Paul’s Letter to the Gauls (Galatians) – Chapter 3

By the hearing of faith. I would like you to take that literally. By the hearing of faith. Not by believing what you heard, but by the hearing of faith. It’s what you heard when faith spoke. When faith spoke, and you heard, faith is speaking, and you heard. Can you hold on to that? Can you kind of keep that? That’s a little different, isn’t it? When faith spoke. Alright. Are you so foolish? Having begun in spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain…you four churches, if in fact it was in vain? Does the Lord then, who provided you with His Spirit and worked miracles among you, do it by law or by faith, speaking to you? Are you with me?

Now we meet brother Abraham, whom we’ll meet several times throughout this passage. Even so, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are out of faith. Verse seven. Those who are out of faith are sons of Abraham. I’m going to change that and give it the impact it should have. This is not the Greek, but it’s the impact of the Greek. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are born out of the womb of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would also justify you, heathen Gentiles, there in Galatia, He preached the gospel back there to Abraham for your sake, there in Galatia, hundreds of years ago. Because in the moment He spoke to Abraham, He also said, “By you shall all the Gentiles be blessed.” I trust most of you know that the word gentile and the word nation are the same, and it means the heathen nations. In the Jews’ eyes, we were heathens. So then those who are out of the womb of faith are blessed with Abraham, or in Abraham, or if you please, Abraham, the believer or the believing Abraham.

So then, those who are out of the womb of faith are blessed with, or by, the believing Abraham. And if we could really put this in Greek, it would read like this. So then those who are out of the womb of faith are blessed with the “faithing” Abraham. Alright, here we go. For as many as are of the works of law are under a curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and to perform them. Now that no one is justified by law before God is evident, for it is by faith that the righteous have life. It is by faith that the righteous have life. I say that with me, would you? It is by faith that the righteous have life.

Verse 12. However, the law is not out of or from faith. It does not come from the womb of faith. On the contrary, he who practices the law shall live by all the precepts of the law. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, and the law is a curse, and He became a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree, in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to you there in Pisidia, you the nations, the gentile heathen, so that you might receive the promise of the spirit through faith. Now, brothers, I speak to you in terms of human relationships: the two men may have a compact, a contract, and when it is legally ratified, it cannot be set aside, nor can conditions be added to it. But what happened between God and Abraham was not a contract. It was a promise—a promise to speak to Abraham and to his seed. I’m going to reread that. A promise that was spoken to Abraham and to Jesus Christ. How do you like that? Isn’t that nice?

A promise spoken to Abraham and to Jesus Christ. He did not say and to seeds as referring to many seeds, but rather to one, blessed to you is this promise given to you, Abraham, and to one seed that is, who? Say it; alright, so that’s where I have read to Abraham and to Christ what I’m saying is this law, the law which came 430 years later after Abraham, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God. You cannot nullify this promise. The law cannot nullify this promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise. But God granted the inheritance to Abraham by means of a…say it…promise. Why then the law? Oh man. Why then the law? It was added because of transgression, having been ordained by angels, not by God, but by angels. It was blessed, contracted, sealed by angels by the agency of a mediator until Christ should come to those to whom the promise was made. And to whom was the promise made? To the Phrygians. Amen brother. To Abraham and to the Gentiles who would be blessed, and you are the Gentiles, and the promise came to Christ, through Christ, to those to whom the promise would fall upon after Christ. And you are those people.

Now, a mediator is not for one party. It’s for two people, but when God makes the promise, God doesn’t have two parties. There’s only one. For God is one. Has the law been contrary to the promise of God? May it never be. For if a law has been given that was able to impart life; if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based upon law. Now, what can you infer from that verse? You can’t get life out of the law. I’d like for you to say that. I’d like to hear your mouth say it. You can’t get life out of the law. Say it again. It’ll do your heart good. You can’t get life out of the law, but the scripture has shut up all men under sin that the promise which comes by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. We’re all shut up in prison by sin. There isn’t but one door out, brothers: it’s by faith in the promise given to Jesus Christ to those who “faith”, to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up by the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ that we may be justified by faith. Does anybody have the concordant literal here with us? That we wouldn’t be that lucky, would we? Does any translation use a word other than “tutor” here? School master. Anything else? What have you got?

Audience: The New American Standard Bible, the Open Bible, expansion edition.

Expansion edition. Alright, that is the correct translation. It is not a teacher. It is not a tutor. It is not a school master. It is, in fact, a child conductor. You could almost call him a bus driver.  Therefore, the law has become our child conductor, our bus driver, to lead us to Christ that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under the child conductor. We are no longer under the law, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were plunged into Christ, have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all… oh, shoot… let’s read this whole verse. This is going to be good. Just read it with me, would you? I’m in the New American. Say it after me. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free man. There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Now we’re going to do that again. Amen. I’m neither a Jew nor a Greek. I’m not a slave, nor am I free. I’m not a male, and I’m not a female. I’m one with you in Christ.

Do you get the impact that, inside of Him, what we are is not free or a slave or male? We’re one. That’s almost like you’re introduced to a different species. What species is that? The one species. I’m going to repeat that. Verse 28 almost introduces us to a new species. For I am not a Jew, and I am not a Greek. I’m not a slave, and I’m not free. I’m not a man. I’m not a woman. I am one with you in Christ Jesus. The “one” species comes back, really, to the concept of Christ being a seed and, in some way, to the divine matters of God. The seed never breaks down, even though many are added after Christ, for those who believe, the one is never broken.

Okay, let’s start. I’m going to take this in chunks, and the first chunk that I’m going to take here is a question. The second one I’m going to take is Abraham, and the third is the law. The fourth one I will take will be the closing passage. I want to ask you a question. You were running so well. What got you started running so well? You were down there in Galatia, and you had your problems, and you, even you heathen, had your moral code. You had the law that you had chosen. Each one of us picks a law. Even the Jews didn’t just have a law that they…a single solitary law. Every time you ask a Jew, each one of them has quarantined the law to a certain degree. You know, a Pharisee was living under all of it. Somebody else living under a little less than a Pharisee. Christians are the same way. Some don’t smoke, some don’t chew, some don’t run around with those who do. Some don’t go to movies, some don’t dance. Some don’t do this, some don’t do that, some wear funny clothes, and some do something else. Each of us got a different law we put ourselves under. So were the Jews, and you heathen, every one of you, adopted some sort of law for yourself.