Latest / Reformed Thinking / Faith, Not Law: God’s Way of Righteousness (Galatians 3) | John MacArthur

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Faith, Not Law: God’s Way of Righteousness (Galatians 3) | John MacArthur · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to reformed thinking. And today we are doing a deep
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dive into what is, I think, one of the most critical chapters in
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the New Testament. We're opening up Paul's letter
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to the Galatians, and we're going to park in Chapter 3 for
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our entire discussion. This chapter is just it's the
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ultimate defense of justification by faith alone.
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And the contest is so important for understanding his tone here.
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The Galatian churches had received this pure gospel of
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sovereign grace, Yes. Salvation comes through faith in
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Christ and nothing else, but almost immediately after Paul
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leaves. They get infiltrated.
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Infiltrated by Judaizers, these teachers who came in and
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insisted that faith was insufficient.
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They argued you had to supplement grace with human
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works, with ceremonies, with adherence to the Mosaic law.
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It's an age-old temptation, isn't it?
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It's our own ego trying to find a way to contribute something,
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even a little bit, to our own salvation.
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So our mission today is to really synthesize Paul's
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relentless logic. In Galatians 3, we're going to
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analyze how he defends salvation by grace.
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And he does it in two main ways. First by using the Galatians own
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experience against them. And then by using the
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foundational scriptures of the Old Testament itself to prove
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that relying on human effort after you've been converted is,
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well, it's just absolute foolishness.
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We really want you to walk away from this, seeing how Paul
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systematically dismantles this idea.
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He shows that returning to a system of law is nothing but a
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return to bondage. Right.
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And a denial of the cross itself.
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We're tracing the argument that shows the law was never, ever
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given to say. It was given to condemn.
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And in doing so, it actually guides us to Christ.
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It was jumping. So Paul doesn't start gently at
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all. He opens chapter 3 with this
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dramatic, almost scathing rebuke of their spiritual confusion.
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Our sources call this the folly of defection.
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And that word defection is right.
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It is a tragedy. These people had begun so well.
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They'd experienced the life and joy that comes from the free
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gift of grace. And yet they were allowing
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themselves to be persuaded to trade that freedom for what our
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source calls an inferior and impotent substitute rooted in
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old Mosaic standards. And that's the danger of
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legalism, isn't it? It just sucks the joy right out
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of your relationship with God. It replaces that joy of total
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acceptance with the anxiety of, you know, a constant performance
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review. And the effect on their witness
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must have been devastating. When believers turn back to a
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system of law and ceremony, what they're projecting to the world
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is a Christianity. That's just a list of
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achievements. Instead of a relationship of
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faith, it's Satan's method. Really, it's always been the
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opposite of God's grace. It's the way of man's effort,
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man's work. It goes all the way back to
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Cain's offering. It does, and Paul's language
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here is designed to be shocking. He launches right in with a
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rhetorical question meant to just snap them back to reality.
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He demands to know, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched
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you? Let's zero in on that first
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word, Foolish. The Greek is a no waitos and
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this is so instructive. Paul isn't suggesting they're
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unintelligent. Right, not mentally deficient.
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Not at all. A noatos means something more
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like mental laziness, spiritual carelessness.
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He's saying you are failing to use your spiritual intelligence.
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You have the truth right in front of you, but you're letting
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emotions or you know these attractive traditions override
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what God has clearly revealed. Exactly.
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They weren't thinking straight about doctrine.
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They were following feelings. That is such a persistent
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spiritual danger when believers start judging theology based on
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how good it feels. Or how much it appeals to the
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ego, which loves the idea of earning spiritual status.
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Instead of checking it against the clear harmony of scripture,
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they were just attracted to the flashiness of a system that gave
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them a checklist. And that attraction is what he
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calls being Basquini bewitched. Bewitched.
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Yeah, it suggests they were charmed, fascinated, maybe even
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flattered into this deviation. So it wasn't literal.
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Sorcery is more like a spiritual fascination.
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A Misleading 1. Probably achieved through false
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promises. You know we can promise you a
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greater perfection, a higher standing with God if you just
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add the law to your faith. They fell for this flesh
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pleasing works righteousness. And the core issue, as one of
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our sources put it so well, is this the moment you decide
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Christ's work needs your help? A supplemented Christ is a
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supplanted Christ. That's it.
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If you add anything to Christ, you negate Christ.
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That is a powerful principle. OK, so let's unpack Paul's three
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proofs, which are all based on their own personal experience.
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The 1st is the visibility of the cross.
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He asks them, Who has bewitched you before?
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Whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
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That phrase, publicly portrayed, is key.
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The word is pro graphing. And it doesn't just mean
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mentioned, it means to post an official notice, like a placard
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in the town square. So Paul is saying his preaching
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was so vivid, so focused on the substitutionary death of Christ.
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That the meaning of the cross was figuratively placarded right
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in front of them. They had seen it, they had
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understood it, and they had consented to it.
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And there's a critical grammatical point here that our
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source material really highlights.
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The phrase was crucified is a perfect passive participle in
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the Greek. Why does that matter so much?
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It matters because it confirms the crucifixion was a past
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historical fact. It happened once for all time,
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but it carries continuing and permanent results.
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So it's not an event that just finished and then needs
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maintenance from us. Exactly.
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The cross is the continuing eternal payment for all sin.
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The death of Christ on that cross eternally solved the
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problem of their condemnation. So for them to turn back to
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legalism is to deny the absolute permanent saving efficacy of
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that finished work. The work is done.
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There's no point where the cross leaves off and your human effort
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has to take over to keep the salvation engine running.
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Which leads him right to a second proof in verse 2.
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He appeals to their most intimate experience receiving
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the Holy Spirit. And he narrows it down to one
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just devastating question. Did you receive the Spirit by
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the works of the law or by hearing with faith?
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It's a rhetorical question. Of course they knew the answer.
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It was obvious they received the Spirit not by performing some
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ritual or fulfilling A requirement, but by simple,
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receptive faith in the message of Christ.
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The Holy Spirit is the ultimate, unmistakable evidence of God's
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favor. And this point is so vital,
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especially when you look at it through the lens of Reformed
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theology. This text just fundamentally
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refutes any idea that the fullness of the Holy Spirit is
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some separate later experience. Right, Something that comes
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through an additional work or a second blessing.
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If a person genuinely lacks the Holy Spirit, the issue isn't
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that they need a supplement. The issue is they need salvation
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itself. Romans 8.9 is clear.
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If you don't have the Spirit of Christ, you don't belong to Him.
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The indwelling of the Spirit is inseparable from the new birth.
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And the sources describe the Spirit's function here with a
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wonderful image. He acts as the pledge.
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The Greek word is Araboon. What does that mean in their
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context? Araboon was a legal and
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commercial term. It's a down payment, a security
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deposit. The best analogy today is
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probably an engagement ring. So it's a legally binding
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guarantee. Absolutely a guarantee that the
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full purchase price, or in this case the full inheritance, will
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absolutely be paid later. God gives us the Holy Spirit now
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as the guarantee that our eternal inheritance is certain.
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That's a staggering level of assurance, and it makes their
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slight into legalism look even more nonsensical.
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Which is Paul's whole point. He brings it to a logical
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conclusion in verse 3. Have you begun by the Spirit?
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Are you now being perfected by the flesh?
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It's just ludicrous when you put it that way.
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How can the sinful, weak, imperfect human flesh possibly
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improve upon what the Divine Infinite Spirit of God began?
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Legalism tries to finish God's perfect work with our shabby
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efforts. It really is like trying to
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touch up a masterpiece with a box of crayons.
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Yeah. That's it.
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And Paul seals this whole experiential argument in verse 5
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by appealing to the Father's continuous supernatural
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provision. He points to the one who
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provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you.
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And that word provides epitourages so rich it means to
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supply abundantly, continually, with incredible generosity.
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What's the historical context for that word?
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It was used for wealthy Athenian patrons who would would
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underwrite plays. They pay all the expenses to
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ensure a lavish, successful production.
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It speaks of an unending supply. So God isn't giving the spirit
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grudgingly. He's underwriting our entire
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spiritual life generously. Like a groom caring for his
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bride. And this provision includes do
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not miss miracles, either actual miraculous events they had
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witnessed or just the spiritual power God gives over sin.
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So the conclusion is inescapable and this is really the key take
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away for you, the listener. If you've received eternal
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salvation through Christ, if you possess the Spirit as the full
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guarantee of your future, and if God the Father is continually
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supplying his strength. It is utterly senseless to try
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and enhance that divine perfection with your own weak
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human resources. They had experienced too much
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grace to turn away. So Paul has shown them they're
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guilty based on their own lived experience.
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But the Judaizers were clever. Oh yeah, they were relying on
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the written law, the foundation of Judaism.
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So Paul Schuzkiers dramatically. He moves from the subjective
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evidence of the Spirit to the objective, unassailable evidence
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of the Old Testament itself. And this is where he just flips
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the theological script on them. He counters them by focusing not
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on Moses and the law, but on Abraham, the true patriarch of
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Judaism, who predates the law by centuries.
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And he quotes the foundational text Genesis 15.6.
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Even so, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as
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righteousness. This statement is central to
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everything, but Paul immediately highlights the crucial
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chronology of Abraham's life, right?
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Abraham was declared righteous by faith at least 14 years
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before the command for circumcision was even given in
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Genesis 17. That chronological gap is the
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entire point. Circumcision was commanded as a
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sign and a seal of the righteousness Abraham already
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possessed by faith. It was the public badge of his
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acceptance. Not the means of achieving it.
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Therefore, the true sons of Abraham aren't identified by
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physical lineage or ceremony. They're the ones who share
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Abraham's primary characteristic.
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They are people of faith. Which broadens the scope
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dramatically. It extends salvation far beyond
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any ethnic boundaries. Paul shows that the scripture,
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foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
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preached the gospel to Abraham way back then.
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In the promise all the nations shall be blessed in you.
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This would have been staggering for the Galatians to hear.
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The promise of grace was always global.
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Always. Salvation has always been by
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faith alone. For Jews and Gentiles alike.
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To be blessed with Abraham is just to receive all the
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spiritual blessings that divine grace provides.
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OK, so that's the positive case. Abraham was saved by faith, but
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the Judaizers were insisting on Moses and the Law.
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This is where Paul unleashes the negative case.
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He turns the tables on them, stressing the curse of the law.
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He states it's so plainly in verse 10, as many as are of the
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works of the law are under a curse.
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And the logic is cold and clear. Why are they cursed?
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Because the standard of the law is impossible.
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Perfection. He quotes Deuteronomy 27.26.
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Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in
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the Book of the Law to perform them.
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All things The obligation isn't to keep most of the law, or even
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99% of it. It's to keep the entire law
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without a single exception, continuously, forever.
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And that's where James 2.2, though, is so clarifying.
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To stumble in one point is to become guilty of all of it.
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If you rely on the law for your standing, the law holds you to
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its perfect standard. And the moment you fail, it
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condemns you. It brings a curse.
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But wait, if the law was given by God and trying to keep it
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results in a curse, does that make God the author of
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condemnation? Is the law itself bad?
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I have to think the Galatians were asking that.
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That's the critical question he has to anticipate, and the
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answer is no. The law itself is good.
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Romans 7 says. It's holy, righteous, and good.
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It's good because it reflects God's perfect moral character.
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Right, but it leads to condemnation because we are in
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apparently sinful. We can't meet the standard.
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The law is a mirror. It doesn't clean your face, it
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just shows you the dirt. To prove that justification
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cannot be by law, Paul pulls out Habakkuk 2.4.
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The righteous man shall live by faith.
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This is the second great principle of the chapter.
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Law and faith are mutually exclusive ways of living.
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The law says do this and live. Faith says you can't do this,
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but Christ has done it for you. So trust and live.
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You cannot blend them. This desperate situation, all of
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humanity locked under a curse, leads directly to the positive
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hope, maybe the most powerful theological declaration in the
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whole letter. Verse 13.
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This is the beating heart of the gospel.
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Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become
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a curse for us. Let's break that down.
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Redeemed. The Greek is exaggerazo.
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What a huge word. It's an economic and legal term
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used for transactions in the slave market.
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It means to buy a slave out of the market and set them
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absolutely free, never to be sold back again.
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So Christ bought us back from slavery to sin, and out from
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under the demands of the law. And the cost of that freedom was
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himself. He became the curse referencing
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Deuteronomy 21.23. Cursed is everyone who hangs on
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a tree. Which for a Jew seeing their
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Messiah hanging on a cross meant he was damned by God.
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It was a massive stumbling block.
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And we have to grasp the substitutionary nature of this.
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The sources are clear. Jesus did not become cursed
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because he was nailed to a tree. He was crucified because he was
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already cursed. Yes, because He willingly took
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the full sin of the world upon himself as our substitute.
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He became the object of divine wrath, so we wouldn't have to
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be. He absorbed the full penalty.
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And that sacrifice had a dual purpose.
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Yeah. First to make sure the blessing
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of Abraham came to the Gentiles. And 2nd, so that we might
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receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
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The Spirit is always the marker of true freedom.
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So when we talk about this justifying faith, the research
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we looked at breaks it down to three crucial elements.
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The first is self renunciation. You have to put away all
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confidence in your own merit or performance.
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The second is reliance on and submission to God.
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You realize you have no resources, and you turn
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completely to Christ's finished work.
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And the third is appropriation. You actively receive the free
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gift of pardon. So it's faith alone that saves,
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but it's a fate that involves this total self renouncing
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surrender to Christ. OK, so Paul has established that
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the Law curses, but Christ redeems.
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Now he moves to address the final big argument from the
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Judaizers. The timing question if the
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Mosaic covenant came later, did it nullify or somehow change the
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previous covenant of promise made to Abraham?
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And Paul argues unequivocally that the promise is superior.
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He gives 4 reasons. The first is confirmation.
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He uses a human analogy. Even a legally ratified human
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covenant, a will, can't just be set aside later.
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So how much more unbreakable is God's covenant with Abraham?
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And remember, that covenant in Genesis 15 was ratified
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unilaterally. God alone walked between the
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slain animals. Which means the fulfillment of
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the promise depended solely on God's faithfulness, not
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Abraham's performance. It was a one way St. of grace.
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Unconditional. The second reason is it's Christ
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centeredness. Paul argues the promise wasn't
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just to Abraham and his seeds. Plural.
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But to his seed singular. The promise was ultimately aimed
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at the Messiah. That little detail on the word
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sperma is fascinating. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to
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clarify that the entire covenant hinges on this one singular air
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Christ. And since the promise is
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inseparable from Christ, the law that came later couldn't
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possibly negate it. The third reason is just simple
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chronology. The law came 430 years later.
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No amount of time can invalidate a covenant got himself
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established as permanent. The promise came first.
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The law was a temporary addition.
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And finally, completeness. This gets to the heart of it.
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If the inheritance were based on the law, it would depend on our
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imperfect performance. But because God granted it, the
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Greek is curism I giving graciously as a gift.
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It's already complete. Man cannot succeed in keeping
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the law, and God cannot fail in keeping His promise.
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And that forces us back to the great uncomfortable question the
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Galatians had. If the promise is superior, and
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faith is the only way, why the law?
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Then why did God give it? The answer The law was added
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because of transgressions. The Greek is parabasis.
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It literally means stepping over the boundary.
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Its primary purpose was never to save, but to shine a powerful
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spotlight on our total sinfulness.
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It was given to show us how completely we violate God's
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standards. And critically, to drive us to
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desperate guilt and an overwhelming need for mercy.
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The law makes sin visible. It quantifies it.
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We need to hear the moral demands of the law, because
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until we see that we stand condemned, grace just feels
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unnecessary, right? The law is the necessary prelude
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to grace. Paul then illustrates the laws
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secondary rule by comparing its mediators.
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The promise was given by God directly to Abraham, almost like
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a friend to a friend. But the law was ordained through
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angels by the agency of a mediator, Moses.
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This difference in mediation shows its inferiority.
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The promise was unilateral. God acted alone.
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The law involved mutual obligations.
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And since man failed to obey the human party broke the covenant,
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It shows its dependence on frail humanity.
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But Paul has to be careful here. He asked another question.
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Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?
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Any answers with a vehement may it never be they don't conflict
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because the law was never able to impart life.
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If the law could have given life, if righteousness could be
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based on law, then Christ's death would have been tragically
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unnecessary. But Scripture prevents that it
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has shut up all men under sin. That phrase, shut up Sunkley, is
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such a powerful metaphor. It means to lock up securely, to
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enclose on all sides with no way of escape.
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The law is like a warden arresting and imprisoning
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humanity, sentencing us to death row.
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It ensures there's no escape through human effort.
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So that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ is the only option
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left. The law's job is to bring you to
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despair, to make you cry out, wretched man that I am, who will
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set me free. Which is the necessary step
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before you can finally say thanks be to God through Jesus
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Christ our Lord. This transition brings us to
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Paul's powerful analogy, contrasting the bondage before
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faith with the freedom after. Before Faith, he says, we were
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kept in custody under the law. The law, whether written on
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stone or on our conscience, shows us our sin and condemns
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us. This is the law as a prison.
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We're prisoners because the law demands perfection and we can't
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do it, so we're held captive by guilt.
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John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress illustrates this perfectly.
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The man in rags, with the burden on his back, reading the book
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that condemns him to die, and he only finds relief when he runs
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to the cross. The burden of sin and the
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knowledge of God. God's law drives us, broken and
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desperate, to the Savior. But Paul then shifts the
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metaphor slightly. The law also acts as a tutor.
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The law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ.
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We need to understand what a Pythagoras was in that culture.
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Right. The pedagogas was a slave, a
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trusted one in a wealthy Greek or Roman household.
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He was not the teacher, he was the child's disciplinarian and
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supervisor. So his job was to walk the child
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to school, make sure they behaved, administer discipline.
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And essentially restrict their freedom until they reached
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adulthood, around age 14 to 17. He was a constraint, a necessary
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but strict supervisor. The analogy is perfect for the
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law. It's external ceremonies and
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disciplines were strict, limiting and temporary.
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They were designed to guide Israel and highlight their
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inability, thereby leading them to the one perfect teacher,
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Christ, who brings justification by faith.
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And once that goal is reached, the supervisor is dismissed,
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Paul concludes. Now that faith has come, we are
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no longer under a tutor. The bondage is over and the
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focus shifts entirely to the freedom we have in Christ.
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And the first glorious aspect of that freedom is sonship.
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You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
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This is full adult spiritual sonship.
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It's the moment when the Roman boy who was under the Pedagogos
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finally puts on the toga virulis, the robe of a man, and
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assumes all his rights and privileges as an adult heir.
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This is a major theological distinction.
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Apart from saving faith. All people are children of
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wrath. God is the creative Father of
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all, but only believers in Christ are his full grown
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spiritual children redemptively. And this sonship is sealed by
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being baptized into Christ and having clothed yourselves with
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Christ. This baptism is a spiritual
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identification with Him, not the water ceremony.
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That image of clothing yourselves with Christ is
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incredible and implies this supernatural union where when
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God the Father looks at the believer, he sees the perfect
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righteousness of his Son enveloping them.
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Were protected from the curse of the law by His perfect garment,
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and this spiritual identification leads to the
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final magnificent result, absolute equality in the body of
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Christ. Paul just demolishes the
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sharpest social, racial and gender distinctions of his day.
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He proclaims There's neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither
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slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female, for you
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are all one in Christ Jesus. This completely destroys the
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proud thinking that suggests certain groups hold superior
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spiritual value or privilege before God.
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In Christ, all spiritual blessings are given equally to
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all who believe. Our standing comes entirely from
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our shared union with Christ. And this absolute equality leads
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to the final privilege, the entire point of the letter.
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If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring.
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Errors according to promise. All who belong to Christ inherit
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every single spiritual blessing promised to Abraham, making them
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fellow heirs with Christ. The physical seed of Abraham
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might reject the promise, but the spiritual offspring, the
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Church, received the full inheritance promised centuries
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before Sinai. That really brings us to the
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close of Paul's mass systematic argument in Galatians 3.
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The contrast is just absolute. You have the workspace system
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that brings condemnation and bondage, and you have the
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faith-based system that brings grace, justification, sonship
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and freedom. The logic flows perfectly.
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Salvation is by faith. The law's true purpose was
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always temporary and preparatory.
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It was given to bring men to their own despair and inability,
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driving them toward the Savior. It acted as the strict
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disciplinarian, leading the desperate student to the only
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One who could grant adult freedom.
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So what does this all mean for you, the learner, the believer
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today, when you find yourself subconsciously drifting toward
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relying on your own performance? Or trying to earn a little more
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favor with God. Remember this final provocative
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thought. The law must condemn you before
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Christ can free. You.
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But once you are free, do not attempt to return to the
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schoolhouse of the pedagooses, that is, to trade the joyous
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full inheritance of a son for the strict supervision of a
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slave. Your standing is already
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perfect, fixed not by your ability to obey, but by the
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finished work of the one who became the curse for you.
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Rest in that freedom.