Faith and Blessing (or, The Just
Shall Live by Faith!)
Galatians 3:6-14
Introduction: Rabbi Shammai wrote that Moses gave 365 prohibitions and
248 positive commandments (I didn’t count them, I’ll take his word for it!). David in Psalm 15 gives 11 requirements; Isaiah
33:15,16 lists six, Micah 6:8 gives three, Habakkuk 2:4 reduces them to one: “the
just shall live by faith.” This simple statement is central to the book
of Romans and is the main theme of the letter to the Galatians. Paul’s experience on the Damascus road, and
the message that he received from Jesus, brought a 180 degree turn in
his life from reliance on works, to faith. After centuries of apostasy in the
Roman Church, the religious world was shaken when a monk named Martin Luther
read these words and was converted, and it became the battle cry of the
Protestant Reformation: The Just shall live by Faith. This is the
message that Paul preached on his first missionary journey through Asia Minor,
as he planted churches in region of Galatia. It was also the substance of the
rebuke that Paul brought against Peter in the dispute he referenced in
Galatians 2:11ff., when, after Peter had come to Antioch and initially
fellowshipped with the gentiles, but then suddenly began acting differently after
some Jews from Jerusalem arrived. Peter separated himself from his Gentile
brothers in Christ “for fear of the Jews.” Paul withstood him to his
face because Peter was not “walking in step with the Gospel.” How can
we put on the gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our fathers were able to
bear? – The just shall live by faith! Paul now turns his attention
to the Galatians who were turning from this apostolic teaching of grace and beginning
to add to it the trust in works-righteousness that prevailed in 1st
century Judaism. Grace plus Law is no gospel at all! In this passage that we’ll look at today, Paul
appeals to the Old Testament Scriptures to make his point that grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone is our only hope for salvation. He’ll
quote from six Old Testament passages to make his point.
The BIG Idea: Since the Law makes it clear that
we cannot save ourselves, our only hope is to trust the One who bore the curse
of the Law for us.
I. The Blessing of Faith: Believers experience
God’s blessing as they affirm their trust in His Word (3:6-9). Paul
uses Abraham as an example of authentic faith.
…just as “Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"? 7 Know then that it is those of
faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the
nations be blessed." 9
So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of
faith.
“Even so, Abraham believed God…”
The reference is to Genesis 15:6. Though He and Sarah were old, he believed
that God could do the impossible, and he took Him at His word. As we hear and
believe the Word of God, authentic faith will show itself by action, we’ll
live like we believe it! (cf. Gen
12:4, Jn 3:36; James 2:21). As we
mentioned last week, “Faith” doesn’t mean we are perfect. Abraham’s faith wavered on a few occasions, as
in the face of famine (Gen 12:10) and when confronting danger (
3 And Abram said,
"Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will
be my heir." 4 And
behold, the word of the LORD came to him: "This man shall not be your
heir; your very own son shall be your heir." 5 And he brought him outside and
said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number
them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 And he believed the LORD, and
he counted it to him as righteousness.
God said He would do something amazing,
something impossible from a human perspective. And Abraham took God as His
word, He believed what he said. And notice what it says, “…He counted it
to him as righteousness…” That is the language of “imputation” that
Paul picks up on, and it is through faith alone. Abraham’s faith had its up and
downs, but by Genesis 22 he had been molded and matured to the point that he
was ready to face his greatest test yet…
As God called on Abraham to offer up his only son, the son of promise,
Abraham recognized that God was able, if necessary, even to raise the dead
(22:5, “we will return”). And
so, he raised his knife in obedience and faith, and God intervened. He trusted
God! The Reformers returned the church to a biblical perspective of faith.
Some people say, “I believe in God,” but what they mean is that they believe there
is some kind of supreme being out there. That clearly isn’t saving faith. It’s
also not simply acknowledging that the God of the Bible is real. Saving faith
is a sure trust, an absolute confidence in God’s word. It is acknowledging that
God is God, and we are not, and entrusting ourselves to Him as our only hope of
salvation. Have you ever flown on an airplane? They took a lot of faith! Your
trusting the mechanics did their job, and that the pilot knows his! Does our
faith guide our choices? Do we live by faith?
I said last week that Biblical faith
has at least three elements: Do you remember what they are? Knowledge, assent, and
trust. What does the Bible say about
our need and about God’s provision for our rescue in Christ? That is knowledge.
We need to know who Jesus is, and what he did for us. Assent
means that we agree that it is true, that God’s way is the only way to
forgiveness and life. And finally, “Trust,” resting our hope, our
confidence, in Christ alone. We get on the airplane! On the basis of the Old Testament background,
the “faith in action” in the life of Abraham, Paul says in v.7… “Know therefore…” imperative, “Let it be known to you on the basis of the
Scripture…” “It is those who are of
faith who are the sons of Abraham.” Opponents might have been saying that
to be Abraham’s children, circumcision and the Law were necessary additions to
faith. Paul, however, is emphatic, it is faith, believing God, taking Him at
His Word, that makes us Abraham’s children. We follow Abraham’s example of
faith. Recall the words of John the Baptist in challenging the Jews whose
confidence was in the fact that they were descended physically from Abraham: “Don’t
be content in saying I am descended from Abraham, for God is able to raise up
from these stones children to Abraham!” Spiritual kinship trumps blood
relation. The question is, do we believe God?
“…the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the
nations be blessed’.” The reference again is to the book of Genesis,
this time to 12:3 (cf. 18:18). God called Abraham to go out to a land that he
did not know, leaving everything familiar behind. And somehow, through him,
the blessing would extend to all the nations of the world. How could it be?
We have the whole story! A descendant of Abraham, Jesus, would be the one who
would do for us what we could not do for ourselves. The church was not an unforeseen mystery, even
in the Abrahamic promise the idea of God’s blessing extending to the gentiles
was revealed. Notice that faith,
believing God, was basis to God’s program throughout history. And so, in v.9, believers are blessed
with Abraham. As Abraham believed God,
putting his trust in Him alone, so we must acknowledge our desperate need,
putting our trust in Christ. Faith in God, taking Him at his word, binds us
together. That’s the BIG Idea: Since the Law makes it clear that we
cannot save ourselves our only hope is to trust the One who bore the curse of
the Law for us.
II. The Curse of the Law [or, The Curse of Unbelief?]. The Law convicts
us of sin. Attempting to approach God
through the works of the Law can only confirm our total inability, hence, we
must walk by faith (3:10-12). We should
walk by faith because we have been redeemed from the curse of the Law. The OT
reveals our need for grace.
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."
Paul appeals to
Scripture, quoting three OT verses in these three verses. He wants to make
the point that the Law could not save, it could only reveal our need. John Stott writes, “The law requires works
of human achievement; the gospel requires faith in Christ’s achievement. The
law makes demands and bids us obey; the gospel brings promises and bids us
believe.” The Mosaic Law included a series of blessings and curses
contingent on obedience—not to save men, but to make clear their need for a Savior. Complete obedience was needed. The quotation
in v.10 makes that point, citing Deut 27:26, where, after a series of curses
evoked for various acts of sinful behavior, it states,
“Cursed be anyone who does not
confirm the words of this law by doing them.”
Some translations add in italics, “…all the
words of this law…” which seems to be the point in the context. Absolute
obedience. The late Old Testament scholar Peter Craigie commented on Paul’s
citation here of Deuteronomy 27:26…
…the final curse has a summary and all-inclusive
nature; it describes that man who does not take positive action which obedience
to the law demanded… This last curse Paul expounds in his letter to the
Galatians (3:10-14). The reach of the law is so all-pervasive that man cannot
claim justification before God on the basis of ‘works of the law.’ This
all-embracing nature of the law turns our eyes to Christ who “redeemed us from
the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…” (Deut. p.334).
Teaching in Brazil it was often necessary to grade a test “on
a curve.” The students usually worked full-time, did ministry on weekends, and
took classes at night! They had little time to study! How good is good enough? Different
groups among the Jews of the first century had varying ideas about obedience,
sin, and the life to come. One of the most liberal considered a 51% mark as
passing, carrying entitlement to enter the world to come. Most Americans seemingly come from that
same school! There was a television commercial some time ago, with the guy
helping a mom and her child onto a carnival ride, they ask, “Is it safe?” He
replies, “Safe? Sure, I put it together myself last night. I think I did an ok
job…” OK?! Goodbe, they left! People assume that they are pretty good people, they
are doing an ok job, they are better than others, surely good enough to deserve
eternal life! But God doesn’t grade on a curve! Jesus said, “Be
perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Mt 5:48). God is just and
holy, and he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Either we
will answer for our sin, or we will put our trust in the One who willingly bore
our sins in his body on the Cross.
The need for “faith” was evident, even in the Old Testament (v.11). Faith in God was the true means of salvation through all ages—and is also characteristic of the Christian life. Know God, believe Him, trust Him. Habakkuk contrasts the prideful arrogance of unbelief with the humble life of faith when he said, “…the righteous [i.e., the just] shall live by his faith…” (Hab 2:4). How can that be? Didn’t the Law require complete obedience? That is the point that Paul is making. He quotes in v.12 from Leviticus 18:5 which says,
“You shall
therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall
live by them: I am the LORD.”
Again, why did God give the Jews an impossible standard? We’ll
see more in this chapter. The Law shows humans the impossibility of
being perfect and therefore the need to rely wholly on God. We can’t do
it, so we need grace, we need a Savior! The Law drives us to Him! Paul will say
a little further down, in 3:24, “Therefore
the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified
by faith.” The Law was designed to teach us that we are weak, to expose our
desperate need, to turn us to the Rescuer. We need grace! And that brings us
back to the BIG Idea: Since the Law makes it clear that we cannot save
ourselves our only hope is to trust the One who bore the curse of the Law for
us, as we trust Him, we are justified by faith! That brings us to…
III. The Basis of our Rescue: The Gospel of Christ (3:13-14). One missionary translator, trying to get the
sense of Acts 16:31 into a tribal language, came up with this: “Lean your
whole weight upon Jesus and be saved.”
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.
Here I go again,
running too quickly through the last couple of verses! Read v.13—Even the manner
of Christ’s death symbolized what he did for us: Christ was born under the Law.
He kept God’s Law perfectly, He never sinned.
Yet He bore the penalty for our sin, He redeemed us, bought us out of
our position of bondage and made us God’s children. The quotation is from
Deuteronomy 21:23, where Moses wrote,
22 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by
death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all
night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is
cursed by God.
Think about this: though He was innocent of any crime, Jesus died the death
of a criminal, one who had committed a capital offense. Crucifixion was
agonizing and humiliating, and yet Jesus chose to die the death of one
accursed by God, so that we, by grace through faith, could experience the
blessing of God. Such grace! Such love!
He redeemed
us, bought us out of slavery. In v.14 Paul tells us why God did it: So that we might receive the blessing
of Abraham. Abraham lived in tents as a
sojourner in a foreign land, just as we do, in a real way live in the world,
but we have the same hope as Abraham, “…waiting for that city whose
architect and builder is God…” (Heb 11:10).
What is God saying to me in this passage? If the Law makes it clear that we
cannot save ourselves, how then can anyone be saved? Our only hope is to
trust the One who bore the curse of the Law for us. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that “At
different times and in different ways God spoke in times past to the fathers
through the prophets, now in these last days he has spoken in His Son.” John said, “The Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us…” We have his Word written in the Spirit-inspired writings
of the Bible. Our life now should be a
process of filling ourselves with the truth of God’s Word, and making it the authority,
the guidebook for our lives. We need to know what the Bible says, and we have
to live like we believe it! “The just shall live by faith.”
What
would God have me to do in response to this passage? Again, true faith has three key
aspects: knowledge, assent, and trust. We need to know
what God says if we are going to believe Him.
We need to agree that the Word is true and authoritative. And we need to trust him, take His word to
heart. Lean your whole weight on Jesus, and you will be saved!
Have you done that? Good! But “faith” is not only the initial act of trusting
Christ. We live by faith! Pastor Ray Pritchard’s website is called Keepbelieving.com. I thought that sounded odd at first. But
“faith” means believing God, taking Him at His word. It is not simply a
ticket, the way “in” to a new life. It is a new way of life. Believing
God, day by day, moment by moment, decision by decision. Living by faith.
To believe God we have to be listening to Him. That means being under
Gospel teaching and preaching. It also means being ourselves in the Word,
prayerfully, carefully, reading the Book He has given us. Jesus said “my
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…” His Spirit
guides us, convicts us, leads us deeper.
The Christian life is learning to live life centered on the Gospel, that
is the foundation. And it also means to be motivated, or fueled,
by the Gospel in our living, day-to-day, under His lordship. The just shall live
by faith. Jesus said, I have come that you might have life, and that
you might have it more abundantly! That
is the life for which you were created! Amen.
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