Galatians: The Life I Now Liveಮಾದರಿ

Paul referred to the Spirit three times in the first five verses of chapter 3. It is by the Holy Spirit that Christ lives in us and we are united to Him. It is not the law that gives us righteousness; it is the Holy Spirit of God at work in us. The law shows us where we are falling short, but it does not make us holy. What is it that produces righteousness in us? The life and love of God, given by the Spirit. 

At this point, it would make sense for Paul to launch into an overt presentation of all that is new in Christianity, with the Holy Spirit as the key feature of this New Covenant faith. After all, he wants the believers in Galatia to fully live the new life offered in Christ. Indeed, he will present the elements of the New Covenant in these next chapters, and he will focus on the Spirit. However, rather than presenting the ‘newer and better’ faith, Paul makes a move of strategic genius here – he goes ‘old school’. 

The Galatians were probably captivated by the false teachers, in part, because of how Jewish their teaching sounded. It was old, it sounded biblical and they thought, therefore, it was right. So Paul does not just go for a newer and shinier version of faith in God. He goes deliberately for an older one! He goes back before Moses all the way to Abraham. God’s plan has always been to draw people to Himself by faith rather than performance. 

Paul wants the Galatians to be immersed in Scripture as he reminds them of how the gospel works. In verse 6 he goes back to the key moment when Abraham believed God and therefore was counted as righteous. Then in verses 7–9 Paul shows that it is faith folks, not law-keepers, who are truly sons of Abraham. Indeed, even Gentiles being saved apart from the law was anticipated in God’s great promise to Abraham (see Gen. 12:1–3). Salvation has always been about faith, not law-keeping. 

Reflection

Think about an area of your life where you struggle with sin – what can you do, in respect to that struggle, to shift your focus from yourself and your efforts to be holy, onto God and all that He has done for you?