the Old Testament law, it is necessary to observe all 613 laws. God’s promise to Abraham contained unconditional promise

READ   Galatians 3:11-12   11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” 12 This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”     Verse 11 makes it clear that no one can become right with God by attempting to keep the law. It has been translated, “the just shall live by faith.” Argument

READ   Galatians 3:13-14   13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.     The law was not a blessing; it was

READ   Galatians 3:15-16   15 Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case. 16 God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.     Genesis 12:1-3 is considered God’s agreement with Abraham (known as “Abram” at the

READ   Galatians 3:17-18   17 This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. 18 For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.     Paul said the unconditional promises God made to Abraham could not be set aside by the condition

READ   Galatians 3:19-20   19 Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. 20 Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.     Paul addressed what

READ   Galatians 3:21-22   21 Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. 22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.     Paul emphasized there was no conflict between the law and grace. Before believing in Jesus by faith, everyone was a prisoner of sin. Freedom is m

READ   Galatians 3:23-25   23 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. 24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.     The “way of faith” was the way to bec

READ   Galatians 3:26-29   26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.     The Jewish people could not imag

READ   Galatians 4:1-3   1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.     Pau

READ   Galatians 4:4-7   4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.     There are

READ   Galatians 4:8-9   8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?     Paul reminded the Gentiles that in their unsaved state they were slaves to their gods. Now that they had come to know and be known by the true God, why would they want to

READ   Galatians 4:10-12   10 You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. 11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. 12 Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws. You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you.     The apostle Paul had come out of a system of observing special days, months,

READ   Galatians 4:13-16   13 Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News. 14 But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself. 15 Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible. 16 Have I now become

READ   Galatians 4:17-18   17 Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them. 18 If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.     Paul told the Galatians about the motives of the false teachers. They were jealous of Paul and did not want the Galatian readers to take him ser

READ   Galatians 4:19-20   19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. 20 I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you.     Paul felt as if he were experiencing labor pains as he sought to help the people trust in Jesus and be free from the law. Now they were returning to their old ways, and he was e

READ   Galatians 4:21-23   21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.     Paul used an example from Abraham and Sarah’s life. Abraham was imp

READ   Galatians 4:24-25   24 These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law.     Paul referred to the law system as represented by Hagar. Abraham tried to accomplish through self-effort and good works what God had promised. Those who follow that patte

READ   Galatians 4:26-27   26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said, “Rejoice, O childless woman,   you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband!”     Sarah represented the heavenly Jerusalem, mentioned in Revelation 21:1-2. She is the “free woman,” that i