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Galatians 3

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O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

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This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

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Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

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Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

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He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

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Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

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Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

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And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

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So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

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For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

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But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

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And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

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Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

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That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

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Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

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Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

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And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

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For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

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Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

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Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

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Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

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But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

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But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

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Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

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But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

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For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

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For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

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There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

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And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

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Galatians 3

Paul confronts the Galatians with a spiritual rebuke—who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?—implying that their seduction into legalism represents a fundamental reversal of their conversion experience and a blindness to the crucified Christ. The experiential proof of the Spirit's presence through faith rather than law-works shifts the argument from the cross to pneumatology: Did you receive the Spirit (πνεῦμα) by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Abraham's faith credited to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6) establishes the paradigm that those of faith are Abraham's sons, and the Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith (ἐκ πίστεως), proleptic testimony to the gospel. The law, far from being the path to righteousness, operates under a curse: everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law stands under divine judgment (Deut 27:26), and Christ redeemed us from this curse by becoming a curse for us (Deut 21:23)—the cross as the place where the law's condemnation is exhausted and absorbed. The chronological argument that the law arrived 430 years after the Abrahamic promise means it cannot annul the promise, and the law's proper function as a pedagogue (παιδαγωγός) or guardian holding God's people until faith came demonstrates law's subordinate, preparatory role. The baptismal union of Galatians 3:26–28 breaks open the eschatological reality: neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female—all one in Christ Jesus—Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise, the law's exclusionary categories abolished in the new creation.

Galatians 3:22

But Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. — Paul's cosmic scope: all humans ('pan' — the whole, the universe) are imprisoned ('sunchleio') under sin's dominion; the promise ('epangelia') of liberation and life comes exclusively through faith in Christ, establishing Christ as the sole exit from sin's imprisonment.

Galatians 3:23

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, kept under guard until faith should be revealed. — the law functioned as phroureo (keep guard, hold prisoner), a custodial/restrictive force, an imprisonment that awaited faith's arrival and revelation ('apokalypsis'); this military metaphor suggests law as a garrison holding humanity until liberation.

Galatians 3:24

So the law was put in charge of us to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. — the law's role as 'paidagōgos' (child-minder, guardian, escort) is revealed: it was meant to lead us to Christ, the pedagogue bringing the student to the teacher; justification's final ground is faith in Christ, not continued law-submission.

Galatians 3:25

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. — the temporal marker 'now' ('nun' — the eschatological present) marks the arrival of faith as a cosmic pivot: law's custodial role ('paidagōgos') has been discharged, and believers have passed into a new era where law no longer supervises ('hupistithēmi' — places under, supervises) spiritual life.

Galatians 3:26

You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, — the identity-shift is radical: through faith in Christ ('dia tēs pisteos en Christō'), believers become 'teknon' (children) of God, a status transcending ethnic categories and law-observance, rooted in mystical incorporation into Christ.

Galatians 3:27

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. — baptism ('ebaptizō eis Christon' — baptized into Christ) signifies covenantal incorporation; believers are 'dressed' ('enduō' — clothed) in Christ, absorbing his identity, making Christ their cosmic covering and existence.

Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. — Paul's revolutionary declaration: the boundary-markers of first-century identity (ethnicity, social status, gender) are erased in Christ, not socially but eschatologically; oneness ('hen' — one) in Christ supersedes all particularities, creating a new humanity where Christ's identity encompasses all.

Galatians 3:29

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. — the logic circles back: believers, incorporated into Christ (the singular 'seed' of v.16), thereby become Abraham's true descendants and heirs ('klēronomoi') of the promise; faith-incorporation into Christ is the mechanism of participation in the Abrahamic promise.

Galatians 3:3

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? — the oxymoron of Spirit-beginning followed by flesh-completion ('epiteleō en sarki') exposes the incoherence: the Galatians tasted supernatural grace at their initiation, yet are now reverting to 'flesh' (sarx) — mere human striving and legalistic observance.

Galatians 3:4

Have you experienced so much in vain — if it really was in vain? — Paul appeals to their spiritual trajectory ('paschō' — suffer, endure, or experience as here): the trials, gifts, and transformations they underwent as they received the gospel would all be nullified ('kenōs' — emptied, in vain) if legalism negates grace.

Galatians 3:5

So again I ask: Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? — the repetition ('palin' — again) of the Spirit and power-working (dynameis — miracles, divine workings) reinforces the empirical evidence: God's ongoing gifts and wonders flow from faith, not from Torah observance.

Galatians 3:6

So also Abraham 'believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' — Paul cites Genesis 15:6, establishing Abraham as the prototype of faith-righteousness; Abraham's pistis (faith, trust in God's promise) was the ground ('elogisthē' — reckoned, imputed) of his dikaiosynē (righteousness), predating both the law (430 years later) and circumcision (Genesis 17), making Abraham the father of all who believe.

Galatians 3:7

Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. — the believers in Galatia are Abraham's true descendants not by ethnic lineage but by faith-participation ('hoi ek pisteos'); spiritual genealogy supersedes biological genealogy.

Galatians 3:8

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.' — Paul reads the Abrahamic promise (Genesis 12:3, 18:18) as proto-evangelium, a forward proclamation ('proeeuangelidzo') of Gentile inclusion through faith; God's plan for Gentile justification has always been through faith, not Torah.

Galatians 3:9

So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. — the 'blessing' (eulogia) that comes through Abraham comes via faith-participation ('syn to pistoi Abraam'), making all believers heirs of the Abrahamic blessing promised to the nations.

Galatians 3:10

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Law of the book.' — Paul cites Deuteronomy 27:26, declaring that law-observance as a means of justification places one under a curse ('ara') because the law demands total, perpetual compliance ('diamenō' — continue to do everything), a standard no human can meet; law-keeping as justification is cursed rather than blessed.

Galatians 3:11

Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, 'The righteous will live by faith.' — Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4, inverting the law's logic: dikaioō before God ('enōpion theou') is achieved through faith ('ek pisteos'), not through law; righteousness precedes law in divine reckoning.

Galatians 3:12

The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, 'The one who does these things will live by them.' — citing Leviticus 18:5, Paul contrasts the law's principle (works-performance leading to life) with faith's principle; law and faith are antithetical operative principles, not complementary.

Galatians 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.' — Paul's doctrine of substitutionary redemption: Christ's crucifixion ('hang on pole', citing Deuteronomy 21:23) means he bore the curse ('ara') that the law pronounces on all who fall short; redemption ('exagorazō' — buyback) from the law's curse is achieved through Christ becoming cursed, a cosmic transaction where Christ absorbs the penalty.

Galatians 3:14

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. — the logic telescopes: Christ's redemption from the law's curse enables the flow of Abraham's blessing ('eulogia') to Gentiles ('ethne'), accessed through faith, culminating in Spirit-reception ('pneuma'); the promise (Gen 12:3) is pneumatic, eschatological blessing.

Galatians 3:15

Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. — Paul's legal analogy: a duly ratified covenant ('diathēkē' — covenant/testament, from the secular domain) cannot be unilaterally altered; this principle governs even God's covenants, establishing the Abrahamic covenant's permanence and inviolability.

Galatians 3:16

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,' meaning one person, who is Christ. — Paul's striking hermeneutic, focusing on 'seed' (singular, sperma) rather than 'seeds' (plural): the Abrahamic promise flows through a singular heir, Christ, not through multiplied Abrahamic descendants; this Christological reading subordinates ethnic Israel to Christ as the true 'seed' of Abraham.

Galatians 3:17

What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. — the 430-year interval (from Abraham to Moses/law) establishes the law's temporal posteriority; a covenant ('diathēkē') established earlier cannot be negated ('akyrō' — annul, void) by a later instrument like the law.

Galatians 3:18

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it is no longer by promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham by a promise. — the logical antithesis: inheritance ('klēronomia') secured by law contradicts inheritance by promise ('epangelia'); God's mode is grace-based promise, not works-based law, establishing that the Abrahamic inheritance belongs to faith, not to legal achievement.

Galatians 3:19

Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. — Paul's functional view: the law was 'added' ('prostetithēmi' — added alongside, a later addition) to address transgressions ('parabasis'), functioning provisionally ('mechri' — until) until Christ ('to sperma') arrives; law is not permanent but preparatory.

Galatians 3:20

The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. But God is one. — the law's mediation through angels ('dia cheiros angelōn') and through Moses establishes its derivative, mediated status, contrasting with God's direct, unmediated covenant with Abraham; 'God is one' affirms that divine promise, not mediated law, is the ultimate reality.

Galatians 3:21

Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. — Paul's clarification: the law is not anti-divine but rather limited; if law could 'vivify' (zōopoieō — give life/create life), it would achieve dikaiosynē, but it cannot, so it serves a subsidiary function.

Galatians 3:1

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. — Paul's opening rebuke ('anoetoi' — foolish, senseless) addresses not intellectual deficiency but spiritual deception; 'bewitched' (baskainō — evil eye) suggests occult-like power, and the reference to Christ 'portrayed as crucified' (proegraph ē staurōmenos) indicates that the cross was central to Paul's foundational preaching, making the Galatians' lapse into legalism a repudiation of what they already knew.

Galatians 3:2

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? — Paul's rhetorical question is pedagogical: the Galatians' own experience of Spirit reception ('lambano pneuma') through faith ('akoe pisteos' — hearing of faith) is the empirical refutation of the Judaizers' claim that law-observance is necessary for Christian standing; their conversion was manifestly grace-powered, not law-achieved.