1 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 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
5 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?
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 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.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
10 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.
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
13 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:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. "(Galatians 3)
The law is not of faith
And Paul speaks of the curse of the law
Oh! Oh! I can play this game *raises hand*
"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2)
See? Abraham was justified by his works. And we're justified by our works. Says so right there.
Now can we drop the childish reasoning and consider scripture as a whole?
What is Paul addressing in Galatians 3? Let's look at the context:
The situation:
There is a circle of Jews going around telling gentiles they must be circumcised if they are going to be saved. This is made clear by the discussion in Galatians 2 (directly preceding Galatians 3) concerning the "circumcision party" and talking about the gentiles who were with Paul formerly and were not required to be circumcised. Many of Paul's epistles are written to contend with this "requirement." This "circumcision party" was evidently present in the church of the Galatians.
If you understand this, it clears up the rest of the passage for you...
Circumcision was not just a part of the law, it was the sign of the old covenant (Genesis 17). Just as baptism today is a physical sign of the new covenant under Jesus Christ, circumcision was/is the sign of the covenant under the law. To accept the requirement of circumcision was to place themselves back under the old covenant.
Paul confirms this as he begins to wrap up in chapter 5, saying "If you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you." He then continues to add that anyone who accepts circumcision will be "required to keep the whole law." This includes the levitical requirements, sacrifices, and Jewish civil law given under Moses. So now we are back where we started. Bound by a law that can only lead us to death.
Here is another passage where Paul explicitly talks about the law being good:
"So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."
And later, in Romans 13, he adds:
"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
So the reason that love fulfills the law is because all the commandments are summed up in the command "love your neighbor as yourself." And because love does no wrong to another.
So we return to this key concept: The law and the commandment are good. The law tells us what sin is, and if we break the law we are sinning. We are to be obedient children. However, we do not count on the law to save us. We agree with it that it is right, but we understand that only the blood of Jesus has the power to save us. Paul goes to great lengths to teach those who are being persuaded by the doctrine of circumcision these things. But often, as Peter says, people misunderstand and twist those teachings:
"Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability."
Another way to say this is that we obtain righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ and not by keeping the law, but true faith in Jesus will result in obedience and not in lawlessness. So true faith produces fruit - and because we agree with the law in our spirit we will do our best to be obedient, knowing when we fail that our righteousness is not lost through our failing because
that rests with Jesus Christ and not with keeping the law.
You are correct to note that if a priest come from Judah then the law changed.
