Philter48 Blogged Bible Study – Galatians 3
18 Sep
While we sometimes do Bible study out of a pure sense of duty, and sometimes out of a true love for the Word, sometimes we do it because we have questions.
Sometimes DOING Bible study leads us to questions.
Galatians 3 leads me to more questions than answers.
So, I’ll ask the questions.
- Paul has a major emphasis on the fact that Abraham was justified by faith, and much of what I have heard in my life says that he was actually saved because he had faith in Christ. I must admit, I kinda scratch my head at this, because I don’t remember anything outside the book of Hebrews that tells me that he even KNEW about the coming Messiah. Can somebody help me get my head around this?
- If Abraham was justified by faith, why did all his descendants up until Christ have to live by the law? Why couldn’t THEY be justified by faith?
- “The just shall live by faith.” Does this mean that those who live by faith are automatically made “just”, or that those who have been justified will then proceed to live in faith?
- “The just SHALL live by faith.” Is this an imperative, as in a “commandment”? In the sense of “thou shalt not kill”? Are the “just” being commanded to live by faith, or is this simply a conclusion being drawn?
- “The just shall LIVE by faith…” How does one “live” by faith? One is either alive, or dead. Does having faith keep us alive? What about, then, those that have no faith? Surely one could conclude that they are not “just”, since they have no faith, but are they alive by a different set of rules? Or should we understand this to be a reference to spiritual life only, which implies that the “unjust” are not alive in that sense, due to the fact that they have no faith? My normal interpretation of this is that “the just” should conduct their lives in a manner that is characterized by faith in God. However, I’m not convinced that I’m seeing this as deeply as, perhaps, Martin Luther finally saw it.
- I believe Paul’s point in verse 11 is that only faith can justify. I do, however, think that I need to better “grasp” the idea of “live by faith.” One’s view of salvation obviously comes into play, simply because the question of whether a Christian can cease living by faith or not can easily affect the perception of whether salvation is eternal or not.
Guess what?
I don’t have the answers.
There may not be any “right” answers. This is not a test.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
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Bernard, this is awesome, I’m going to tackle some of this in the morning when my brain is fresh…thank you for making me dig!!!!
1. Apparently Abraham believed something God told him. Did God tell Abraham something that Abraham believed that pointed to Christ? I asked that question at my place and also found it here. Must be important?
2. God’s law(s) to which many were added by men served to do at least two things. Show us that we can never keep the whole law and become justified through it (God demands perfection) and point to Christ, who would be our justification and suffer our death penalty.
The just shall live by faith (Heb 10:38 commentary by John Gill: “The “just” man is one not in appearance only, but in reality; not by his obedience to the law, but by the obedience of Christ; and he is evidently so by the Spirit, and by faith: and he is one, who lives soberly and righteously; and the life he lives, and shall live, at present, is, not eternal life; for though he shall live that life, yet this is not intended; for it is a living by faith that is spoken of, and as antecedent to the coming of Christ; but a spiritual life is meant, a life of justification in Christ, a life of communion with Christ, and a life of holiness from Christ, with peace, joy, and comfort through him: and the manner of this just man’s living is “by faith”; not upon his faith, but upon Christ, the object of it; and by “his faith”, as in Hab_2:4 his own, and not another’s; or by the faith of Christ: the Syriac version here renders it, “by the faith of myself”; that is, by the faith of Christ, who speaks, and who is the author and object of faith: the Alexandrian copy and the Vulgate Latin version read, “my just man shall live by faith”; and this life is to be now, in the mean while, until Christ comes, and because he will certainly come:
The B4B short version of all that: Living by ‘faith’ is a lifestyle. The ‘natural’ man lives by faith in something, or faith in a combination of things. God’s man lives a life of faith in God an His Son. I think John Gill explains what that means excellently.
Is that any help?
Great answers, Dan, thanks for taking the time to respond! I saw that you and I both brought up #1 – I still think that’s interesting. I wonder if Abraham – who didn’t write any Scripture – was given more information than we know about regarding Melchizedek and Christ. Some of the NT authors seem to imply that he KNEW Christ was coming, but I’ve just personally never seen OT support for that. (Not that my knowledge is by any means exhaustive!)
Deb, don’t you let me down, you scholar you!
Ok, eyes are open, coffee is starting to work…. The easy way out would be, “What Dan said”
1. I think the best place to start with this is in James 2:21-23 “Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.”
To me this is the perfect illustration of justification by faith. God gave Abe a promise that he would be the father of many nations. He was to be the father of the Messiah. Through him would come the offspring (and this word is singular by the way) which would bless the world. How much faith does it take to take God at His word knowing your wife is barren? They could do absolutely nothing to “make” it happen. They tried to help (ahem) but all they could do was receive God’s miracle. From what I can see, this promise was given to Abraham before he was faithful….he was not faithful in order to earn the promise, but because of the assurance OF the promise. Make sense? This is justification by faith. This faith that Abraham placed in God’s promise was not mental assent…that is very important to get. It was something that endured through the end of his life. Justifying faith is ANYTHING by and easy belief. It was a stout faith that was created in his heart by entering into His Word of promise. Abraham showed by his works that his faith was indeed in God alone. That is why Abraham was saved…He was not justified FOR his works, His salvation was apart from and prior to his works. I hope that makes sense…if not I can go on, and on LOL Ok…to number 2
Ok, I am going to say “Ditto Dan” on that one, cause there is just nothing more to add….I think 3-6 can be intertwined, but I need to go cook some Saturday morning breakfast for some hungry stomachs…Be back in a bit
Wow, Bernard. This is a lot to ponder. Gonna have to read this scripture over “several” more times to see what might be illuminated to me.
Only thing coming at this time is that Abraham was “part of the plan or promise”. Abraham left his home, his family, and even his religion because he was always obedient to God no matter what. Abram who was renamed Abraham by God has many spiritual experiences where God appeared to him so this is something deep to ponder. He was plainly chosen by God and he had a faith in God that was obviously not found in many in the population during that time. I may be mumbling things that don’t even pertain so I’ll go.
Debs I have always loved the part that said “and he was a friend of God.”
Ok, well, I think it’s cool how there are the four different scriptures that say the same thing only there is different emphasis in each one. Habakkuk 2:4″Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” The term “just” literally means “righteous.” God says a person is enabled to live righteously by his faith.
Romans 1:17 “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” In this one, the phrase “from faith to faith” means “from the beginning of faith to the end of faith” and in this context indicates the foundation of faith is faith in “his eternal power and Godhead,” which “From the creation of the world are clearly seen” which you can find in Romans 1:20.
Then there is Hebrews 10:38 “but my righteous one shall live by faith,and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” Ouch..and Ugh…Then the writer says that the basic item of faith is special creation in Hebrews 11:3 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear”
In the Galatians verse 3:11, Justifying, saving living faith begins and centers in Jesus Christ, first as the Creator of all things, which is evident in EVERYTHING…then as savior (Galatians 3:13)…hope that helps. I love how we need ALL of God’s Word to tie this stuff together….
Good comments, y’all.
Thanks for digging!
The whole “faith” thing intrigues me, and usually I come up scratching my head. That doesn’t mean I don’t “believe”, it simply means that I don’t understand. The engineer in me needs to understand, because stuff that can’t be explained just doesn’t fit into my “grand scheme of things”. I’m sure some folks get frustrated with the kind of questions that I ask; I’ve even been told stuff like “you’ll never understand, you just have to have faith.”
This directive doesn’t always work, sorry. It’s one of the reasons that intellectuals often laugh at Christians.
We so often seem to regard “faith” as a cover-up paint. We know there are “flaws” in our logic, so we “live by faith” – we ignore the flaws and say that faith makes up for them. We simply believe it because “God has given us faith.”
Hmmm.
Am I righteous because I “believe” what God has said, or am I righteous because I “say” I believe it, even if there are doubts? I’ve heard it said that “doubt and faith cannot co-exist”, or that “doubt is the opposite of faith.”
Hmmmm.
That doesn’t sit well with me. I can’t force doubt to disappear. I can CHOOSE to believe, I can choose to exercise FAITH, even when I doubt. Even when I question.
Much as the definition of “bravery” is “being willing to face something you are afraid of.” Many assume that being “brave” means that you are never afraid. I say that’s not true. Being BRAVE means that you fight even when you are scared to death.
To me, living by FAITH means pursuing God fully even when I am scared to death by doubt. Chasing Him even when I am NOT certain that He’s there. Faith does NOT equal “KNOWING.” Some seem to believe that simply imposing my “knowledge” on God by saying “I believe such and such” means that I am having faith, and that God will honor my faith. I say bullcrap.
This is the root of my frustration with the mountain preacher line of “do you know that you know that you KNOW that you are saved?” I think that question has driven a lot of people to insanity rather than to pursuit of God through Christ. I understand 1 John 5:13 and the emphasis on “knowing”, but I see that as an assurance, not as a directive on “how to live by faith”. If we walk around telling ourselves “I know I’m saved” based on an event rather than on our faith in Christ, I think we miss the point. A lot of people have had some emotional experience twenty or thirty years ago and are depending on their certainty at that moment to carry them through eternity rather than a lasting faith in Christ.
A lasting faith in Christ will endure the ups and downs. Rather than attacking those doubts by saying “you need to really get saved, and then you’ll KNOW, my friend”, I believe it is imperative to understand that FAITH will push on through the hard times. Through the doubts. Through the challenges. Through the intellectual questions. Pursuing. Questioning. Chasing. Exploring. The just shall live by faith. Not “the just shall live by certainty”, or “the just shall live by knowledge,” or “the just shall live by experience.”
Those who live by faith in Christ, I believe, are seen by God as justified. Everything I do should show that I am exercising faith in what Christ has said, in what He has done, and in what He has given.
All that said, I don’t feel like I’ve really said ANYTHING, but I appreciate all of you listening.
To have FAITH in the Word of God means that I choose to believe it, even when I can’t explain it. How does this fit with my intellectualism that says “this is wrong”? Trust me, I haven’t settled all that.
Am I “justified” because of this kind of faith? Or is this simply the seed of faith that is required to truly trust Christ? Which really comes first – trusting Christ, or trusting the Word that says He is who He is? If “the Word” is Christ, how can we separate the two?
“The just shall live by faith” is truly a huge statement. I’m no Martin Luther, but obviously it wrecked his world.
I don’t mean to say that the Gospel isn’t simple. I truly believe that even a child can understand enough to come to Christ in faith and be saved, but I do believe that we oversimplify some things due to our laziness. We don’t pursue Christ because it might take some effort.
Most of this is rambling; forgive me. Luckily, it’s MY blog, so nobody can erase my comments
