2 Corinthians 3

CHAPTER 3

 

Faith or Observance of the Law (3:1-14)

1 The foolish Galatian believers have been bewitched. Paul had clearly taught them that they had been saved through Christ’s death on the cross. Before their very eyes Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified (see 1 Corinthians 1:23-24; 2:2). Why should they now begin to put reliance on their own works?

2 Paul asks the Galatians just one question: “How did you receive the Spirit? That is, how did you become Christians?” The Galatians knew the answer. They received the Spirit by believing what they heard—that is, by believing Paul’s message. First we hear, then we believe; and then we receive the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:38; Romans 10:14; Ephesians 1:13).

3 In the beginning the Galatians had received the Holy Spirit through faith. They had received new life in Christ. Therefore, Paul asks, “Why are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”¹⁶ That is, why are the Galatians now trying to become holy by their own effort, by their own works? They have already learned that man can become holy (or justified) only through faith. Now these Galatians are turning from the power of the Spirit and relying instead on the weakness of man. They are trying to prove to God how righteous they are by their own works. But in God’s sight, no one is ever righteous because of works (Galatians 2:16).

4 The Galatians had already suffered much because of their faith in Christ. Now if they give up that faith, they will have suffered for nothing. Paul then adds: … if it really was for nothing. In saying this, Paul is expressing the hope that indeed their suffering will not have been for nothing.

5 Paul here repeats the question of verse 2. The Galatians know that it is because of their faith, not works of law, that God has given them His Spirit and worked miracles among them. Paul is reminding them of what they already know. After receiving such blessing from God and seeing His mighty works of grace among them, how can the Galatians now reject His grace and put their reliance on the law?

6 ABRAHAM, the father of the Jews, serves as an example for all men. He was declared righteous by faith, not by works. Paul here quotes from Genesis 15:6. Abraham’s faith was credited to him as RIGHTEOUSNESS (see Romans 4:1-3 and comment).

The Jewish teachers in Galatia were teaching that to be declared righteous it was necessary for one to be circumcised and to obey the Jewish law. They also claimed that to be righteous in God’s sight, one had to be a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh; that is, one had to be a Jew. But Paul shows from the Jews’ own Scriptures (the Old Testament) that only by faith is a man declared righteous by God.

7 All those who place faith in Christ are Abraham’s spiritual descendants. Through faith, Gentiles inherit the blessings that God promised to Abraham and his descendants. Therefore, the true descendants of Abraham are not those who are natural descendants according to the flesh (that is, Jews), but those who believe in Christ (see Romans 4:11,13,16 and comment).

8 Paul quotes from the book of Genesis to show that God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:17-18). All nations means not only Jews but Gentiles as well. The Jews believed that only they would inherit the blessings promised to Abraham, because only they were his natural descendants according to the flesh. But one cannot inherit spiritual blessing through the flesh, that is, through one’s natural birth. Only through faith can man receive spiritual blessings. Therefore, believing Gentiles will receive all these blessings through faith.

9 Paul here repeats the thought of verse 7.

Let us remember that Abraham was not justified (declared righteous) on the basis of circumcision, because when Abraham first believed he had not yet been circumcised (Romans 4:9-11). Again, he was not justified by obeying the law, because in Abraham’s time the law had not yet been given (Romans 4:13). The law came only in Moses’ time, 430 years later (verse 17). Therefore, only by faith was Abraham declared righteous. In the same way, only through faith in Christ can we too be declared righteous in God’s sight (see Acts 13:38-39; Romans 5:1).

10 If we do not obey everything in the law, the law will condemn us (see James 2:10). Therefore, if we rely on the law, we will be under a curse—that is, under the death sentence. We shall receive the sentence of death. Why? Because no one can obey everything in the law continuously without slipping. Paul quotes here from Deuteronomy 27:26.

11 No one is justified by the law because no one can fully obey it. Paul quotes from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk: The righteous will live by faith, not by the law (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17).

12 Here Paul quotes from Leviticus 18:5. The man who does these things (the works of the law) will live by them (see Romans 10:5). If any man obeys the law perfectly (which is impossible), he shall live. If not, he will be condemned. Therefore, the law is not based on faith, but on man’s works and obedience.

13 The curse of the law mentioned here is the death sentence. Christ redeemed us by taking upon Himself our death sentence. Since the sentence is removed from us, we become innocent and righteous in God’s sight.

God says: “Man must be punished for sin. Whom shall I punish?” Jesus, standing in our place, says: “Punish me instead of them. Let them go free” (see Mark 10:45).

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. We can better understand this by using another illustration. We were once like slaves in bondage, and the Jewish law was our master. In order for us to gain freedom, it was necessary for someone to pay our master a price, a ransom. Jesus paid that price for us. The price He paid was His own blood, that is, His own life. He gave His life for us. Now we are no longer under the authority of the law; we belong to Christ. He paid the price for us; He bought us. We are His (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 7:23; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

Paul quotes here from Deuteronomy 21:23. This is a prophecy concerning Christ’s death on the cross—the tree. Through His death He became a curse for us. At the time the book of Deuteronomy was written, executed criminals were hung on trees as a sign of their “curse,” their shame. Instead of a tree, Christ was hung on a wooden cross; however, the principle is the same.¹⁷

14 Because of the curse of the law (verse 13), the blessing promised to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 was never fulfilled in the time of the Old Testament. But Christ has come and removed the curse. Now, because of the sacrifice of Christ’s body on the cross, we can receive through faith in Him the blessings promised to Abraham. Through faith in Christ we become not only the true children of Abraham; we also become the true children of God (Romans 8:16). Not only that, but we also receive the promise of the Holy Spirit, which is like an advance on the inheritance stored up for us in heaven (see 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14).

From this verse we can see what the promise is that God gave to Abraham and his descendants. It is salvation. It is new spiritual life in Christ through the Holy Spirit, a new life which begins as soon as we believe and which will never end.

The Law and the Promise (3:15-20)

15 In order to describe the promise God made to Abraham, Paul uses an illustration from ordinary life. Men make various kinds of covenants with each other other. Once a COVENANT is made, it is fixed, it is established. It cannot be easily changed.

16 In the same way, God made a covenant with Abraham. God made sure promises to Abraham and to his seed. The promise was that Abraham’s descendants would receive salvation and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the seed (offspring) means Christ and all those who place their faith in Him. Christ is the firstborn, the first fruit of a new spiritual family or nation (see Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:20). The promises were not made to all the seeds—that is, to all the natural offspring of Abraham—but only to Christ, and through Christ to those who believe. God said to Abraham: “… through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). In Christ, therefore, the promise God gave to Abraham is fulfilled.

17 Here Paul makes his main point. God gave the promise of salvation to Abraham 430 years before the law was introduced (Exodus 12:40). How, then, can those Jewish teachers in Galatia say that the law is necessary for salvation? The promise of salvation in no way depends on the law; nor does the coming of the law in any way affect the promise.

18 If the law were necessary to obtain the inheritance (that is, salvation), then the promise God gave Abraham would become void. If the law were necessary for salvation, then the covenant God made with Abraham would be altered—in fact, canceled. But that cannot be done (verse 15). God’s promise can never be canceled. Paul is saying that God gave Abraham and his spiritual descendants an inheritance (salvation) not through the law that would come afterward, but through a promise which arose out of God’s grace and is received through faith (see Romans 4:14,16). Salvation is given to man by grace alone. We cannot earn it by obeying the Jewish law, or any other law (see Romans 11:6).

19 Therefore, it is natural to ask, what was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions. The law was given by God to manifest sin, to bring sin into the light (see Romans 5:20 and comment). Before the law was given, there were sins that man did not recognize, such as covetousness. God gave the law so that all men could see their own sin, so that each man could understand that he was a sinner (see Romans 3:20; 7:7).

The law clearly demonstrated that man cannot save himself nor make himself righteous. The law showed that all men are in need of a Savior, that is, Christ. In other words, the law pointed to Jesus Christ, and the law remained in effect until the Seed (Christ) to whom the promise referred had come. After Christ came, the law was no longer necessary.

Nevertheless, the law continues to serve an important function: It shows us what sin is. Jesus Himself based much of His teaching on the Jewish law (see Matthew 5:2122,27-28,38-39,43-44).

The law is inferior to the promise. The law was temporary. It remained in effect only until Christ came. Now Christ has saved us from the condemnation, the curse, of the law.

The law was not given directly from God to man, as the promise was. The law was given through a mediator—that is, Moses¹⁸—together with the help of angels (Exodus 31:18; Acts 7:53). Therefore, since the promise came directly from God (instead of through a man), it is superior to the law, which came through Moses and the angels.

20 A mediator represents not one party but two. By taking the side of both parties, the mediator helps bring them to an agreement. The giving of the law to the Jews through Moses, the mediator, was like an agreement between two parties. God gave the law: man had to obey it. God did something, and man had to do something in return—that is, obey. In order for a covenant to be made, both parties must take part. Thus, when the old covenant between man and God was made, a mediator (Moses) was needed.

But a promise is different from a covenant or agreement. To make a promise, only one party is necessary—that is, God. When God makes a promise, He acts alone. He gives the promise freely. All that we men and women have to do is to accept the promise. Without any human or angelic demiator,¹⁹ God comes to us and offers the promise of salvation and the Holy Spirit. And through the Holy Spirit, that is, through Christ dwelling within us, we receive the power to obey the law. With the promise comes power.

The Purpose of the Law (3:21-29)

21 The law does not oppose the promise. The difference between the law and the promise is only this: The law has no power; the promise has. The law cannot impart life, but the promise can. To impart life means to make alive—to make spiritually alive, spiritually powerful. If the law could have given us spiritual life and power, then we could have become righteous through the law. But the law could not (see Romans 8:3). And because the law could not impart life and power, no one could become righteous by observing it. Only by grace through faith in Christ can one be made righteous in God’s sight and obtain salvation (Ephesians 2:8).

22 But the Scripture (God) declares that the whole world (all mankind) pis a risoner of sin. In other words, because men rebelled against God, He placed them under bondage to sin (Romans 3:910; 11:32). Because men sinned against God, He condemned them through the law. But now God has given man a way of escape, a promise of salvation, which promise we receive through faith in Christ.

Therefore, how can the Jewish teachers at Galatia say that following the law is a means of salvation? The law can only condemn (Romans 7:10). Their teaching is the opposite of the truth.

23 Paul here repeats the thought of verse 22. Before this faith (the Gospel of Christ) came, we were held prisoners by the law. In verse 22, Paul said that we were prisoners of sin. The meaning is the same: to be held prisoner by the law and to be a prisoner of sin. The meaning is the same: to be held prisoner by the law and to be a prisoner of sin is the same thing. Sin and the law work together to condemn us. Sin gets its power from the law (see Romans 7:8-11; 1 Corinthians 15:56).

24 Because of man’s sin, it was necessary that man remain under someone’s control. In Paul’s day, wealthy families hired special tutors or custodians to look after their children. The children were placed under the authority of the custodian. In the same way, the law was put in charge of us; it was our “custodian.” Just as a custodian brings up the students under his charge, so the law became our custodian to lead us to Christ.

25 Now that the Gospel has come and we have believed in Christ, we no longer need to be under the supervision of the law—that is, we no longer need a custodian.

26 In Paul’s time, a son did not receive his full rights and authority as a son until he reached the proper age. Before that, he remained under the authority of the custodian (Galatians 4:1-2). Those who have placed faith in Christ are like sons who have come of age; they are now fully sons. They are sons of God (John 1:12-13; Galatians 4:7). Paul says to the Galatian Christians: You are all sons of God—whether you are Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female (see verse 28).

27 When we come of age and become full sons, we take off our old student uniform and put on new clothes. In the same way, when we believe in Christ we take off our old clothes and put on Christ—that is, we put on His righteousness. When we are baptized into Christ, we become clothed … with Christ. This is the real meaning of BAPTISM. When we are baptized in Christ’s name, we put off our old sinful life, our old self, and put on a new self, new spiritual life in Christ (see Romans 6:3-4,6; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22-24 and comments).

28 Who, then, can come to Christ in faith? All can come. Spiritually there is no difference between people. All are equally entitled to be sons and daughters of God through faith. And when we are baptized in Christ, when we have been clothed … with Christ, we become one family, even one body (see 1 Corinthians 12:13 and comment). We all—Jew and Greek (Gentile), slave and free, male and female—become one in Christ Jesus.

Think of the great difference there was in Paul’s time between Jew and Gentile, master and slave, men and women. The Jews despised the Gentiles; slaves were crushed under the power of their masters; men looked down on women, regarding them as inferior. Yet in Christ there was no difference between any of them. In Christ, all became one (see Colossians 3:9-11).

Among Christians there can be no difference between high caste and low caste, between rich and poor, between foreigner and national. As we each look about us within our own churches, do we see any of these differences? Are those of low caste treated with the same respect as those of high caste? Are women treated as respectfully as men? Are there differences made between foreigners and nationals? Do the nationals say: “This is our church; the foreigner is only a visitor”? But such differences should not be. The church does not belong to one group or another; it belongs to Christ! The church is Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 1:22-23). In each local church we are all one in Christ. Where is the difference between high caste and low caste, between foreigner and national? Our citizenship is in heaven, not in this world. In heaven there are no castes, and no foreigners. If we allow any of these differences to remain in our churches, we are guilty of dividing Christ’s body into pieces.

29 Christ is the true seed (offspring) of Abraham (verse 16). Therefore, when we put faith in Christ we also become true seed of Abraham (verse 7). We become heirs-co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). We inherit the promise—the promise of salvation, of eternal life.

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