New Living Translation

New International Version

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.

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Faith or Works of the Law

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

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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.

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I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?

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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 you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?a

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

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Have you experiencedb so much in vain — if it really was 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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So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

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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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So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”c

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

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Understand, then, that those who have faith are 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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Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”d

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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 those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

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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

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For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”e

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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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Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”f

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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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The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”g

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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 redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”h

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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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He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

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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 Law and the Promise

Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.

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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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The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”i meaning one person, who 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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What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.

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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 depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a 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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Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to 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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A mediator, however, implies more than one party; 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, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come 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.

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But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who 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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Children of God

Before the coming of this faith,j we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would 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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So the law was our guardian until Christ came 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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Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

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

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

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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 all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with 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 Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you 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.

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If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Parallel

New Living Translation

New International Version

Galatians 3

Galatians 3