Paul continues to explain the link between the promise of Abraham and Christ and how the law fits in. The law came 430 years after the promise. But the arrival of the law doesn’t annul (cancel out) the promise. The promise never had a condition on the law because if it did, then it would no longer be a promise. I could promise to give you something or I could promise to give you something if you did something else first. The first is a promise based entirely on me, the second is based on a condition you have to fulfil. Paul is pointing out that the promise never had a condition and the law didn’t come to change the promise.

So why then did God give us the law? Because people weren’t living God’s way. The law was put in place to show people that God had expectations that they were not living up to. The law was put in place through angels. This is not something that the Old Testament speaks about at all. It was known through Jewish oral tradition and now Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, confirms it. The law was also given by an intermediary, a mediator, and that we know was Moses. The need for a mediator implies more than one party, but God is one. For the promise, there was no mediator because God is the only one responsible for honouring the promise. With the law, there are two parties involved, God and man and therefore a mediator is needed because both sides have obligations to the agreement. The strength of the promise is that everything depends on God and nothing depends on man.

So if there’s a law and a promise, does the law contradict the promise? No, because if the law could have given life, then righteousness could come by the law (remember this is what the Judaizers were arguing) but all the Scripture (the law) did was to imprison everything under sin by showing us that we have no ability to keep our side of the deal—we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). But the promise releases us from that imprisonment through faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe (Rom 6:23; John 1:12).

Can you see how futile it is to try to keep the law in order to be right with God? The law was put in place to prove that you can’t keep it. You have no hope of keeping it. The promise on the other hand is completely separate from the law—by 430 years. The two are not linked. God made a promise that doesn’t depend on you. God kept that promise in Jesus. That promise is available to you by faith in Jesus Christ to you if you believe (Gal 3:22).

Paul presents a set of logical arguments based on quotes from the Old Testament to show that the law is unable to save us.

• Everyone who does not do everything in the law is cursed (Deut 27:26)
• No one is justified before God by the law because “the righteous shall live by faith” (Hab 2:4)
• To live by the law is not to live by faith but, “the one who does them shall live by them” (Lev 18:5)
• Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because “cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Deut 21:23)

So while the law is unable to save but instead brings us under curse, Christ became that curse for us so that we might receive the promised blessing of Abraham through Jesus Christ and receive the promised Spirit through faith.

If you are tempted to live better in order to please God, to try harder, or sin less, or do anything that might make things better between you and God, remember this: the only way to be better is to be perfect. You cannot do that. Anything less that perfection puts you under the curse. Thankfully Jesus did everything. All we need do is rest in Him.

“He became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become His righteousness” (2 Cor 5:21)

The Galatians had fallen so hard for the lie that they had to keep their salvation through works that it was like they’d fallen under a spell. Paul had publicly preached about Jesus’ cross, death, and resurrection when he was with them. Having heard and believed in his message, did they receive the Holy Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Of course, by faith. The if they began by the Spirit (through faith) how does it make sense that they need to continue to the end in the flesh (by works)? It doesn’t. The Galatians had also suffered for their faith, but why suffer for a message they no longer believed in? Was that in vain? Also, God had given them the Holy Spirit and validated Paul’s message through miracles. Did those things happen because of works of the law? No, it was all related to faith just as with Abraham who “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6). Abraham was justified by believing in God and His promise of a future Messiah, not in his obedience.

Paul explains that it is those who have faith in Jesus who are the sons of Abraham. God’s promise to Abraham that in him all the nations would be blessed was a prophecy of the gospel eventually coming to the Gentiles (to you and me). Those of us who have faith in Jesus are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

How is your faith journey? Is it a journey that began with belief and is now lived by acts of obedience? Abraham obeyed God because he believed God. Is your obedience flowing from a life of faith or are you trying to be obedient in your own strength. How’s that working for you?

Paul and Peter were Jews by birth and yet they knew that they were not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. They too had to believe in Jesus in order to be justified because no one is justified by works of the law. This is the exact opposite of what that Judaizers were teaching and the opposite of what Peter had done in action.

But if we are justified by faith and not by keeping the law, does that not mean that we can go on sinning and Christ is promoting sin? Certainly not. If he were to return to the law, all it would do is prove that he was a sinner. All the law can do is show that we are sinners, it can never save us. The law demands death for those who break it and so Paul says that because of that he died to the law so that he could live for God. Christ paid the death penalty for us so we can say with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ and now it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” Because of Christ in you, you can now live for God. How? By living by faith in Jesus who loved you and gave Himself for you. Faith is not just for salvation but also for sanctification (right living). If Jesus loved you enough to die for you, then He loves you enough to live through you. But if we insist on trying to be right with God by how we live (works of the law) then we nullify God’s grace and Christ died for nothing.

Paul ended yesterday’s passage saying that the apostles had added nothing to what he was teaching. They went on to acknowledge that Paul had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised (the Gentiles) in the same manner Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (the Jews). God had worked through Peter similarly to how He worked through Paul though He worked in each independently—this is another confirmation that the gospel Paul preached was pure and undefiled. Having accepted Paul’s ministry the leaders of the Jerusalem church (the pillars) welcomed Paul and Barnabas and agreed that they continue to preach to the Gentiles while they continued to minister to the Jews. They left Paul with a reminder to remember the poor which Paul said he was eager to do. Today we unfortunately see that the church seems to be divided into either a strong focus on doctrine or a strong focus on the poor. But we must have a strong focus on both; we must hold fast to the gospel and prioritise the poor.

Later when Peter (Cephas) went to Antioch Paul had to challenge him to his face. Peter had been quite comfortable eating with Gentiles. While Peter’s primary ministry was to the Jews, God had specifically shown him that the gospel was also for the Gentile and that nothing was unclean (no food or person, see Acts 10). Then some of the Judaizers (those of the circumcision party) came up to Antioch from the Jerusalem church and when they arrived Peter withdrew from the Gentiles and acted hypocritically along with the other Jews there. They feared the Judaizers and acted based on peer pressure instead of standing for the unity of the church that the gospel proclaims. Their actions even led Barnabas astray. Only Paul was left to stand up for the truth. Paul confronted Peter and reminded him that if he, a Jew, lived like the Gentiles (he had eaten their food with them) and not like a Jew (remaining separate from the Gentiles) then how can he force the Gentiles to live like Jews? Hypocrisy is when you claim to live by a higher standard but live by another. Be careful that what you say you believe is what you live. Do not be swayed to be one person around one group and a different person around another. Let’s live by Paul’s example and stand for truth at all times.

Paul returned to Jerusalem fourteen years later with Barnabas and they took with them Titus, a Gentile convert. The trip was prompted by a revelation (possibly the prophecy of famine in Acts 11:27-30). While there Paul presented the gospel he had been preaching to the Gentiles. It seems that Paul had brought Titus along as a test case to see if the apostles and church leaders in Jerusalem would require that he be circumcised. Even though the “false brothers” (most likely the Judaisers of Acts 15:1) tried to push their requirement of circumcision they did not yield to them at all. Paul is adamant that adding law to the free gift of salvation is to bound someone to slavery. Paul continued to work hard to preserve the truth of the gospel—salvation free from any work! Paul seems to be derogatory about the apostles (those who seemed to be influential) but his point is that even though they had influence in the church as leaders, God shows no partiality. Still, those church leaders added nothing to what Paul had been teaching.

God shows no partiality. God is not interested in or swayed by the influence of man and neither should we. That’s not to say we shouldn’t submit to our church leaders, we should (Heb 13:17). But they are not the final authority, God is. We must take personal accountability for knowing God’s word and hold our leaders accountable to teach only God’s word and nothing more.

Paul continues his defence that he was not under the influence or teaching of the Jerusalem church. After three years in Arabia (Gal 1:17) he finally went up to Jerusalem. But there he only stayed with Peter (Cephas) for fifteen days and didn’t see any of the other apostles. The only other leader of the church he saw was James, Jesus’ [half] brother. He considers this so important that he gives an oath before God that what he is saying is true. His final proof that he was not under the influence of the Jerusalem church was that none of the believers in Judea knew him personally. But they were all aware of his conversion and change because they heard that the one who used to persecute them was no preaching the faith he had set out to destroy. For that they all gave God the glory.

Paul’s defence covered yesterday and today is interesting because he is going out of his way to distance himself from the Jerusalem church and the apostles. Why? The most logical thing for him to have done was to immediately go to Jerusalem and sit under the teaching of the apostles and those who had been “in Christ” before him. But God had set him apart specifically as a preacher to the Gentiles. As Paul preached to the Gentiles, the gospel he presented was completely free from the religious restrictions of Judaism.

The gospel is beautiful in its simplicity, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). That’s it! Believe in Jesus for your salvation and it’s yours—free. That same simple gospel is the power of salvation for all who believe (Rom 1:16) and it is the gospel that has the power to change a man from a persecutor of the church to a preacher of what he tried to destroy. How has the gospel changed your life?

Paul makes it clear that he has no desire to please man. If he were trying to please man, then he would not be a servant of Christ. We are faced with the same choice: receive man’s approval for what we do or serve Christ. Which do you choose?

Paul goes on to say that the gospel he preached did not come from man. He did not receive it from man, nor was he taught it, but he received it as a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. He is referring to his experience on the road to Damascus where Jesus appeared to him and called him to believe. Paul points to his past as a zealot for Judaism. He was so passionate about being a Jew that he had violently persecuted the church, even trying to destroy it. He was so dedicated to Judaism that he was pushing it more than any of his peers. Paul knew that he had been set apart before he was born, just like the prophets of the Old Testament. Even though God had set him apart for the task of preaching to the Gentiles, Paul also recognised that God’s timing allowed Paul’s upbringing, rise in Judaism and subsequent persecution of the church before He revealed Himself to him. Then, having been called by Jesus, he didn’t consult with anyone or go to Jerusalem to study under those who were apostles before him. Paul went to Arabia for a time. This time was probably for personal study and even instruction directly from the Lord. Paul’s main point is to emphasise that what he preached was not born out of man’s instruction but was directly from God. Paul was probably refuting direct accusations that his teaching was influenced or corrupted in some way.

For us it is so important that we begin and end in God’s word. God’s word is truth revealed directly from God to us. It is not wrong to sit under the teaching of others (we are not Paul) but it is important not to be swayed by man’s ideas. Every teaching we receive should be tested against God’s word.

Paul begins his letter with a strong reminder that he is an apostle appointed through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead. He writes with heavenly authority, not the authority of man.
He is writing this letter to all the churches in Galatia, probably the churches in the cities of Antioch, Pisidia, Lystra, Iconium, and Derby (Acts 13-14).
In his greeting, Paul wishes them grace and peace and reminds them that grace and peace come from God the Father and Jesus Christ who is the one who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. They needed reminding because they had begun to drift from the gospel Paul had preached to them.

Paul confronts the churches on how quickly they had strayed from the truth of the gospel and turned to a different gospel—but there isn’t one. There is only one good news, that Jesus died for our sins to give us eternal life which we receive through faith alone (Eph 2:8-9). They were being taught that they needed to keep to the works of the law of Judaism as part of their salvation. When the gospel message is corrupted, then the way of salvation is confused and people are in danger of being eternally lost. For this reason, Paul says that anyone who preaches a false gospel should be accursed. It doesn’t matter who it is, whether himself or even an angel from heaven—anyone who preaches a false gospel should be cursed.

The gospel is such an incredible gift, so costly that Jesus had to give Himself for our sins, and yet freely given with absolutely no requirements on us!

The Pharisees and Sadducees come again to Jesus demanding to see a sign. This is similar to the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 12:38-40. Jesus points to their ability to predict the weather based on the look of the sky and yet they were unable to recognise that Messiah was with them based on the signs He had already performed. They didn’t need any further signs except the “sign of Jonah.” Just as Johah was in the fish for three days and then came out, so Jesus would be in the tomb three days and then rise again. Some people continue to ask for more and more evidence before they are willing to believe in Jesus. But God has provided sufficient evidence. It will always require faith. But it’s not blind faith.

Jesus left the religious leaders behind and went across the sea again. Jesus warned the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Because they had forgotten to bring along any bread they thought Jesus was talking about their lack of bread. Their faith is still lacking because they are worried about their next meal. But Jesus reminds them that He has recently performed two enormous miracles providing meals for thousands. They did not need to worry about going hungry. Jesus made it clear that He was warning them about the danger that the false teaching of the religious leaders would have because, like leaven, it would spread through everything (see 1 Cor 5:6-8). False and corrupt teaching seems to corrupt the truth far more easily than truth pushes out error. We must be so careful to hold on to the truth and avoid false teaching. The better you know truth, the easier it is to spot error.