New Living Translation

New King James 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.

1

Justification by Faith

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you [a]that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed [b]among you as crucified?

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 I want to learn from you: Did you receive 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?

3

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being 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 you suffered so [c]many things in vain — if indeed it 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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Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do 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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just 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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Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons 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 Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall 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 those who are of faith are blessed with believing 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

The Law Brings a Curse

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue 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 one is [d]justified by the law in the sight of God 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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Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by 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 has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs 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 upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

15

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 Changeless Promise

Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.

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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 does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” 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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And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God [e]in Christ, that it should make the promise of no 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 is of the law, it is no longer 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.

19

Purpose of the Law

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by 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 does not mediate for one only, 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? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

22

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 has confined all under sin, that the promise by 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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But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, [f]kept for the faith which would afterward 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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Therefore the law was our [g]tutor to bring us to 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 faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

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

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Sons and Heirs

For you are all sons of God through 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 were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28

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 slave nor free, there is neither male nor 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.

29

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

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

Galatians 3

Galatians 3