Latest / Reformed Thinking / Faith, Not the Law: Paul’s Argument Explained (Galatians 3) | John Peter Lange

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Faith, Not the Law: Paul’s Argument Explained (Galatians 3) | John Peter Lange · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. This is the deep dive where we
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take a stack of shared source material, sharpen the focus and
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extract the most vital insights for you.
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Today we are opening up a remarkable passage from
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Scripture, Galatians Chapter 3. We're really facing head on one
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of the most explosive theological battles in the early
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church. It truly was a crisis.
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We're looking at Paul's extremely sharp warning to the
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Galatians. They were, well, they were being
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seduced into turning away from the Gospels promise of freedom
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and slipping back toward legalistic practices, you know,
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trying to supplement Christ's work with human merit.
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Right. And the sources confirm that
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Paul sees this not as some small doctrinal slip, but as a
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inexplicable act of apostasy. So our mission as we analyze
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this chapter is to grasp the relationship between the
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Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic Law that came later, and the one
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way were declared justified through faith alone in Christ.
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And the core question driving Paul's entire argument, the one
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you have to keep centered, is experiential.
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The Galatians received the Holy Spirit, they got him through the
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proclamation about faith. So if that spiritual life was
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given by grace, why are they now trying to, you know, finish or
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perfect their standing with God by obeying rules and rituals?
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This whole deep dive is about confirming that there is only
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one pathway to salvation, faith alone.
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Let's lay out the plan, then. We'll start with Paul's
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immediate, almost furious rebuke.
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He appeals directly to their spiritual memory, to their
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experience of receiving the Spirit.
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Then we'll shift focus to the historical blueprint, seeing how
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Abraham's covenant defined justification centuries before
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the law even existed. From there, the argument moves
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into this necessary conclusion, the shocking contrast between
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the absolute standard of the law, which condemns everyone,
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and the glorious substitutionary work of Christ, who became the
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curse for us. And finally, we'll define the
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law's true limited purpose, the pedagogos, the schoolmaster, and
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celebrate the freedom that comes from being adopted as sons of
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God in Christ. It's a precise, logical defense
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of grace against all forms of self righteousness.
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OK, so let's jump straight into the tension in verse one.
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Paul starts with this very emotional, some might say
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accusatory address. Oh, foolish Galatians, that word
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a no toy. It just sets the tone
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immediately. What is Paul really calling
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them? Well, the linguistic details
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here are really important. A no toy is often translated
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just as foolish, but it's more precise than that.
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He's not calling them dull or stupid.
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It means they have a mind. A no toy, but they're using it
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improperly. They're acting irrationally.
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They've made a deliberate, irrational choice to trade real
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knowledge and freedom for something less.
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So the error isn't ignorance, it's this baffling folly.
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And the reason for his shock is that their mistake is so, so out
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of character, so baffling, that he compares it to a bewitching
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This is basking. Yes, that analogy of being
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bewitched or someone casting an EOI on them is crucial.
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It suggests an inexplicable, almost sinister delusion that
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took hold of their minds. And this is especially true
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because they had witnessed the Gospel in its fullest, most
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graphic clarity. Paul says Jesus Christ crucified
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had been evidently set forth among them.
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And the sources explain, that phrase evidently set forth.
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It's almost visual, isn't it? Like a public notice posted in
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the marketplace, or even a painting of the scene.
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Paul had made the doctrine of the atonement, the cross utterly
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unmissable. Exactly the clear preaching of
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Christ's cross, the Christus crucifixes.
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That should have been like a spiritual guard against any
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false influence. So to turn from that central,
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clear, self-sufficient work of redemption and embrace Judaistic
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legalism, well, Paul sees that is declaring that the death of
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Christ was without 'cause it makes the whole thing
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unnecessary if human effort can get the same result.
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So he pivots right away from that sharp rebuke to an appeal
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to their undeniable shared experience.
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This is where it gets very grounded.
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He asked this decisive question in verse 2.
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This only what I learned of you. Receive you the Spirit, by the
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works of the law, or by the hearing of faith.
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This is a devastating rhetorical question.
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It's rooted in fact. Paul is appealing to something
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they just cannot deny. They have the Holy Spirit, and
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if receiving the Spirit is the token, the irrefutable evidence
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of God's grace and justification, then the means by
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which that Spirit was given must be the only valid way to
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justification. And based on their own
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experience, that means cannot be the works of the law and we.
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Should probably clarify that phrase the hearing of faith, the
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echo pistus. It doesn't mean just sitting and
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listening quietly. The notes clarify that echo here
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refers to what is heard, so the phrase is best understood as the
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preaching concerning faith. Yes, the proclamation of the
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gospel itself is the medium. This is fundamental.
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The Holy Spirit is given by God as proof that the faith that
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comes from hearing the gospel results in justification.
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The entire system is validated by God Himself through the
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undeniable spiritual change that happened the moment they trusted
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Christ. The power of that question in
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verse 2 just makes their current behavior seem completely
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illogical, which leads to the sharp irony he presents in verse
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3. Are you so foolish?
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Having begun in the spirit? Are you now being made complete
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by the flesh? The irony is in seeking
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completion with the flesh. I mean, they started their
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Christian lives to the Holy Ghost, the divine life giving
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agency, the pneuma, but now they're trying to finish or
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perfect that spiritual work using the sarks, the human,
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unspiritual physical nature that just inherently operates
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contrary to God's purpose. And the date of construction in
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the Greek is important there, right?
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It shows the manner of their actions.
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They're trying to wrap this all up in the flesh, relying on
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human effort. That path is a contradiction in
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terms. The SARKS is the anti spiritual
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agency. By retreating to a position of
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legalism, trying to earn merit or finalize the work through
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circumcision and ceremony. They are by necessity stifling
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the Holy Spirit, and where the Spirit is suppressed, the flesh
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rules. Their attempt at completion
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isn't just foolish, it's an active nullification of the
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original work of grace. It turns a spiritual beginning
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into a very human failed ending. Paul then uses this context to
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ask in verse 4 whether their past experiences, all those
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spiritual benefits, have happened in vain.
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Right. And the term pay theme can mean
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suffering persecution. But in this logical flow, which
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is all about God's ongoing supply of grace, it's better
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interpreted as experienced manifestations of divine grace.
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If they go back to legalism now, Paul is warning them, they risk
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nullifying all those blessings. The phrase, if it be only in
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vain, suggests a possibility that their apostasy might lead
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to their greater loss, making their original spiritual profits
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worse than worthless. And to confirm this isn't just
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about the past, Paul brings it right back to their present
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reality. In verse 5.
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He ties God's continuous action to the original method.
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He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh
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miracles among you, do with He by the works of the law, or by
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the hearing of faith. That word ministereth is
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compelling. It means to supply bountifully
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or continually. Paul is confirming that the
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communication of the Spirit and the working of miraculous powers
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dynamis are still happening among them.
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This isn't just a historical argument about their conversion,
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it's about God's current endorsement.
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God consistently supplies the Spirit and signs through the
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preaching of faith, confirming the reliability of His Word and
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His method. So God himself is testifying
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daily against their attempted shift toward legalism.
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Precisely, the receiving of the Holy Ghost, whether it's moral
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transformation or undeniable spiritual gifts, is the
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inseparable consequence of being justified.
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Therefore, if the Spirit is received by faith, it must
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confirm that justification itself comes by the very same
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means. It just shuts out the works of
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the law completely. This transition from
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experiential proof to historical proof is masterful.
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So Paul knows the Galatians, or really the Judaizers corrupting
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them, won't accept spiritual experience alone as enough
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proof. So he grounds his argument in
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the ultimate authority in history and scripture by
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bringing in the model of Abraham in verse 6.
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He cites Genesis 15.6 even as Abraham believed God and it was
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accounted to him for righteousness.
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This passage is Paul's hammer blow.
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Abraham is the divine archetype for justification.
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When Abraham believed God's gracious promise, a promise
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about his descendants in the Messiah, that confident laying
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hold of God's grace was accounted to him for
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righteousness, and Paul uses this passage universally, it
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means Abraham was justified. And that immediately connects
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the Christian believer standing with God to the patriarchs
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experience centuries before Moses or the Law.
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It's absolutely crucial for understanding our place in the
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history of redemption. The ultimate ground of
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justification for Abraham and for us, rests entirely on God's
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grace. Grace provides what we in our
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fallen state can't achieve. Faith is simply the necessary
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condition, the empty hand stretched out to receive the
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unearned gift. But let's clarify the faith
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itself. Abraham's faith looked forward
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to a promised seed, while ours looks back to Christ's finished
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work. Is the type of faith different?
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The sources affirm that while the specific object of faith
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differs because of the unfolding economy of salvation, you know,
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Abraham dealing in promises, dealing in fulfilment.
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The generic nature of the trust is identical.
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It's confident reliance on God's revealed Word and promise, an
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attitude that is just incompatible with trying to earn
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merit through works. And this clarification about
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faith leads Paul to his devastating refutation of the
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Judaizers claims in verse 7. Know ye, therefore, that they
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which are of faith the same are the sons of Abraham.
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This just crushes Jewish national pride.
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The Judaizers got their self identity, their sense of
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spiritual privilege from physical descent and
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circumcision. Paul states clearly that
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spiritual character derived from faith is what determines who the
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legitimate children of Abraham are.
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Physical lineage is irrelevant to the promise.
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This sounds a lot like the warnings John the Baptist issued
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saying God could raise up children for Abraham from
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stones. The promise was always
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spiritual. Indeed, it shows that God's plan
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was never narrowly nationalistic.
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Then Paul introduces this striking perspective in verse 8
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and the Scripture for seeing that God would justify the
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Gentiles through faith, Proclaim beforehand the glad tidings unto
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Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
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It's interesting how Paul almost personifies the scripture itself
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here, attributing God's foreknowledge to the written
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word. It's a beautiful theological
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subtlety. Paul sees the Scripture,
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inspired by the Spirit as articulating God's internal
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plan. The Genesis 12.3 promise in thee
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shall all nations be blessed is inherently messianic.
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The promise of blessing was always intended for all nations,
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not just Israel. This shows that justification by
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faith was the plan from the Absolute beginning, pregating
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the covenant of works at Sinai by over 4 centuries.
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If the law were meant to be the exclusive path, this ancient
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promise to the Gentiles would make no sense at all.
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It proves the universal scope of salvation through faith.
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And this leads to the joyful conclusion of verse 9.
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So then they which be of faith are blessed together with the
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faithful Abraham. Those who rely on faith share
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the same spiritual destiny and communion with Abraham.
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The blessed status is in this context basically synonymous
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with the specific declaration of divine favor, which is
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justification. Abraham is the template, and we
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are grafted into that same principle of grace.
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This segment really firmly establishes that faith isn't a
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New Testament innovation. It's the ancient primary and
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universal method established by God's original covenant.
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Which renders the law supplementary.
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Right, so Paul now introduces the absolute necessity for
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Christ's intervention by setting up the stark, even terrifying
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contrast. If the law doesn't save us, what
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does it actually do? Verse 10 answers, for as many as
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are of the works of the law, are under a curse.
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This is Paul's devastating negative argument.
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The law does not offer a gentle suggestion for how to live.
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It demands perfect obedience. Paul cites Deuteronomy 27.26
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which states that if you fail to continue and all things written
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in the book of the Law, you fall under a curse, and this curse is
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the revelation of God's judicial wrath and judgement against
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transgression. And the dilemma is built right
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into the law itself. The law demands doing.
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Since human performance is always imperfect and consistent.
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The law sets an unattainable standard, so it serves only to
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condemn us. Precisely.
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The law functions as a measure, and since all humanity fails
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that measure, the law can only deliver condemnation.
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In verse 11, Paul confirms that no one is justified by the law
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in God's sight. He contrasts the two systems
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using Scripture. The law says the man that do
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with them shall live in them, requiring action.
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But justification relies on the just shall live by faith,
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relying on trust. The law is not a faith, it is
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purely of doing. The two are mutually exclusive
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as paths to life. So that establishes a trap.
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Everyone is under the curse because no one can maintain
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perfect obedience. The stage is set for the
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required intervention, and verse 13 presents the astonishing
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solution. Christ redeemed us from the
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curse of the law, having become a curse for us.
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The term redeemed uses the aorist tense, which highlights
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that this was a single, completed, decisive act, his
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death on the cross. Paul thinks of the law as a
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powerful entity holding us captive to its decree of
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condemnation. Christ intervened with a
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substitutionary death, paying the ransom.
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And when Paul says US, he's speaking primarily to the Jews
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who were historically under the Mosaic Law, but extending that
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benefit to everyone who would have sought justification
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through works and fallen under the law's curse.
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This mechanism having become a curse for us, we need to dig
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into that he didn't just endure a curse, but became the abstract
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condemnation itself. That is the theological heart of
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the passage. The Greek abstract noun katara
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is used without the article, emphasizing that Christ took the
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very idea of condemnation upon Himself.
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He provided an adequate expiation.
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He suffered the divine judicial wrath, the orga, both passively
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by enduring the execution of death, the katakima, and
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actively by experiencing that fearful interior sense of
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separation from God. And this raises that essential
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distinction. The sources point to How could
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the beloved Son, in whom the Father was always well pleased,
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simultaneously endure God's wrath?
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This is the critical juncture of substitutionary atonement.
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The sources are very careful to state that the Father was not
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angry with Christ in the sense of personal displeasure in his
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death. Christ remained in Osmiyudius an
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odor of sweetness and perfect submission to God.
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Yet he took the full judicial weight of our condemnation.
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Exactly. You can think of it like this.
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In a legal system, a judge might love his son, but if that son
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steps into the courtroom to assume the dead of a criminal,
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he must judicially endure the sentence.
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Christ enduring the curse was his experience of the sense of
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abandonment, that terrifying intensity of condemning wrath
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that our sins deserved. This suffering, though may be
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brief in duration, was infinitely compensated by its
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terrifying intensity and by the infinite dignity of the one who
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suffered. It was a perfect adequate
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expiation. So the substitution lies in the
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fact that he took our place. The purpose was to dissolve the
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damnatory relationship the law had established over us.
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And Paul anchors his claim in Scripture immediately, citing
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Deuteronomy 21.2. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
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on a tree. This passage provides the
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undeniable scriptural warrant for viewing crucifixion or
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hanging on wood Zylon as bearing the definitive curse.
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The execution method itself proved he was bearing judicial
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punishment. And there's a historical irony
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here, isn't there? The Jews, by insisting that
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Christ be taken down before the Sabbath, they unwittingly
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ensured He fulfilled this specific requirement of the
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curse. He met the condition and so he
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removed the curse from all who believe in Him.
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And this action was accomplished with a double intent, which he
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details in verse 14. First, the objective aim that
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the blessing of Abraham might come into the Gentiles in Christ
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Jesus. That's the magnificent scope of
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the gospel. The Gentiles who were previously
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excluded by the ceremonial boundaries of the lost now
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received the justification promised centuries earlier to
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Abraham. The whole system is grounded in
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grace, not Jewish works. And the second subjective aim
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brings the whole chapter full circle, that we might receive
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the realization of the promise of the Spirit through faith.
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Christ's redemption was necessary so that we could
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receive the promised Spirit. This links the justification
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argument right back to the experiential evidence Paul
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opened with in verse 2, confirming that justification
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and the Spirit's blessing flow through faith alone.
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OK, so having proved that the Law only condemns and Christ
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alone redeems, Paul now has to permanently dismantle the
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Judaizers claim that the Law holds supremacy.
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He uses legal and chronological arguments, starting with an
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analogy from human practice in verse 15.
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Yes, Paul explicitly says I speak after the manner of men
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drawing a parallel to a simple ratified human diathea or
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covenant. The legal principle is clear.
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Once a human will or covenant has been confirmed, no
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subsequent law can annull it or add new conditions to it.
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And if this holds for human law, it must hold infinitely more
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true for God's arrangement with Abraham.
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So the Abrahamic covenant confirmed by God alone is
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immutable. Paul immediately focuses on the
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recipient of that covenant in verse 16.
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Now to Abraham, where the promises made, And to his seed
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he say, if not, and to seeds as of many, but as of 1, And to thy
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seed, which is Christ. This is a highly nuanced
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argument, probably aimed at a rabbinical mindset that
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emphasized the collective physical progeny, the many seeds
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as the heirs. Paul stresses the singular Greek
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noun sperma. Whilst sperma can be a
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collective now, Paul argues here that it's spiritual significance
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points to him in whom the spiritual posterity is
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organically united, Christ. So Christ is the ultimate air.
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All promises, all blessings, all inheritance, it all flows
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through Him. Precisely, if Christ is the
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singular point of fulfillment, then the law which came much
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later couldn't possibly replace the terms of the original
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promise, and Paul enforces this with the chronological data in
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verse 17. The law came 430 years after the
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Covenant of Promise. That is a substantial gap in
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time. Paul is using the chronology of
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the Septuagint here, which includes the sojourning Canaan,
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to emphasize that the Promise had a massive head start.
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That time gap makes the law supplementary by definition.
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Because the promise was confirmed before by God, the law
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arriving 4 centuries later cannot possibly invalidate or
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nullify the prior agreement. The structure of the law, which
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is conditional, can't just overthrow the unconditional,
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freely given promise. And the consequence of this
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chronological fact becomes theological bedrock in verse 18.
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For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise,
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but God freely granted it to Abraham through promise.
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This is a statement of exclusive conditions.
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The two concepts grace or promise, and merit or law.
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They cannot coexist as pathways to the inheritance.
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If the inheritance were earned by law, the original promise is
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voided. God, however, acted purely
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through grace when He granted the inheritance to Abraham, and
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this proves that grace not works remains the operative principle
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for salvation. So if the law can't justify and
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it can't annul the promise, then Paul confronts the inevitable
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question in verse 19. Wherefore then serveth the law?
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If it's so clearly inferior and temporary, why did God give it
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at all? Paul provides a very carefully
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worded, limited answer. It was added a supplemental
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parenthetical element because of transgressions.
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Its aim wasn't to prevent sin or to offer another path to life.
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Instead, its function was judicial to make existing sins
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more obvious, converting them into palpable transgressions and
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bringing men under stringent legal accountability.
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This clarifies the exact nature of the curse.
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So the law increases the sense of guilt, it reveals the depth
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of our sinfulness, which paradoxically creates the
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necessary desperation for a Savior.
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Paul then addresses the laws mediated origin, and it was
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ordained by means of angels in the hand of a mediator.
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This detail highlights the law's inferiority compared to the
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promise. The law involved double
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mediation, first through angels, which was a common tradition
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about Sinai, and 2nd, through Moses, the human mediator.
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This distance and conditionality stand in sharp contrast to the
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immediate fatherly giving of the unconditional promise directly
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to Abraham. And this emphasis on mediation
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leads to one of the most intellectually difficult verses
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in the chapter, verse 20. Now a mediator is not a mediator
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of one, but God is. 1 What is Paul proving with this concise
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statement? This verse is designed to
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highlight the profound difference between the law and
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the promise. A mediator by definition implies
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A conditional contract. It involves two parties who have
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to negotiate and agree, taking on mutual obligations, in this
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case God and the people of Israel.
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The law was conditional because it was mediated, but the promise
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given to Abraham was unilateral. God acted alone.
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God is 1 singular and unchanging.
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The unconditional nature of the promise given by the singular
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self-sufficient God cannot be overturned by a later
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conditional contract dependent on 2 flawed parties.
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OK, so if the law's purpose is so restricted only to highlight
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sin, doesn't that create tension?
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Paul anticipates the accusation in verse 21.
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Is the law then against the promises of God?
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He dismisses the idea immediately.
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God forbid the law and the promise exist harmoniously
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within God's unified plan. The supposed contradiction comes
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from our misunderstanding of their respective functions.
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Paul reasons that if the law could have given life, if it had
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the spiritual capacity to awaken man from spiritual death of
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Shapoyan, then righteousness would have proceeded from it.
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The law itself is holy and righteous, but it fails to save
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because of human sinfulness, not because of a flaw in the law.
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So the inability to justify rests entirely on our weakness.
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Which brings us to Scriptures final powerful verdict in verse
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22. The Scripture has shut up all
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under sin. This is God's active decree
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testifying to and maintaining sins, complete dominion over all
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mankind. This legal shutting up,
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delivering humanity over as a prisoner to its guilt, was
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orchestrated by God's plan, not as a final punishment, but it's
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preparation for redemption. The law serves as the warden,
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holding us captive in a corner. And what is the grand design
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behind this judicial captivity? The captivity was ordained so
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that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to
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them that believe. The law drives us into a corner
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of absolute necessity. It ensures that the only
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rational, viable path to deliverance is through the
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unmerited grace offered freely in Christ.
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By condemning all, the law compels all to look toward
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grace. This transition brings us to the
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Laws temporary functional role, explaining how it worked to
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bring about this corner of necessity before saving faith
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was fully revealed. What was the status of those
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under the law as described in verse 23?
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Their condition was one of strict confinement.
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We were kept in ward, shut up under the law.
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This uses imagery that suggests a prison or a barracks,
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emphasizing A stringent yoke and a restrictive environment.
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They were held in subjection, continuously constrained by
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commandments and threats of the curse.
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This preparatory epic was designed into the faith which
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should afterwards be revealed. So that captivity was
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purposeful. It was meant to awaken the
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conscience, to convince the soul that righteousness through works
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was impossible, thereby generating an acute need for the
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deliverance found in Christ. And this disciplinary function
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is given a vivid title in verse 24.
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So that the law had been our schoolmaster unto Christ, that
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we might be justified by faith. The law fulfilled its honor by
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pointing directly to Christ, acting as a crucial interim
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guide. The term schoolmaster here
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pedagogos often gets mistranslated if we think of a
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modern teacher right? What was the real social
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function of the pedagogos? The pedagogos was typically a
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reliable household slave. He was not the instructor.
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He taught no philosophy or math. His job was strict supervision,
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escorting the minor child to and from the actual teacher,
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enforcing discipline, limiting freedom, and guarding the child.
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The discipline was strict and often uncomfortable, but it had
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a clear, defined endpoint. The child's safe arrival at the
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teacher. Christ.
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So the law's discipline was inherently restrictive and
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temporary. It was meant to lead us to a
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destination, not be the destination itself.
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Exactly. And the moment that destination
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is reached, the beta gugos is dismissed.
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In verse 25, Paul declares the termination of the law's
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custodial function. But now that faith has come.
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We are no longer under a schoolmaster.
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The preparatory epoch ends the moment we embrace faith.
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The law's specific jurisdiction over the conscience, holding us
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in slavish fear and under the curse, is completely dissolved
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for the believer. This new status is a massive
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elevation as detailed in verse 26, For ye are all sons of God
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through faith in Christ Jesus. This status is instant and
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definitive. It conveys the legal position of
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the free come to majority air, replacing the restrictive status
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of the minor child, and it applies universally to all
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believers. Paul then links this relational
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change to the objective right of entrance into the new community
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in verse 27. For as many of you as were
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baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
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Baptism served as the visible, objective manifestation of that
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inward turning of faith, and to put on Christ means to fully
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enter into his relationship with God, the relationship with the
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beloved Son. The focus here is not primarily
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on immediate ethical transformation, though that
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follows. It's on the profound change in
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judicial standing, the adoption of children, placing us firmly
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under the unconditional covenant of grace.
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We become Co heirs because we're united with the primary heir,
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Christ. And this shift in status has
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radical social consequences, as outlined in the famous verse 28,
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shattering all artificial and even natural barriers.
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There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free.
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There is neither male nor female.
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For ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
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This unity is one of the Gospels crowning triumphs over the
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divisiveness of legalism. Christianity systematically
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abolishes artificial centering distinctions.
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Jew, Greek. That's national and religious
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exclusivity. Slave free addresses social
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status. These are nullified when it
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comes to standing before God. And the phrase neither male nor
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female neutralizes the spiritual effect of natural distinctions.
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While Paul certainly affirms the natural roles in creation
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elsewhere, here he asserts that in terms of spiritual access to
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justification and status as a Son of God, there is perfect
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spiritual equality. They are all one moral person, a
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single unified body in Christ. The external prerogatives that
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define status under the law or enrollment society are rendered
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completely irrelevant by the unifying power of faith.
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And the circle of Paul's argument closes perfectly in
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verse 29, linking the freedom gain right back to the original
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historical promise. And if you be Christ's, then are
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ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
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The entire argument is sealed by faith.
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We secure the status promise to Abraham not by the conditional
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terms of the law, but by union with Christ, the singular seed.
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We received the full inheritance of grace guaranteed by the same
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God who acted alone to confirm the promise centuries ago.
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This deep dive into Galatians 3 really reveals a brilliant,
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tightly constructed, and utterly necessary defense of salvation
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by grace alone. We saw Paul use the Galatians
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own spiritual experience, the undeniable fact that they
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received of the Holy Spirit through hearing faith as the
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primary evidence against their legalistic drift.
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He then anchored that experiential proof in the
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bedrock of history, demonstrating that Abraham was
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justified through the very same type of faith centuries before
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the law even arrived. The chronology proves that the
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promise of grace precedes and supersedes any subsequent
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contract based on works. And most critically, Paul
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established that the law's absolute standard, demanding all
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things, created an inevitable curse that only Christ could
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resolve. He became the curse,
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substituting Himself for us not only to save us from
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condemnation, but to open the floodgates for the very Spirit
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they had originally received. The law perfectly fulfilled its
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temporary function as a strict guardian, driving us into the
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arms of the Savior. We established that the law, as
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a means of justification and as a conditional taskmaster, has
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finished its work for the believer.
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The bondage is broken and we are free sons.
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Yet the law still retains its essential character as the
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righteous rule of life delivered by a sovereign God.
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So if the law no longer compels us to Christ for salvation, what
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continuing role does that perfect standard retain for the
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Son of God who has already declared righteous and free?
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It's worth considering how the law, stripped of its judicial
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threat, may still faithfully delineate the path of grateful
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obedience for the one who has put on Christ.
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This obedience is no longer pursued to gain life, but flows
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naturally from the spiritual life already granted.