Galatians 3

Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified?

I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now completed in the flesh?

Did you suffer so many things in vain, if it is indeed in vain?

He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?

Even so, Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”

Know therefore that those who are of faith are children of Abraham.

The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.”

So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.

For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.”

Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.”

The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.”

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”

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

Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void or adds to it.

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring. He doesn’t say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”, which is Christ.

Now I say this: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect.

For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.

Then why is there the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.

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

Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law.

But the Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.

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

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.

If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview. This chapter centers on the contrast between justification by faith and justification by the works of the law, urging the Galatians to remember that their reception of the Spirit and their standing before God came through faith, not law-keeping. Paul anchors his argument in the example of Abraham, the nature of God’s covenant promise, and the purpose of the law, showing that the law never annulled the promise but served a temporary, preparatory role until Christ came.

Flow.

Paul begins with sharp pastoral concern, questioning how the Galatians received the Spirit—by law or by faith—and challenges their shift toward legalism.
He appeals to Abraham’s example: righteousness came through faith, not law, making believers the true children of Abraham.
Paul explains that the law, given later, cannot nullify God’s earlier promise; rather, its purpose was to expose sin and act as a guardian until Christ.
The chapter culminates in the declaration that in Christ, all believers are united as one people of God, no longer under the law’s supervision, but heirs according to promise.

Connections. Following chapter 2, where Paul defends the gospel of grace and his own apostolic authority against judaizing influences, chapter 3 deepens the theological foundation of that gospel by rooting it in Scripture and the Abrahamic covenant. It prepares the way for chapter 4, which develops the metaphor of sonship and inheritance, showing how believers move from slavery under elemental principles to adoption as God’s children through Christ.

What it teaches. The chapter teaches that sinners are justified by faith alone, as demonstrated in Abraham’s belief being counted for righteousness (WCF 11.1, HC LD 7). The law, given 430 years after the promise, was not intended to replace or supplement faith as the means of salvation, but to reveal transgression and drive people to Christ (WCF 19.3, HC LD 19). Christ bore the curse of the law to redeem those under it, so that both Jews and Gentiles might receive the promised Spirit through faith (WCF 8.5, HC LD 15). The law’s temporary, tutelary role ends with the coming of faith in Christ, and all who belong to Him—regardless of ethnicity, status, or gender—are united as one and become heirs according to promise (WCF 26.1, HC LD 23).

Apply. Trusting in Christ alone unites us to Him, clothes us with His righteousness, and makes us part of the promised family of Abraham.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.