Introduction

The Galatian church was turning away from the gospel of Christ to another gospel.  The apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian church to warn them.

Gal 1:6  I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
Gal 1:7  which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

This was very serious because in the next few verses Paul says:

Gal 1:8  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9  As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Paul explains that the gospel he preached he had received directly from Jesus Christ.   The implication being that they should believe him and not someone else that comes to them with a different gospel message.

Gal 1:11  But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
Gal 1:12  For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

What was this false gospel the Galatian brethren were turning to? We are going to carefully look at what Paul wrote and in so doing find out what false gospel the Galatian brethren were turning to. In doing so we will explain the following terms.

• The circumcision
• Justified
• Works of law
• Grace
• The curse of the law
• Under law
• Under grace

After Paul states he received the gospel directly from Jesus Christ (verses 11 and 12) he covers a little bit of his former life, his conversion, and how he met the apostles and how they accepted each other recognising that Paul had a been given a ministry to preach to the Gentiles and Peter to the Jews.  Then Paul recounts how he withstood Peter to his face.

Gal 2:11  Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;

Why was Peter to be blamed?  To understand what was going on an explanation of “the circumcision” is helpful.  In Jewish thinking, Gentiles were unclean and should be avoided.  A significant number of the Jewish converts to Christianity held on to this thinking, whom Paul referred to as “the circumcision”.  In practical terms, this led them to teach that Gentile converts to Christianity should also adhere to the Jewish rites, especially circumcision, and avoid those Gentile converts who refused.  This was affecting many brethren in Galatia and thus had become a big problem. 

Gal 2:12  for before certain men came from James, he [Peter] would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13  And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

At one stage Peter was happy to eat with the Gentiles, but when some brethren came from James who were of the “the circumcision” group, he stopped eating with the Gentiles.  Why?  “The circumcision” group were influencing Peter’s thinking.  Paul had to correct him, and so Paul addresses the problem. 

Gal 2:14  But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

The heretics in the Galatian church taught that Gentiles had to adhere to the Jewish customs.  We will address why they taught this after examining the next two verses, 15-16,  in which Paul explains how, given our sinful state, we are made right with God.

Gal 2:15  “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
Gal 2:16  knowing that a man is not justified by [the] works of [the] law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by [the] works of [the] law; for by [the] works of [the] law no flesh shall be justified.

The Greek word translated “justified” is dikaioo, which means declared or rendered just or innocent.

Justified means made right with God (innocent before God).

Paul was very clear that we are not justified by keeping the law.  The phrase “the works of the law” is translated from the Greek ergon nomou, which literally means “works of law”, as there are no articles.  The “the’s” are not in the Greek.  As there are no articles, Paul is not referring to specific laws such as the Ten Commandments, but any law.  

Works of law are any acts of obedience to any law.

We are not justified by keeping the Jewish customs which those of “the circumcision” wanted to impose on others.  Neither are we justified by keeping the Ten Commandments.  There is no act of obedience to any law which justifies us.  We are justified (made right with God) only through faith in Jesus Christ.  Paul is very clear about this point.  In Romans 3:20 Paul writes the same thing.

Rom 3:20  Therefore by [the] deeds of [the] law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The phrase “the deeds of the law” is translated from the same Greek phrase ergon nomou, which literally means “works of law”, as there are no articles.  It should be translated “deeds of law” and not “the deeds of the law”.  Paul writes the same thing again in Romans 3:28:

Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from [the] deeds of [the] law.

Now we can answer the question, why did the heretics in the Galatian church teach that Gentiles had to adhere to the Jewish customs?  The answer is, because these false teachers believed that they were justified by keeping the law and Jewish customs.

In the next verses, 17-18, Paul addresses a possible objection to being justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

Gal 2:17  “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!
Gal 2:18  “For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

If we are justified while in a sinful state does that make Christ a minister of sin?  Absolutely not.  But if we seek to be justified by the law, we end up sinners (because we cannot keep the law perfectly).

In the next two verses, 19-20, Paul explains that we should now live our lives for God.

Gal 2:19  “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.

We are already dead to the law.  That is, we have broken the law and are sinners and consequently we are under the death penalty.  For sin is the breaking of the law, 1 John 3:4.  But Christ has died in our place, for our sins, that now we might live our lives for God (live in a way that pleases God).

Gal 2:20  “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Christ now lives in us through His Holy Spirit and helps us obey God.

The next verse, 21, can be confusing.

Gal 2:21  “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Psalm 119:172 says “all your commandments are righteousness”.  How can God’s commandments be righteousness and yet righteousness not come through them?  What is the explanation? 

The Greek words translated “righteousness” (dikaiosune) and “justified” (dikaioo) in verses 16 and 17 are similar.  They come from the root word dikaios, meaning innocent, just, right.  In fact, another meaning of dikaiosune is “justification”.  So, a more consistent translation is:

Gal 2:21 “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died in vain”. 

In other words, we do not set aside the grace of God.  We need the grace of God for justification (for being made right with God).  Grace is God’s favour or unmerited pardon.  In this verse Paul says: We need God’s favour; for if being made right with God comes through keeping the law, then Christ died in vain, (because if we could be made right with God by keeping the law, then Christ need not have died for us).

Grace is God’s favour or unmerited pardon.

Continuing in chapter 3.

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?

Again, Paul makes clear that the Galatian brethren had gone astray by believing that they were justified by keeping the law.

Gal 3:2  This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by [the] works of [the] law, or by the hearing of faith?

Again, the phrase “the works of the law” is translated from the Greek ergon nomou, which literally means “works of law”, as there are no articles “the” in the Greek.  They received the Spirit by faith, not by any works of law.

Gal 3:3  Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

The Galatians were turning to the false teaching that salvation could be achieved through works of law.  They knew that they had started by faith, but somehow, they now believed that they could finish by relying on their own strength.

Gal 3:4  Have you suffered so many things in vain; if indeed it was in vain?

By turning aside from the truth, they were in danger of losing out on salvation and making all their sufferings as Christians pointless.

Gal 3:5  Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by [the] works of [the] law, or by the hearing of faith?

Paul reiterates his point that God worked in their lives by their faith and not by their keeping of any laws.

Gal 3:6  just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness [dikaiosune].”

This is a quote from Gen 15:6, when God told Abraham – before he had any children – that he would have a son and in fact have descendants as numerous as the stars.  The Greek word translated righteousness is dikaiosune which can also mean justification.  Paul drives home the point that justification comes through faith in God using this example of Abraham.

In the next verses, 7-9, Paul explains that God promised eternal life to Abraham, and that we receive the same promise of eternal life if we are sons of Abraham.

Gal 3:7  Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

We are the sons of Abraham if we have the same faith as Abraham.

Gal 3:8  And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”

“In you all nations shall be blessed”, is a quote from numerous places of a promise God made to Abraham, (Gen 12:3, Gen 18:18, Gen 22:18).  The promise was that the Messiah would come as a descendant of Abraham.  The blessing to all nations is that salvation shall be offered to all nations through the Messiah.

Gal 3:9  So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

If we are of faith, then we will receive the blessing promised to Abraham. 

What was the blessing promised to Abraham?  It may not be apparent from the Old Testament alone, but Abraham was promised eternal life.  The New Testament makes it clear.  We just read in verse 8 that the gospel was preached to Abraham.  In other words, the same gospel that Paul preached, Abraham had preached to him.

Note that the whole world was promised to Abraham.

Rom 4:13  For the promise that he [Abraham] would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

The promise of the earth was not just to Abraham but to the faithful too.

Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.

Christians are heirs of the same of the same promise.

Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The promise to Abraham and his spiritual children (true Christians) was that they would be heirs of the world.

Rom 8:17  and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Not just heirs of the world but joint heirs with Christ to be glorified with Christ (in eternal life).  And so we see that Abraham was promised eternal life.

In the next verses, 10-12, Paul explains that no one can achieve justification through the law.

Gal 3:10  For as many as are of [the] works of [the] law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”

Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26.  The law Paul refers to is everything God gave through Moses, including the Ten Commandments.  Anyone who breaks the law is under a curse.  Of course, we have all broken the law.

Gal 3:11  But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”

No one can be made right with God through keeping the law.  “The just shall live by faith”, is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4.  In other words we are justified by faith and not by law.

Gal 3:12  Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

The phrase “the man who does them shall live by them” is a quote from Leviticus 18:5.  To obtain justification by the law one would have to keep it perfectly.  For as James says:

James 2:10  For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

But we all sin.

Rom 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

So, no one can achieve justification through the law.  We are all under a curse as a result of breaking the law, Gal 3:10.

This is a big problem.  How can we be justified?  How can we be made right with God?  We cannot do it through the law.  The answer is of course through Christ, and Paul explains this in the next verses, 13-14.

Gal 3:13  Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, …

The curse of the law is the death that results from breaking it, not the law itself.  That the law is not a curse is clearly evident from what Paul wrote in Romans 7:12, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good”.

The curse of the law is death that results from breaking the law.

Gal 3:13  …having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),

Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 21:22-23.  Jesus Christ, by being crucified and in effect hung on a tree as a condemned criminal, died for us; He became a curse for us. 

Gal 3:14  that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Christ suffered the penalty for our sins, which was death, that all people might be justified through faith in Christ and receive salvation.

In the next verses, 15-18, Paul goes into more detail about the promise made to Abraham and how it relates to salvation.

Gal 3:15  Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.

When a covenant made by man is confirmed no one annuls or adds to it.  Likewise with the covenant God made with Abraham, (the promise of the Messiah to Abraham), no one annuls or adds to it. 

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

Of the various promises God made to Abraham, the one Paul refers to is the promise of a Messiah, through whom salvation comes.  It is the promise that in Abraham all the families of the earth shall be blessed, Gen 12:2-3, Gen 18:18, Gen 22:18.

Gal 3:17  And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.

The 430 years later almost certainly refers to 430 years from the covenant in Genesis 17 when Abraham was 99 years old, because it is the only covenant which mentions Abraham’s age.  See “When and what were the 400, 430, 450 and 480 Years?” for a detailed discussion on this.  The law which was 430 years later is the Ten Commandments and all the statutes and judgments which were given at the time of Moses.  This law cannot annul the promise of the Messiah which God made to Abraham.

It should be noted that the Ten Commandments which God gave to Moses and the nation of Israel existed before Moses.  For example, the fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath existed from creation when God rested on the seventh day.  In Gen 4:7 God cautioned Cain about “sinning” in and Rom 5:14 Paul refers to Adam’s transgression (or sin).  Yet sin is transgression of the law, 1 John 3:4.  So the law (the Ten Commandments) obviously existed from the beginning of creation.

Gal 3:18  For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The “inheritance” is the promise of the Messiah and eternal life God made to Abraham.  Salvation does not come through the law, but through God’s promise to Abraham.  The natural question at this point is, if salvation does not come through the law, then what is the point of the law?  This is the exact question which Paul addresses in the next verses, 19-25.

Gal 3:19  What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, …

What is the purpose of the law?  Paul answers with “it was added because of transgressions”.

The phrase “it was added because of transgressions” is a poor translation.  In verse 15 Paul says that no one annuls or adds to the promise of salvation through the Messiah.  Paul is not going to contradict himself by saying that the law was “added” to this promise.  Something is wrong with the translation.  The “added” in verse 15 and in verse 19 are translated from two different Greek words.  The word “add” in verse 15 is translated from the Greek epidiatassomai.  The word “added” here in verse 19 is translated from the Greek prostithemi.  Prostithemi can mean to place additionally, to lay beside, or to annex.  For example:

Act 12:3  And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further [prostithemi] to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Act 13:36  “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with [prostithemi] his fathers, and saw corruption;

A better translation is: “It was placed beside [the promise of the Messiah] because of transgressions”.  The Literal Translation simply has: “it was for the sake of transgressions”.

What does “because of transgressions” mean?  We know from Rom 3:20 that, ”by the law is the knowledge of sin”, that is, the law shows what sin is.  So, the law was placed beside the promise of the Messiah to show what sin is.

Continuing in verse 19. 

Gal 3:19 … till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.  …

The seed is, of course, The Messiah, which was the promise.  Does that mean we don’t keep the law now the Messiah has come?  Of course not.  A few verses later, verse 21, Paul asks: “Is the law then against the promises of God?” And he answers: “Certainly not.”

Continuing in verse 19. 

Gal 3:19  … and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.

The Greek word translated “angels” is aggelos which means messengers.  Angels could refer to the angelic realm or it could simply refer to human messengers such as Moses and the other prophets. 

Summarising what we’ve covered in verse 19, adding explanatory text in brackets, we have.

Gal 3:19  What purpose then does the law serve? It was placed beside [the promise of the Messiah] because of transgressions [to show what sin is], till the Seed [The Messiah] should come to whom the promise was made [the promise was made to Abraham]; and it was appointed through angels [messengers] by the hand of a mediator [God].

The mediator was God Himself.  The following verse makes that clear.

Gal 3:20  Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

Normally a mediator mediates between two parties, not for one party only.  But in this case since God was both the mediator and one of the parties, He mediated for one only.

Gal 3:21  Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! …

The law is not against or in conflict with the promise of the Messiah. 

Gal 3:21  … For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

If it were possible for justification to come through the law then it would.  Justification has to come through faith in Christ. 

Gal 3:22  But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

We have all sinned, as it says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  The promise, that is the promise of eternal life, comes by faith. 

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Before faith came, that is before Christ came, the law that was placed alongside the promise was our tutor.  In what way was the law given to Moses a tutor?  The law was a tutor to help us with the higher standard that Christ expects.  Now faith has come, that is Christ has come, He demands a higher standard.  The law was a tutor to help us with the higher standard.  When Jesus Christ came, He magnified the law.  He fulfilled what was written in Isaiah 42:21, “He will magnify the law”.  For example, the law says, “You shall not kill”, but Jesus taught do not become angry with someone without a cause. 

Mat 5:21  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’
Mat 5:22  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

For example, the law says, “You shall not commit adultery”, but Christ taught do not lust after someone. 

Mat 5:27  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.’
Mat 5:28  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

A Jew who kept the law would be much closer to the mind of Christ than a Gentile who did not.  In that way the law was a tutor.

Gal 3:25  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

We are no longer under a tutor means we are no longer under the law because the law was our tutor.  Paul wrote something very similar in Romans:

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

But what does “not under the law” mean?  It cannot mean that we no longer have to keep the law; otherwise Paul’s next statement in Rom 6:15 makes no sense.

Rom 6:15  What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

What then does Paul mean by saying that Christians are not under the law?  He gives that answer in Romans 3:19:

Rom 3:19  Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Note that a consequence of being “under the law” is being “guilty before God.”  In other words, those who are under the law, which is all the world, are guilty of breaking the law and are under its condemnation..

Under Law means “guilty before God” for having broken the law.

Paul makes clear in Romans 3:24 that we are justified by God’s grace, by God’s favour, not through anything we do.

Rom 3:24  being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Paul refers to this by using the term “under grace”.

Under grace means “justified freely by His grace” through faith in Jesus Christ. (We are no longer guilty before God, not by something we do, but as a gift from God by His grace.).

For a more detailed discussion of this see “What do ‘under law’ and ‘under grace’ mean?”

So when Paul writes in verse 25, “after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor”, he means, after faith has come (after Jesus Christ has come), we are no longer under a tutor (under the law, or guilty before God).

Continuing in verse 26.

Gal 3:26  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Now that faith has come, we are sons of God, and those baptized now have put on Christ.  In other words, Christ lives His life in us, as Paul explained earlier in Gal 2:20. 

Gal 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

And of course, Christ is not going to lead us to sin by breaking His law.  Continuing in verse 28.

Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

In Christ we are all the same.  We are all heirs to the same promise regardless of whether we are physical descendants of Jacob (Jew or Greek), regardless of our status in society (slave or free), and regardless of our gender (male or female).  Now that we belong to Christ, we have access to the promise of salvation made to Abraham, because we are considered spiritually Abraham’s seed.

Conclusion

The Galatian heresy was the teaching that justification (being made right with God) comes through keeping the law.  Justification comes by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 

The law is holy, just, and good; it defines Godly behaviour.  So we strive to keep the law as Jesus lives in us through the Holy Spirit, although we cannot do it perfectly.