Justification by Faith

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Obtaining the Holy Spirit

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"O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?" Who has led you so far from the truth? "Let me ask you this." "How did you receive the Holy Spirit?" Notice what the problem was. Paul was dealing with people who had embraced the Gospel of Christ by faith, but still continued, because of false teachers, to seek justification by works. Paul says, "This is foolish." Only a fool would try to work out their justification.

Many people still believe that today. Many will say, "If I'm good enough, when I die, I will go to Heaven." "I try to live the best I can so that when I die, I will go to Heaven." Apparently, these people think that they can work their way into Heaven. Paul preached to all people, that they were justified by their faith in Jesus Christ, not by their works. He showed them how Jesus paid the price for our sins when He was crucified on the cross. He also administered to them the Lord's Supper that signifies that the blood and the broken body of Christ was for the forgiveness of sins, thus bringing about justification.

Paul reminds them of the miracles they had experienced and the gifts of the Spirit that they had received and then he asks the question, "How did you come by these gifts, was it by faith or by works of the Law?"

Notice what they had been told they would accomplish if they observed the Law. They were told that they would advance to a higher perfection, but instead of improving the Gospel, they perverted it. Now Paul never condemned our spiritual growth as long as that growth was for the Lord's use and as long as it did not take away or alter God's plan of salvation.

Abraham's Faith

In these verses Paul makes his second explanation of how we are justified by faith. He uses Abraham as an example of how a person, even in the Dispensation of the Law, was justified by his belief in God. That belief was "reckoned" or counted to him for righteousness. In effect, Abraham was justified by faith in a promised plan. A plan that would not only include the Jew but would include the Gentile also.

Therefore, those who are justified by faith, are the "children of Abraham". Abraham and Lot were considered to be "righteous" men, not because they were sinless, but because of their faith in the "promise" of God (the Messiah). God said to Abraham, "In you shall all nations be blessed." Abraham believed and it was counted as righteousness, 430 years before the Law.

Redeemed From the Law

In these verses, Paul makes his third explanation of how we are justified by faith by showing how we were condemned by the Law. Why was the Law a curse to man? because it set up a set of circumstances that were impossible for any one to keep. So it became a curse to mankind. The Gospel was different. There is a little poem that goes like this, it explains in simple terms the difference between the Law and the Gospel. "Run John Run, the Law demands, but gives you neither feet nor hands." "The Gospel speaks of better things, it bids you fly and gives you wings."

Christ redeemed us from the curse, He became the curse for us. Matthew Henry says, "Christ took a strange method to redeem us from the curse of the Law, it was by His being, Himself, made a curse for us." "The design of this was that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles thru Jesus Christ." Therefore Paul says, "The justified shall live by faith not by obedience to the Law, and by faith, receive the promise of the Spirit."

The question is, who gave us the promise of the Spirit? Well, it was Christ. When He departed, He promised that He would send a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who came at Pentecost. He comes into the life of every believer when they accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Our Need for Grace

God gave Abraham a promise some 430 years before He gave the Law to Moses. Did the giving of the Law, nullify the Promise? No, and Paul attempts to explain this by giving them an example that they could understand. He used a civil contract, more specifically, a will.

In those days as it is today, once a will is made it cannot be nullified. So it is with God. The Law did not annul the Promise given to Abraham. That was a contract made by God, only He could nullify it, but first, lets look at that Promise. Notice God gave it to Abraham and his "offspring" (singular). Christ was Abraham's offspring. Thru Christ the promise is multiplied. The Promise then was Grace. Grace sufficient for salvation and all our other needs.

The Need for the Promise

Secondly, lets look at the Law. The Law was not given to replace the Promise. It was given as a guide to instruct His people, the Israelites, until the Promise was fulfilled. The need for the Promise was made evident by man's inability to keep the Law.

Again, what was the purpose of the Law? It was a "guide" or a "yardstick" to show the Israelites how far they had gone from what God had expected. It demonstrated their need for forgiveness and showed how hopeless was their position before God. Because of man's transgression, God gave Moses the Law, that showed the need but could not supply the answer. So it became obvious that man needed the Promise, a Messiah, One who would do for man what he could not do for himself and what the Law could not do. All this demonstrates the need for complete reliance upon God as we have no merit or abilities of our own.

The Law Described

With the coming of the Promise, the believer was made free from the Law. Here Paul describes the Law as a "custodian" (R.S.V.) or as the K.J. puts it, a "tutor" or "school master". It keep them confined, restrained and under guard. It held them captive, in a state of fear that they might be more readily deposed to accept Christ, the Promise, when He came.

The Law showed man his lost condition and his inability to save himself. It showed the need for the Promise. The Promise was a plan of God to give His only begotten Son, that those who believed in Him, would have eternal life, something they could not acquire themselves. The Promise was obtained through faith, and faith is a gift of God.

How did things change with the coming of Christ? First, we are no longer under the "school master". We no longer need that "yardstick" to measure our righteousness, for now we know that our righteousness is as filthy rags. We know that the only righteousness that we have is what is imputed (given) to us by faith. Secondly, now we are all equal, no longer Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, we are all one in Christ. Now, we have been set free. Why then did Paul set so many restrictions upon us? Why did he accept so many restrictions upon himself? Paul knew that with freedoms there came responsibilities. We are responsible to live in a way that will not destroy our witness and will further the Kingdom of God.

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