New Testament Commentary - Galatians 3

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHPATER 3 God gave the gospel to Abraham—Mosaic law added because of transgressions—The law was a schoolmaster to bring Israel to Christ—The saints are children of god by faith—All who are of the faith, and baptized into Christ, become Abraham's seed.
1 O FOOLISH Galatians, who hath ^abewitched 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 ^alaw, or by the ^bhearing of faith?^a 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. The Limits of Law All the books of man are not sufficient to contain all circumstance, environemnt, state of affairs and happenstance as to the events of life which may be faced by man in living the laws of God. Such a work of inclusion would be endless. The early Christian Minister to the islands attempted in just one thing to command the natives in all such particulars of various commandments prohibiting unchasity. In such a course of attempting to command in every detail what was NOT acceptable behavior, it was found that there were always more ways to be found that one could violate the law than there could even be made a working list to prohibit them. This is the 'limits' of the Law. For in making of laws, one could continue the mere process of making rules and commandments of what not to do on forever. And any finite set of laws will always fall short of bring a man unto perfection, for when a man attempts to live the letter of the law, there is always such cases which are not covered by law. And if it is not covered by the law, then one is left to presume that since there is not law against it, it may be done. Thus it was that the law was by a type, is showing the right ways to live. But such a finite law could never approach governing man in all things, for there is always something new in which man may commit evil, which there has been no law previously made to prohibit it. Thus it was never meant that man be commanded in all things. But that man of his own self, through the guidance of the Spirit, learn to live by the Spirit, which would be the guide unto man in what is righteousness in all things, even such things as never there was a law made concerning it.	2^a Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? There was the tendancy amoung the converted Jews who were entrench in the letter of the law to proceed to claim that by their own works came salvation. Yet the very central point of Christianity is that man of him own self can do nothing to obtain salvation in and of himself, a salvation comes only in and through Jesus Christ and faith on his name. Not that living the law of the commandments is bad, for the commandments are built and based upon correct precepts, principles, laws, ordinances, covenants and commandments, but that only in Christ, his atonement is to be found the saving grace which raises the natural man up unto salvation. When one relies solely upon works, then they are dead as to the grace of Christ, for in truth perfection in and through Christ is beyond the living of any set set of commandments such as the 613 which traditional Judahism observes to attempt to keep. A 'Primary' Set of Laws God, that is Jehovah who is the same as Jesus Christ, gave a set of 'primary' and basic laws unto Moses. They were to be a type unto us as to the manner of righteous living, a schoolmaster if you will, training us in certain paths of righteousness. But such a singular and basic set of laws cannot cover all things whatsoever and they were never intended to be such. Christ during his mortal ministry gave the example between just living the basic laws and what difference there was to be found in the limits of that law compared to the fuller and higher living by the Spirit of the law when he gave his sermons, particularly his sermon on the mount. It that he stated what the letter of the law was and how much higher and beyond that letter of the law was the way of righteous living according to the directing Spirit. Thus is was to merely live by the letter of the law, men fell way short of the greatest heights of righteous living. For the letter of the law killeth, in that one is not moved to live beyond the law in full and complete righteousness. And only by the Spirit of the Law, being guided, directed and influenced by the Spirit, can one live beyond the lower limits of any such set sets of laws.	Fulness Come By the Spirit We teach that the Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. And yet there are many things which we do not know and which are yet to be revealed unto us concerning the Kingdom of God and they ARE NOT in the Book of Mormon. In fact the volumes which could be written concerning what is good and what is evil are endless. And the matching volumes that would contain all such laws, rules and commandments concerning them are also just as endless. So wherein lies a 'fulness'? Only in and of the administration of the Holy Ghost does come the Fulness of the Gospel. Beyond the natural limits of natural man, that which raises the mind of man to the level of the understanding of God is the administration or power of the Holy Ghost. There are many scriptures which speak of this matter, but a few will surfice here. One of the most common is found in Moroni 10:5 where it states concerning the workings and manifestations of the Holy Ghost: ' ... by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.' Also in John 14:26 it states: ' ... the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, ... '. D&C 39:6 states; ' ... the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which showeth all things, and teacheth the peaceable things of the kingdom.' Also D&C 75:10 states: ' ... the Comforter, which shall teach them all things that are expedient for them—'. Now Romans 8:14 states: ' ... as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.' And finally John 16:13 states: ' ... when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.' Now, therefore, it is by the Holy Ghost that our progession unto God is lead, 'line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little'. And where as the Letter of the Law is our school master, bring us unto a primary and basic understanding as to the commandments of God, it is by the spirit that we may continue on in the way of life unto life eternal and perfection in the Lord.
5 He therefore that ^aministereth 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 ^arighteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the ^achildren of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the ^aheathen through faith, preached before the ^bgospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all ^cnations be ^dblessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are ^ablessed with faithful Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse^a: for it is written, ^aCursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 613 Rules & Commandments Salvation is not found in the keeping of the 613 rules and commandments of the Jews, for no list of any such commandments is ever complete as unto all things which concerns the ways of the righteousness of God. And such a limited list as even 613 commandments and rules does but leave millions upon millions of manners and ways that man may commit evil which fall outside of such a limited list. This is only one way in which man may walk in all the ways of the Lord, and that is to live by the guidance and direction of the spirit. It is the higher law which does not eliminate the law but 'fulfills the law' unto it higher and fuller fulness of righteous living. This is exemplified by what the Savior taught in the sermon on the mount, wherein he would state the 'limited' statement of a law and show forth how the true ways of God do but go beyond it unto a fulness of righteousness. And in this is to be found the fulness of the gospel and Christ's righteousness unto salvation. And here in is life, to live by and according to the Spirit in all things whatsoever. And the Spirit will teach and bring a man to the fulness of God, and of his ways and what is required of men to do.	10^a For as many are of the works of the law are under the curse Now the Law of Moses was not unto the Salvation of Christ, but it was but a school master to prepare man for Christ's coming, if they would but live by and understand the law, that it was a means to this end in Christ, and not an end unto itself. But were most men have taken the letter of the law to be their means unto salvation, they stand 'acursed'. For the Law was NOT given to this END, but to bring men to Christ, who is in whom and only in whom salvation may be found by faith and the guidance of the Spirit. Thus it is, that those who remain in the Law only are but dead unto Christ, for the 'letter of the law killeth', in that it is the a 'fulness of righteousness' neither is a fulness of Christ's gospel unto salvation. Only in and by Christ through the workings of the Spirit, may a man come unto Christ and live. Salvation is in the atonement of Christ, not in dead works. But works are made alive in Christ by the administration of the Holy Ghost, for the higher life is given to men to live by the constant guide and companionship of the Spirit which may reside in them unto salvation.
11 But that no man is justified by the law^a in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by ^afaith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath ^aredeemed us from the ^bcurse of the ^claw, being made a curse for us: for it is written, ^dCursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the ^ablessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through ^bJesus Christ; that we might receive the ^cpromise of the Spirit through faith.	11^a no man is justified by the law In comparison to the heights of the righteousness of God, not set of laws of men can ever raise men to such heights of perfection. Thus by the works of law alone, man can never be justified to enter back into the Kingdom of God. It is only through the grace and mercy of the atonement of Christ that man may be lifted up, imputing to man the righteousness of Christ as man so complies to the gospel of Christ. Christ can do this, for he has suffered an infinite, eternal and divine sacrifice for all the sins of man and can upon man's acceptance of him by faith, repenting continually, being born again in the ways of the Lord and the receiving of His Spirit in their lives to guide them; he may impute his righteousness upon them and lift them up unto being sanctified and made totally righteous unto the perfection of God. This does not come by way of any mortal natural man's personal efforts to live the letter of the law. It comes only in and through the grace and mercy of Christ. That is not to say that righteous living is not requesite of men in order for them to come unto God. For when men live according to their faith in Christ and are led by the Holy Spirit, it does but lead them in the ways of righteous living and not in the ways of iniquity. And because of the 'natural failings' of the natural man, he will be always prone to err, to which end he must repent and refrom his life according to the ways of God whenever he so fails or finds his status lacking before God. And even when a man of righteousness comes to understand his position of weakness before God, understanding himself but a 'wretched man' of the world in this imperfect mortal estate, then he must certainly come to rely upon the mercy and merits of Christ to lift him up. So it was with Paul who could not find perfection unto God in and of his own self as to his natural weakness before God. So it also was with Nephi, who came to know of his mortal nature before God, that while he did much righteousness and good, found himself still lacking before his God. For no such level of living by the law could, would or should enable man to return to the presence of God, for all fall short according to their weakness before God. Only in and through their faith in Christ, coming forth before him with a broken heart and contrite spirit unto repentance, rebirth and compliance to the mind and will of God in all things, and then to live according to the rule of the Spirit and not as to the flesh, can and is man justified before God in the atonement of Jesus Christ.
15 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. 16 Now to ^aAbraham and his seed were the ^bpromises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy ^aseed, which is Christ^a. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was ^afour hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.	16^a And to thy seed, which is Christ Now when speaking of Abraham and the Covenant thereof, there are two considerations concerning the 'seed' of Abraham. Since in English 'seed' it self is both singular and plural in meaning, it is difficult to determine if one is speaking of just one 'seed' and 'the one seed' or is one is speaking of many, that is plural. What is the difference in the terms of the Covenant of Abraham? Well there are two separate covenant promises made to Abraham in the Abraham Covenant. The one is to Abraham's numerous posterity that was to be countless as the sands or stars, meaning also both mortal and eternal. This Abraham was promised that nations would raise up of his posterity, etc. The other promise made unto Abraham was in terms of being the ancestor to a singular person in Jesus Christ, that is 'The Seed' being singular. If it was in a language that the word 'seed' had two different forms, one for plural and the other for singular, like most words such as require an additional 's' or 'es' on the end to make it plural, one would not have any trouble distingishing who was being spoken of, either all the children of Abraham, or just Jesus Christ. Here Paul speaks to that diference. That their were both 'seeds' his posterity countless as the stars and also 'seed' as to just one person in Christ. The important fact to realize is that in the Covenant of Abraham, that was a part of that birthright, did contain that pomise of the ancestry of Jesus Christ and when in such as Abraham 1:4, when it spoke of 'the seed' there, it was speaking of the fact that Abraham was seeking after the blessing of being that ancestor to Jesus Christ and not to just being blessed with countless children, but in that case just the one, the promised Savior of the world, even Jesus Christ.	16^a Abr. 1:4; Moses. 7:53 Concerning The Seed It is of significant importance to understand that the Covenant of Abraham included the promised desired blessing to be the ancestor to the promised Messiah, the Son of God. This was not a promise through a son, but a promise through the 'seed of a daughter,' for indeed Christ was to be the Son of God. This was that promise of the seed of the women as first spoken concerning mother Eve in respect to being ancestor to the promised Redeemer from the fall of man. Thus it is important to understand that this promise was also tied to the 'birthright' blessing of the covenant of the fathers, so sought by Isaac and Jacob after Abraham. And further significantly it was also that blessing of the birhtright that was to be passed on from father Jacob, Israel, to Jacob's firstborn son of the Covenant. For some of Jacob's sons it was just a matter of not wanting Joseph to rule over them that they wanted to despose of them, but to one son, Judah, it was a matter of desiring the 'birthright' which he coveted and eventually would not only claim but actually achieve, at least as to Christ being of the bloodline of Boaz. But Boaz merely of the goodness of his heart did act as surrogate to raise up seed unto the dead by marrying Ruth and having a son, the firstborn of Ruth who had been the wife of Mahlon the son of Elimelech who were Ephrathites meaning Ephraimites. Thus according to the Law of Moses and the Law of God, Obed was a son of Mahlon and the heir to the covenant of Ephraim. This is explained in 1 Chronicals 5:1-2 where Judah claims the genealogy of Christ to be after the tribe of Judah even though that 'birthright' of the ancestry to Jesus Christ was Joseph's and his son Ephraim. (See: Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph)
18 For if the ^ainheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 ^aWherefore then serveth the law? It was ^badded 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.
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 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.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under ^asin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the ^alaw was our ^bschoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be ^cjustified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the ^achildren of God by ^bfaith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been ^abaptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor ^aGreek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all ^bone in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye ^aAbraham's ^bseed, and ^cheirs according to the promise.