New Living Translation

King James Bible

The Law and Faith in Christ

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.

1

Faith and Belief

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

2

Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.

2

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

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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?

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Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

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Have you experienceda so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

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Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

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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.

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He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

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In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”b

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Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

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The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

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Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

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What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”c

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And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

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So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

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So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

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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.”d

10

Christ Redeemed Us

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

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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.”e

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But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

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This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”f

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And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

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But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”g

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Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

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Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promisedh Holy Spirit through faith.

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

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The Law and God’s Promise

Dear brothers and sisters,i here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.

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The Purpose of the Law

Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

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God gave the promises to Abraham and his child.j And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,k” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child” — and that, of course, means Christ.

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Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

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This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.

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And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

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For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.

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For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

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Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people.

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Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

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Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.

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

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Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises?l Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.

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Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

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But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

22

But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

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God’s Children through Faith

Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.

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But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

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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.

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Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

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And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

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But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

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

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Sons Through Faith in Christ

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

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And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.n

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

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There is no longer Jew or Gentile,o slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

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There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

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And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true childrenp of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

29

And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Parallel

New Living Translation

King James Bible

Galatians 3

Galatians 3