Believers are Approved by God
3 You foolish Galatians! Who put you under a spell? Was not Jesus the Messiah[a] clearly portrayed before your very eyes as having been crucified? 2 I want to learn only one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by doing[b] the actions of the Law or by believing what you heard?[c] 3 Are you so foolish? Having started out with the Spirit, are you now ending up with the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so much for nothing? (If it really was for nothing!) 5 Does God[d] supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you because you do the actions[e] of the Law or because you believe what you heard?[f] 6 In the same way, Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[g]
7 You see, then, that those who have faith are Abraham’s real descendants. 8 Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles[h] by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, “Through you all nations[i] will be blessed.”[j] 9 Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham, the one who believed.
No One is Justified by the Law
10 Certainly all who depend on the actions of the Law are under a curse. For it is written, “A curse on everyone who does not obey everything that is written in the Book of the Law!”[k] 11 Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the Law, because “The righteous will live by faith.”[l] 12 But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, “The person who keeps the commandments[m] will have life in them.”[n] 13 The Messiah[o] redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, “A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!”[p] 14 This happened[q] in order that the blessing promised to[r] Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah[s] Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit[t] through faith.
15 Brothers, let me use an example from everyday life.[u] Once an agreement[v] has been ratified, no one can cancel it or add conditions to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. It doesn’t say “descendants,” referring to many, but “your descendant,”[w] referring to one person, who is the Messiah.[x] 17 This is what I mean: The Law that came 430 years later did not cancel the covenant that God ratified previously. The promise was never nullified. 18 For if the inheritance comes about through the Law, it no longer comes about through the promise. But it was through a promise that God so graciously gave it to Abraham.
The Purpose of the Law
19 Why, then, was the Law added?[y] Because of transgressions, until the descendant[z] came to whom the promise pertained. It was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator involves more than one party, but God is one. 21 So is the Law in conflict with the promises of God? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could give us life, then certainly righteousness would come through the Law. 22 But the Scripture has captured everything by means of sin’s net, so that what was promised by the faithfulness of[aa] the Messiah[ab] might be granted to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed. 24 And so the Law was our guardian until the Messiah[ac] came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come about, we are no longer under a guardian.
You are God’s Children
26 For all of you are God’s children through faith in the Messiah[ad] Jesus. 27 Indeed, all of you who were baptized into the Messiah[ae] have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.[af] 28 Because all of you are one in the Messiah[ag] Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. 29 And if you belong to the Messiah,[ah] then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.
Footnotes
- Galatians 3:1 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:2 Lit. Spirit through
- Galatians 3:2 Lit. or through the hearing of faith
- Galatians 3:5 Lit. he
- Galatians 3:5 Lit. you through the works
- Galatians 3:5 Lit. you through the hearing of faith
- Galatians 3:6 Gen 15:6
- Galatians 3:8 Or nations
- Galatians 3:8 Or all the gentiles
- Galatians 3:8 Gen 12:3
- Galatians 3:10 Deut 27:26
- Galatians 3:11 Hab 2:4
- Galatians 3:12 Lit. who does them
- Galatians 3:12 Lev 18:5
- Galatians 3:13 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:13 Deut 21:23
- Galatians 3:14 The Gk. lacks This happened
- Galatians 3:14 Lit. the blessing of
- Galatians 3:14 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:14 Or the promise of the Spirit
- Galatians 3:15 Lit. I am speaking according to man
- Galatians 3:15 Lit. covenant; or treaty
- Galatians 3:16 Gen 12:7
- Galatians 3:16 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:19 The Gk. lacks added
- Galatians 3:19 Lit. seed
- Galatians 3:22 Or by faith in
- Galatians 3:22 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:24 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:26 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:27 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:27 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:28 Or Christ
- Galatians 3:29 Or Christ