Tag: Galatians 3

Freedom by Faith Through Christ

Several years ago, my family took an international trip I had been anticipating for a long time. Assuming the role of travel agent, I spent the months leading up to it researching and booking accommodations and activities as well as scheduling planes, trains, and automobiles. Keeping track of all of our plans required an elaborate spreadsheet that I monitored throughout the trip. With every one of the six stopovers in three different countries, I fretted about schedules, logistics, and whether my family was enjoying the experience. My carefully orchestrated plans could have collapsed like a house of cards with one missed flight or late arrival at a pre-booked activity. Although I’m thankful we took the trip, it was exhausting.

So, a few years later, when we had another opportunity for travel, I tried a different approach. With my family’s blessing, we booked a trip with an active travel company that handled most of what I’d done previously; planning a detailed schedule of activities, transfers, meals, and hotels. I was responsible for booking flights and choosing sleeping accommodations before and after the trip, which took a fraction of the time. More importantly, I was freed to relax and enjoy experiencing new places with my family instead of fretting over logistics.

Now, imagine if I’d booked our trip with the tour company, but then proceeded with researching activities, booking hotels, and coordinating transportation anyway. Why would I be so foolish as to duplicate efforts by doing all that work when someone else was already doing it for me? And how would my family have reacted to me engrossing myself in planning for no good reason? Essentially, this is what Paul asks at the start of Galatians 3. Exasperated, he questions why believers who heard the gospel of grace have turned back to seeking salvation through following the law: “Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross…How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?” (Galatians 3:1 & 3, 4 NLT)

Can you feel his frustration with those he loves? Reading Galatians as a whole, it’s easy to see why. Paul compares living under the law with living by faith in Christ. Under the law we are: not justified (2:16), using human effort (3:3), under a curse (3:10), held prisoners (3:23), observing laborious rituals (4:10), alienated from Christ and fallen away from grace (5:4).

In Christ we are: rescued from the present evil age (1:4), justified by faith (2:16), recipients of the Holy Spirit (3:2), children of Abraham (3:7), redeemed from the curse and blessed (3:14), no longer under supervision of the law (3:25), children of God (3:26), Abraham’s seeds and heirs according to God’s promise (3:29), filled with the Spirit (4:6), set free (5:1), called to be free (5:13), living by the Spirit (5:25).

With all this beautiful truth, it makes no sense to Paul that the Galatians are moving backwards in their faith journey. His letter skips from example to example in an effort to show them their foolishness. Elizabeth Woodson explains that “Paul methodically unfolds his argument against justification by the law”1 using three different examples in Galatians 3.

First, he points to the work of the Holy Spirit, “I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.” (Galatians 3:5, NLT) What Paul emphasizes for them also holds true for us: we can’t “earn” the presence of the Holy Spirit through doing good deeds, we can only receive Him by putting our faith in Christ. The Spirit moves and works through us not when we try harder, but when we surrender and trust in Him. Is there a circumstance in your life that you need to relinquish to the Lord instead of relying on your own effort? If you’re prone to self sufficiency, this may need to be a daily prayer for you.

Next, Paul gets detailed and specific about areas where believers are veering off course. He explains that family heritage is not the source of salvation: “God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.” (Galatians 3:8b-9, NLT) Like the Jewish people, we cannot rely on a legacy of faith from family members for salvation. Similarly, we need to be wary of putting ourselves in spiritually rich environments but failing to pursue God individually. Each person must make a personal decision to accept and follow Christ. Do you siphon spiritual wisdom from others instead of seeking a personal connection with the Lord? Will you bring this to God in prayer and tell Him you want to forge a more personal relationship with Him?

Paul’s last argument focuses on the curse of the law: “But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.’ So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.’” (Galatians 3:10-11, NLT) It’s clear we are powerless to follow the law completely, no matter how hard we try. If you’ve ever read the Old Testament, then you know it was impossible for the Jews to follow all the laws too. This is the curse of sin that came upon us in the Garden of Eden described in Genesis 3.

Paul explains that God created the law to provide guardrails for us until the coming of Christ. He made provisions for our sin before we even knew we’d need them. While requirements to adhere to the civil and ceremonial laws laid out in the Old Testament are now obsolete, the moral laws continue to hold relevance for us: “While we are not required to follow them for our salvation, they provide a blueprint for how we can live like Christ. When we follow the moral laws, we are fulfilling our divine purpose to reflect God’s character to the world, loving Him with our heart, souls, and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.”2 Do you have a clear sense of how God’s character and how He’s calling you to live? Is it time to refresh your memory of the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20? Prayerfully consider if there are elements of His moral law you’ve disregarded or assumed were no longer applicable in modern times. Thank the Lord for making provision for your sin and ask Him if there’s anywhere you’re not in alignment with His moral laws.

Ending on a positive note, the chapter closes with this hopeful reminder: “Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.” (Galatians 3:24-27, NLT)

Inspired by Live Free: A Study of Galatians by Elizabeth Woodson, Lifeway, 2025. Follow along by ordering your copy here.

Was this forwarded to you? Click here to submit your e-mail and subscribe. You’ll receive future posts automatically in your inbox.

  1. Elizabeth Woodson,Live Free: A Study of Galatians, Lifeway, 2025, 67.
  2. ibid, 95

Jesus Plus

Creating benchmarks and requirements that make faith more complicated than it needs to be seems to be part of the human condition. For some reason, we struggle to believe the completed work of Jesus is enough. This has been happening since the early days of the Christian faith, as we see in the book of Acts when the young church begins adding people from all different backgrounds to its ranks.

Returning from their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas go back to the original church they planted in Antioch to share incredible news: “And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27, ESV)

While believers rejoice hearing that the gospel has spread throughout Galatia (and beyond), the merging of Jews and Gentiles into one faith also includes challenges. The apostles must take decisive action to prevent division among the followers of Jesus from eclectic backgrounds. They gather to consider conflicting teaching from different factions to determine once and for all whether new believers must become Jews and observe the laws of Moses as part of their newfound faith in Christ.

In Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council meets so the apostles and other key church leaders can debate, discuss, and decide if Gentiles must follow Jewish practices for their faith to be complete. During their meeting, Peter addresses the group: “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believed that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15: 7-11, ESV)

Peter is likely recalling his first interaction with Cornelius from ten years earlier when the Roman centurion received the Holy Spirit along with all in his household (Acts 10). He reminds the Council that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles through the grace of Jesus and says that nothing else needs to be added to make them acceptable in God’s eyes. 

Later, in Galatians, Paul affirms this when he writes to the churches he planted previously, emphasizing the power Jesus has to erase dividing lines between different people groups: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3:26-29, NIV)

One commentary explains, “Conflict between ‘grace’ and the ‘Law’ can arise when someone 1) misunderstands the purpose of the Law; 2) redefines grace as something other than ‘God’s benevolence on the undeserving’ (see Romans 11:6); 3) tries to earn his own salvation or ‘supplement’ Christ’s sacrifice; 4) follows the error of the Pharisees in tacking manmade rituals and traditions onto his doctrine; or 5) fails to focus on the ‘whole counsel of God’ (Acts 20:27).”1

Our modern eyes may read this and wonder what the fuss is all about. However, many different branches of our faith can have a subtle “Jesus Plus” mentality. Without realizing it, we layer on additional steps that we consider essential for being a “true” Christian. Following a certain set of social norms in a group of believers can dictate whether someone is in the fold or out in the cold—whether it’s voting practices, expectations around dancing or alcohol consumption, views on women in leadership, stances on divisive topics in our nation today, or any other doctrinal issue with varying perspectives. When people begin to set rules for how everyone should act or think, the focus shifts from God’s grace to self-righteousness, seeking approval of others, or judging those who don’t follow the agreed upon set of norms established by a specific group of believers.

I’ve experienced both sides of this human tendency to seek uniformity—I’ve been the one judging those who don’t live out their faith the way I do, and I’ve been judged by others for not falling in line with their practices. Neither mindset honors God; both turn our eyes from the unity found in Christ to seeking uniformity in how we conduct our lives.

Where are you prone to having a “Jesus Plus” mentality? Do you need to cross deeds off a checklist to feel acceptable to God? Do you feel pressure to follow certain social rules to be in the fold with other believers? Are you so focused on one issue that you’re ignoring other things you need to learn in Scripture? Are you threatened by others’ expressions of faith in Christ that differ from yours?

My church denomination has a motto “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity” (originally coined by Rupertus Meldenius, a German Lutheran theologian of the early seventeenth century). “It calls for unity on the essential things, the core of truth in our union with Christ. In non-essentials (not the unimportant, but those things that if lacking do not prevent our union with Christ), it calls for liberty so that all might follow their consciences under the Word and Spirit. In all things, however, there must be love (‘charity’ from the Latin caritas, or ‘love’), ‘which binds everything together in perfect harmony’ (Col. 3:14).”2 Paul’s words in Galatians sum it up well: “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Gal 5:1 & 6b, NIV)

After the Jerusalem Council determines it is unnecessary for the Gentile converts to adopt Jewish practices, the members provide further instructions: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.” (Acts 15:28-29, ESV)

While new believers aren’t required to become Jewish, they are admonished to forsake their former pagan practices related to idolatry. (This echoes commands given in Leviticus 17-18.) Avoiding these four things wasn’t necessary for salvation but promoted peace between Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus.3 It also empowered the new believers to turn away from practices that would dishonor the Lord and hinder them from continued spiritual growth. 

Lots of us carry baggage from our pasts that impacts how we interact with God and others. To understand more about how to recognize and eliminate the “Jesus Plus” mentality, consider reading one of these books:

Was this forwarded to you? Want to receive new posts automatically in your inbox? Go to www.marybethmccullum.com, enter your e-mail address and click “subscribe.”