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G A LAT IA N S 3
found guilty because we have abandoned the
law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin?
Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down.
19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned
me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet
all its requirements—so that I might live for God.
20 My old self has been crucified with Christ.* It
is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So
I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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.
— promises —
from God
You are all children of God
through faith . . . There is
no longer Jew or Gentile,
slave or free, male and
female. For you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
GA L AT I A N S 3:2 6, 2 8
The Law and Faith in Christ
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.
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?
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.
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.
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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.”* 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.”*
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 and God’s Promise
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. 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.
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.
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.
God’s Children through Faith
23 Before the way of faith in Christ was available
to us, we were placed under guard by the law.
2:20 Some English translations put this sentence in verse 19.
3:4 Or Have you suffered. 3:6 Gen 15:6. 3:8 Gen 12:3; 18:18;
22:18. 3:10 Deut 27:26. 3:11 Hab 2:4. 3:12 Lev 18:5.
3:13 Deut 21:23 (Greek version). 3:14 Some manuscripts read
the blessing of the. 3:15 Greek Brothers. 3:16a Greek seed;
also in 3:16c, 19. See notes on Gen 12:7 and 13:15. 3:16b Greek
seeds. 3:21 Some manuscripts read and the promises?