GalatiansChapter 3

Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.

¹You foolish Galatians! Who has put a spell on you? Right before your eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly shown as crucified. ²I want you to tell me just one thing. Did you receive the Spirit by doing what the law says? Or did you receive him by hearing and believing? ³Are you that foolish? You started with the Spirit. Are you now trying to finish by your own human effort?a ⁴Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing? ⁵God gives you his Spirit so richly. He works miracles among you. Does he do this because you obey the law? Or is it because you hear and believe? ⁶It is the same with Abraham. "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." ⁷So you can see that people who have faith are sons of Abraham. ⁸The Scripture saw ahead of time that God would make the Gentiles right with him by faith. It also told the good news to Abraham ahead of time. It said, "All nations will be blessed through you." ⁹So people who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. ¹⁰All who depend on doing what the law says are under a curse. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the Book of the Law." ¹¹Now it is clear that no one is made right with God by the law. This is because "The righteous will live by faith." ¹²But the law is not based on faith. Instead, it says, "The person who does these things will live by them." ¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. He did it by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." ¹⁴He redeemed us so that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. He did it so that by faith we could receive the promised Spirit. ¹⁵Brothers and sisters, let me give an example from everyday life. Once people make a covenant official, no one can cancel it or add to it. That is true even for a human covenant. ¹⁶God spoke the promises to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people. It says "and to your seed," meaning one person. That one is Christ.b ¹⁷Here is what I mean. God first made a covenant with Abraham. The law came 430 years later. The law does not cancel God's covenant. It does not wipe out the promise. ¹⁸If the inheritance depended on the law, then it would no longer depend on a promise. But God freely gave it to Abraham through a promise. ¹⁹Then why was the law given? It was added because of people's wrongs. It was meant to last until the seed came, the one the promise was about. The law was put in place through angels. A go-between handed it on. ²⁰But a go-between is not needed when only one side is acting. And God is one. ²¹Is the law, then, against God's promises? No way! If a law had been given that could give life, then being right with God would surely have come by the law. ²²But the Scripture says that everything is locked up under sin. This is so that the promise could be given by faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe. ²³Before this faith came, we were held as prisoners by the law. We were locked up until faith would be shown to us. ²⁴So the law became like a guardian who watched over us to lead us to Christ. This was so we could be made right with God by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. ²⁶You are all God's children through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ like clothing. ²⁸There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed. You are heirs, just as God promised.