My thoughts for the Itty Bitty Bible Study group on Facebook. (join if you’d like to get these in fb!)
I’ve shared my thoughts on Galatians 1:1-10; Galatians 1:11-24 & 2:1-10; Galatians 2:11-21; 3:1-9 and now,
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith(title from the ESV Bible)
Galatians 3:10-12 – Do you rely on the works of the Law?
Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Habakkuk 2:4
The New Living Translation says Galatians 3:10- 11:
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.
God’s Word Translation phrases it:
10 Certainly, there is a curse on all who rely on their own efforts to live according to a set of standards because Scripture says, “Whoever doesn’t obey everything that is written in Moses’ Teachings is cursed.”
11 No one receives God’s approval by obeying the law’s standards since, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.”
This refers back to Galatians 1:6-9
Especially verses
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
And Galatians 2:16
16 yet we know that a person is not justified[a] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Danger Danger!
I touched on the danger of the law in IBBS Galatians 2:11-21
Deuteromony 27:26 In New Living Translation to make it clear what is said:
‘Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
Youngs Literal Translation says it this way:
Cursed is he who doth not establish the words of this law, to do them, — and all the people have said, Amen.
Jeremiah was told:
Jeremiah 11:3-5
3 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4 that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”
Even Jesus explained the power and importance of the Law this way:
Matthew 5:18-20
18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Trusting in the law is Not a good idea!
BECAUSE No one is justified by the law!
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death,
But God! God had/has a plan!
Romans 6:23 but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Back to Galatians 3:13-14
Galatians 3:13
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
REDEEMED!!!
TO ME, THIS IS THE GOSPEL!!!
Isaiah 53:1-6
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Romans 4:7-8
7 “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE!
Romans 6:23 but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
HOW?
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
IN CHRIST!
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This is along the same lines that Martin Luther declared his change of heart – and desire for the church to recognize scripture(he never wanted to leave the Catholic Church).Nathan Bingham discuses Justification by Faith, and Martin Luther’s revelation about Romans 1:17.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Paul wrote Romans.
The Gospel that he proclaims is that the just shall live by faith – faith imparted, imputed to us, through the death burial and resurrection, depending upon our response to hearing the gospel. If we respond in faith –
it is counted to us a righteousness!
New Living Translation:
Genesis 15:6
And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.
Thank you Lord Jesus for saving my soul! And all that the comment implies!
MORE of Romans!
Romans 5:6-11
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
When my heart thinks on this, I know that God loves me! WHILE I WAS STILL A SINNER!
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I’ve included a lot of Romans.
There is a very easy way that I understand the plan of Salvation, and it’s called the Romans Road.
It is verses through Romans that take a person down the path to understand the steps of salvation.
It is NOT law! It is just a compilation of verse to make it easy to understand!
I appreciate GotQuestions.org for providing this!
I share my steps in My Testimony!
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The Law and the Promise(title by ESV)
Galatians 3:15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.
16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.
18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
There are many references to the legal aspects of the law – and here, Paul is explaining, as only a very well trained Judaic lawyer can, that Abraham’s promise was to have ONE come from him to deliver us all.
Galatians 3:19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
I have grown to understand this a little better after becoming a mom. Even since working with children in child care.
Children NEED rules – for their safety – yes, but also to teach them.
DON’T TOUCH THE STOVE
Why not?
IT’S HOT!
What’s hot?
DON’T TOUCH THE STOVE!
….OWWWWWWWW, MOMMMY!
I SAID, DON’T TOUCH THE STOVE, IT’S HOT!
Then, the child learns by experience that touching the stove was hot, what hot meant, and why mommy had a rule. Not following the rules can cause pain!
The outcome is that once the child is able to rule themselves, they no longer touch the stove…on purpose!
This is how I understand the concept of the Law – it was to teach the Hebrews what things were not good for them.
The cleansing rituals? Protected them from many diseases that other tribes and nations died from.
The clean and unclean? Many of the foods were more apt to have toxins or parasites in them, that killed other nations.
Why did Israel have these rules and others suffer without them? Because Abraham chose to follow God! And he taught his family. And they taught theirs.
Sadly, historically, Jews have been persecuted for their being protected, health wise, financially, and other ways. Those that suffered saw that the Jews did not suffer, and decided that they were either stealing from them, or were putting curses on them, causing the diseases, or whatever. It is so hard for the human to accept responsibility for their own choices, and so easy to point the finger to those that have made choices that bring them blessings. It’s so easy for humans to cry “no fair”, when they do not want to play by the rules in the first place.
The law was given as a teacher, as a guide.
That is the rest of Galatians 3!
Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest
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