GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:1 Direct Appeals to the Galatians. Paul gives several reasons why the Galatians should resist false teachers. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:2 LET ME ASK. Using rhetorical questions, Paul shows that it is illogical for the Galatians to seek a fuller Christian life by keeping the law. RECEIVE THE SPIRIT refers to the new covenant activity of the Holy Spirit that comes after saving faith. From the beginning of... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:6 Paul issues a second direct appeal to the Galatians: it is not just their own experience of receiving the gospel by faith that should teach them that salvation is not by the law but by grace. Rather, the OT example of Abraham also teaches that it is through genuine fa... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:10 Those WHO RELY ON WORKS OF THE LAW are under a CURSE. They are “cursed” (“condemned”) because they break the law (Galatians 2:18). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:11 Habakkuk 2:4 shows that righteousness cannot be achieved through the law. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:12 Paul uses Leviticus 18:5 to show that THE LAW IS NOT OF FAITH. Paul probably means the same thing here as in Romans 10:5 (where Leviticus 18:5 is equated with “the righteousness that is based on the _law_”; compare Philippians 3:9). THE ONE WHO DOES THEM SHALL LIVE B... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:13 The divine CURSE is the result of disobedience (v. Galatians 3:10). But the burden of the curse has been lifted by Christ’s work on the cross. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:14 The coming of the powerful SPIRIT—the living presence of God— is a key benefit of the new covenant (see Isaiah 44:3; Galatians 5:1). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:15 A covenant or a will cannot be changed. The promises made TO ABRAHAM AND TO HIS OFFSPRING were not changed when God gave Moses the law. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:16 God spoke PROMISES to ABRAHAM on several occasions. Paul probably refers to Genesis 13:15 and Genesis 17:8. AND TO YOUR OFFSPRING. Here Paul sees that the truest fulfillment of these OT promises comes to ONE “offspring,” Christ. ⇐ ⇔... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:17 CAME 430 YEARS AFTERWARD. Paul is apparently referring to the Septuagint translation of Exodus 12:40, “The dwelling of the children of Israel... in Egypt and in Canaan was 430 years.” This would mean 430 years from Abraham to the exodus (the Hebrew text does not incl... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:19 The law was never intended to last forever. Now that the promised Messiah has come, those who believe in him are sons of God. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:20 Because GOD IS ONE, his ultimate revelation comes not through an intermediary but from him alone. This assumes that whatever comes from Christ comes from the one true God, for Christ is fully God. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:22 The law (THE SCRIPTURE), instead of giving “life” (v. Galatians 3:21) with God, IMPRISONED EVERYTHING UNDER SIN (compare Romans 3:9). Rather than enabling all Israelites to receive the promise, the law was given so that the single “offspring,” Christ, would receive t... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:23 BEFORE FAITH CAME. By “faith” Paul means new covenant faith in Christ (see v. Galatians 3:22). Since Paul uses Abraham as an example of justification by faith (vv. Galatians 3:6, Galatians 3:14, Galatians 3:18), he cannot mean that there was no saving faith before Ch... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:24 The LAW, as GUARDIAN, had positive functions. It restrained and exposed sin and promised Christ’s coming. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:26 YOU ARE ALL SONS OF GOD. Life under the law was slavery. Life in Christ is marked by the freedom that comes from being God’s “sons.” The Greek word used for “sons” is a legal term used in the adoption and inheritance laws of first-century Rome. Here and elsewhere in... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:27 Having been BAPTIZED, believers have gone down into death. They have died to the old era of law, sin, and death (Romans 6:3; Galatians 2:19; Galatians 6:14). They have come up out of the water as participants in the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). PUT ON CHRIST. A... [ Continue Reading ]
GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 3:28 NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK. In the new creation, the distinction between Jew and Gentile is removed (see Ephesians 2:11). Certainly these Galatians 1:1 do not have to become Jews to be Christians (see Galatians 3:14). THERE IS NEITHER SLAVE NOR FREE, THERE IS NO MALE AND... [ Continue Reading ]