Galatians 3:1–5:1

Faith or Obeying the Law

3You foolish people of Galatia! Who has put you under an evil spell? When I preached, I clearly showed you that Jesus Christ had been nailed to the cross.

²I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law? Or did you receive the Spirit by believing what you heard? ³Are you so foolish? You began with the Holy Spirit. Are you now trying to complete God’s work in you by your own strength?

⁴Have you suffered so much for nothing? And was it really for nothing? ⁵Why does God give you his Spirit? Why does he work miracles among you? Is it because you do what the law says? Or is it because you believe what you have heard?

⁶Think about Abraham. Scripture says, “Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.” ⁷So you see, those who have faith are children of Abraham.

⁸Long ago, Scripture knew that God would make non-Jews right with himself by believing in him. He announced the good news ahead of time to Abraham. He said, “All nations will be blessed because of you.” ⁹So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham. He was the man of faith.

¹⁰All who depend on obeying the law are under a curse. It is written, “May everyone who doesn’t continue to do everything that is written in the Book of the Law be under God’s curse.” ¹¹We know that no one is made right with God by keeping the law. Scripture says, “Those who are right with God will live by faith.”

¹²The law is not based on faith. In fact, it is just the opposite. It teaches that “the one who does those things will live by them.”

¹³Christ set us free from the curse of the law. He did it by becoming a curse for us. It is written, “Everyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.” ¹⁴Christ Jesus set us free so that the blessing given to Abraham would come to non-Jews through Christ. He did it so that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit by believing in Christ.

The Law and the Promise

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, let me give you an example from everyday life. No one can get rid of an official agreement between people. No one can add to it. It can’t be changed after it has been made. It is the same with God’s covenant. ¹⁶The promises were given to Abraham. They were also given to his seed. Scripture does not say, “and to seeds.” That means many people. It says, “and to your seed.” That means one person. And that one person is Christ.

¹⁷Here is what I mean. The law came 430 years after the promise. But the law does not get rid of God’s covenant and promise. The covenant had already been made by God. So the law does not do away with the promise.

¹⁸The great gift that God has for us does not depend on the law. If it did, it would no longer depend on a promise. But God gave it to Abraham as a free gift through a promise.

¹⁹Then what was the purpose of the law? It was added because of human sin. And it was supposed to control us until the promised Seed had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a go-between. ²⁰A go-between does not take sides. God didn’t use a go-between when he made his promise to Abraham. But the same God was at work in both the law and the promise.

²¹So is the law opposed to God’s promises? Certainly not! What if a law had been given that could give life? Then people could become right with God by obeying the law. ²²But Scripture announces that the whole world is a prisoner because of sin. It does so in order that what was promised might be given to those who believe. The promise comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

²³Before faith in Christ came, we were held prisoners by the law. We were locked up until faith was made known. ²⁴So the law was put in charge until Christ came. He came so that we might be made right with God by believing in Christ.

²⁵But now faith in Christ has come. So we are no longer under the control of the law.

Children of God

²⁶You are all children of God by believing in Christ Jesus. ²⁷All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ as if he were your clothes. ²⁸There is no Jew or Greek. There is no slave or free person. There is no male or female. Because you belong to Christ Jesus, you are all one.

²⁹You who belong to Christ are Abraham’s seed. You will receive what God has promised.

4Here is what I have been saying. As long as your own children are young, they are no different from slaves in your house. They are no different, even though they own all of the property. ²They are under the care of guardians and those who manage the property. They are under their care until the time when their fathers give them the property. ³It is the same with us. When we were children, we were slaves to the basic things the people of the world believe.

⁴But then the right time came. God sent his Son. A woman gave birth to him. He was born under the authority of the law. ⁵He came to set free those who were under the law. He wanted us to be adopted as children with all the rights children have.

⁶Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. He is the Holy Spirit. By his power we call God “Abba.” Abba means Father.

⁷So you aren’t slaves any longer. You are God’s children. Because you are his children, he gives you what he promised to give his people.

Paul’s Concern for the Believers in Galatia

⁸At one time you didn’t know God. You were slaves to gods that are really not gods at all. ⁹But now you know God. Even better, God knows you. So why are you turning back to those weak and worthless beliefs? Do you want to be slaves to them all over again?

¹⁰You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹I am afraid for you. I am afraid that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Paul’s Appeal to the Believers

¹²I make my appeal to you, brothers and sisters. I’m asking you to become like me. After all, I became like you. You didn’t do anything wrong to me.

¹³As you know, it was because I was sick that I first preached the good news to you. ¹⁴My sickness was hard on you. But you didn’t put me off. You didn’t make fun of me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God. You welcomed me as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

¹⁵What has happened to all of your joy? If you could have torn out your own eyes and given them to me, you would have. I can give witness to that. ¹⁶Have I become your enemy now by telling you the truth?

¹⁷Those people are trying hard to win you over. But it is not for your good. They want to take you away from us. They want you to commit yourselves to them. ¹⁸It is fine to be committed to something, if the purpose is good. And you shouldn’t be committed only when I am with you. You should always be committed.

¹⁹My dear children, I am in pain for you. Once again I have pain like a woman giving birth. And my pain will continue until Christ makes you like himself.

²⁰I wish I could be with you now. I wish I could change my tone of voice. As it is, you bewilder me.

Hagar and Sarah

²¹You who want to be under the authority of the law, tell me something. Don’t you know what the law says? ²²It is written that Abraham had two sons. The slave woman gave birth to one of them. The free woman gave birth to the other one. ²³Abraham’s son by the slave woman was born in the usual way. But his son by the free woman was born because of God’s promise.

²⁴Those things can be taken as examples. The two women stand for two covenants. One covenant comes from Mount Sinai. It gives birth to children who are going to be slaves. It is Hagar. ²⁵Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia. She stands for the present city of Jerusalem. That’s because she and her children are slaves.

²⁶But the Jerusalem that is above is free. She is our mother. ²⁷It is written,

“Be glad, woman,

you who have no children.

Start shouting,

you who have no labor pains.

The woman who is all alone has more children

than the woman who has a husband.”

²⁸Brothers and sisters, you are children because of God’s promise just as Isaac was. ²⁹At that time, the son born in the usual way tried to hurt the son born by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the same now.

³⁰But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman. Get rid of her son. The slave woman’s son will never have a share of the family’s property with the free woman’s son.”

³¹Brothers and sisters, we are not the slave woman’s children. We are the free woman’s children.

Christ Sets Us Free

5Christ has set us free. He wants us to enjoy freedom. So stand firm. Don’t let the chains of slavery hold you again.