Galatians 3:6-14
During one of his great campaigns, D. L. Moody was
accosted by a man who had been to a number of
the services and who, although convicted of his
need for Christ, had kept on postponing a decision.
Now the last night had come. The altar call was
over, the people were going home, the work crew
was busy folding up the chairs and dismantling the
platform, and Mr. Moody was preparing to leave.
The man finally plucked up his courage. He came to
the evangelist and blurted out, “Mr. Moody, what
must I do to be saved?” D. L. Moody looked at him.
“I’m sorry, sir,” he said, “but you’re too late.”
“Too late, Mr. Moody?” The man was desperate
now. “Surely I’m not too late!”
“Yes, sir,” said Moody. “You’re too late. As a matter
of fact, you’re two thousand years too late if you
want to do something to be saved. All the ‘doing’
has been done. But if you would like to accept
Christ by faith as your personal Savior, you’re just
in time. You can do that right here, right now.”
(John Phillips)
Last week we looked at the first 5 verses of Galatians 3
where Paul asked 6 questions of the foolish Galatians.
These questions pointed out that their justification came
by faith, not from keeping the law.
Today we are going to look at verses 6-14.
Here we are going to see 6 OT Scriptures that drive home
Paul’s point that Salvation is by grace through faith.
Nothing has changed. The law has never been able to
save anyone. It’s only by grace through faith.
Galatians 3:6-9
Abraham’s Faith Counted as Righteousness
Let’s talk about Abraham’s faith.
Paul quotes two passages from Genesis here to help the
Galatians understand Abraham’s faith.
The first one describes God’s promise to make Abraham
the father of many nations:
Genesis 15:5-6 “And he brought him outside and
said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars,
if you are able to number them.” Then he said to
him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed
the LORD, and he counted it to him as
righteousness.”
God Calls Abraham to Go in Faith
Abraham was fully aware that Sarah was barren, yet he
still believed God’s promise.
Small problem for God, right?
Remember, nothing shall be impossible for God.
God saw that Abraham believed Him and He counted it to
him as righteousness.
Paul is defending against the Judaizers who were
teaching that the Gentiles must become Jews in order to
truly be saved. They were requiring them to be
circumcised and placing them under the law.
Their point was that only those who are sons of Abraham,
or only Jews, were saved.
Look at how Paul refutes that in verse 7.
“Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of
Abraham.”
The second OT reference Paul uses to show Abraham’s
faith is:
Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD said to Abram,
“Go from your country and your kindred and your
father’s house to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will
bless you and make your name great, so that you
will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Abraham Obeys God by Faith
God brought the gospel to Abraham when He promised
that all the nations would be blessed in Abraham.
What this means is that all who have faith and receive
God’s grace are saved.
I like how the author of Hebrews describes Abraham’s
faith when God called him to move his family to an
unknown place.
Hebrews 11:8-10 “By faith Abraham obeyed when
he was called to go out to a place that he was to
receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not
knowing where he was going. By faith he went to
live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,
living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him
of the same promise. For he was looking forward to
the city that has foundations, whose designer and
builder is God.”
I know Paul didn’t mention this next one, but it shows us
how much Abraham truly trusted God.
Abraham Trusted God Through the Test
Genesis 22:7-8 “And Isaac said to his father
Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my
son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but
where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham
said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a
burnt offering, my son.”
Abraham didn’t know what was going to happen, but he
trusted God and had faith that God would keep His
promise.
Let’s also look at how Hebrews describes Abraham’s faith
through his testing.
Abraham’s Incredible Faith
Hebrews 11:17-19 “By faith Abraham, when he was
tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received
the promises was in the act of offering up his only
son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your
offspring be named.” He considered that God was
able even to raise him from the dead, from which,
figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”
Now, that is incredible faith! He had faith that God was
able to raise Isaac from the dead. But God chose to
provide a ram caught in a thicket for the sacrifice. It’s a
picture of what Christ did for us on the cross. He was our
substitute.
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
Galatians 3:10-12
Here, Paul uses additional OT Scriptures to describe the
truth that the law brings a curse to those who can’t keep
it.
The Curse of the Law
Paul quotes
Deuteronomy 27:26 “Cursed be anyone who does
not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’
And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
It’s not enough to know the law. The law has to be kept
in its entirety. Yet, no one except Christ is able to keep
the law.
The Righteous Walk by Faith
Paul also quotes
Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is
not upright within him, but the righteous shall live
by his faith.”
The prophet spoke that righteousness is by faith.
The very thing Paul has been teaching since the very
beginning.
Check out what he wrote in
Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the
gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith for faith, as it is written,
“The righteous shall live by faith.”
The law can’t save you. The law can’t make you
righteous.
If anyone could keep the law he would live, but as we
already discussed, no one could keep them.
This OT reference is found in
Leviticus 18:5 “You shall therefore keep my
statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he
shall live by them: I am the LORD.”
It was always God’s plan to send Jesus to earth to take
away our sin.
That is what Paul writes about in the next two verses.
Galatians 3:13-14
Jesus Redeems us from the Curse
Paul quotes
Deuteronomy 21:23 “his body shall not remain all night
on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a
hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile
your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an
inheritance.”
A hanged man is cursed by God.
The tree refers to the cross at Calvary.
Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by His
grace.
He paid our ransom by dying in our place.
Remember, the consequence of sin is death.
He bore the curse so that we could receive the Holy Spirit
and the blessing from God.
The Judaizers were doing everything they could to place
the Gentiles under the law and to take away their
freedom.
Paul, on the other hand, was doing everything he could
to help the Galatian believers understand the truth of the
gospel.
In Africa a fire ravaged a hut, burning quickly and
intensely, killing all in a family—except one. A
stranger ran into the burning house and snatched a
small boy from the flames, carried him to safety,
and disappeared in the darkness. The next day the
tribe met to decide what should be done with the
lad. Perhaps superstitiously, they assumed he must
be a special child since he survived the fire. A man
known for his wisdom insisted that he adopt the
boy; another known for his wealth thought he was
the best qualified. As the discussion ensued a
young, unknown man walked into the middle of the
circle and insisted that he had prior claim to the
child. Then he showed them his hands, freshly
burned in the fire of the past night. He was the
rescuer and therefore insisted that the child was
rightfully his. So our scarred Savior claims us.
Bonhoeffer was right: only a suffering God can
help. Only a suffering God can redeem.
APPLICATION
Our application this morning is to;
Focus on Faith
When it comes to our salvation, it’s the completed work
on the cross that matters. Trusting in the fact that Jesus
redeemed us is what we must remember.
We can’t live righteous in the flesh. We have to have the
Holy Spirit to guide us and help us take up our cross daily
to follow Him.