3You people in Galatia were told very clearly about the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But you were foolish; you let someone trick you. ²Tell me this one thing: How did you receive the Holy Spirit? Did you receive the Spirit by following the law? No, you received the Spirit because you heard the Good News and believed it. ³You began your life in Christ by the Spirit. Now are you trying to make it complete by your own power? That is foolish. ⁴Were all your experiences wasted? I hope not! ⁵Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you follow the law? No, he does these things because you heard the Good News and believed it.

⁶The Scriptures say the same thing about Abraham: “Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.” ⁿ ⁷So you should know that the true children of Abraham are those who have faith. ⁸The Scriptures, telling what would happen in the future, said that God would make the non-Jewish people right through their faith. This Good News was told to Abraham beforehand, as the Scripture says: “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁿ ⁹So all who believe as Abraham believed are blessed just as Abraham was. ¹⁰But those who depend on following the law to make them right are under a curse, because the Scriptures say, “Anyone will be cursed who does not always obey what is written in the Book of the Law.” ⁿ ¹¹Now it is clear that no one can be made right with God by the law, because the Scriptures say, “Those who are right with God will live by faith.” ⁿ ¹²The law is not based on faith. It says, “A person who obeys these things will live because of them.” ⁿ ¹³Christ took away the curse the law put on us. He changed places with us and put himself under that curse. It is written in the Scriptures, “Anyone whose body is displayed on a tree ⁿ is cursed.” ¹⁴Christ did this so that God’s blessing promised to Abraham might come through Jesus Christ to those who are not Jews. Jesus died so that by our believing we could receive the Spirit that God promised.

Read in Logos

Galatians 3:11: Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Footnotes

n“Abraham … God.” Quotation from Genesis 15:6.
n“All … you.” Quotation from Genesis 12:3 and 18:18.
n“Anyone … Law.” Quotation from Deuteronomy 27:26.
n“Those … faith.” Quotation from Habakkuk 2:4.
n“A person … them.” Quotation from Leviticus 18:5.
ndisplayed on a tree Deuteronomy 21:22–23 says that when a person was killed for doing wrong, the body was hung on a tree to show shame. Paul means that the cross of Jesus was like that.