The Meaning of Galatians 3:6-18: Faith, Not Law

Context of Galatians 3:6-18

This passage sits at the heart of Paul's urgent letter to the Galatians, where he's confronting a crisis: new believers are being pressured to follow Jewish laws like circumcision to be 'truly' saved.

The original audience - mostly Gentile Christians - was being misled by teachers who claimed faith in Christ wasn't enough. These teachers insisted they also had to keep the Old Testament law. Paul responds by going back to Abraham, quoting Genesis 15:6 - 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness' - to show that faith alone has always been God's way of making people right with Him. He then highlights the 430-year gap between God’s promise to Abraham and the giving of the law to Moses, proving the law couldn't cancel a promise already given.

By grounding salvation in Abraham’s faith and not Moses’ law, Paul shows that grace came first, lasts longest, and includes everyone who believes, no matter their background.

Faith, Law, and the Promise to Abraham in Galatians 3:6-18

Paul dives deep into how we are made right with God - through faith, not law - and uses Abraham, Scripture, and even a single Greek word to show that God's promise has always been for those who believe.

He starts with Genesis 15:6 - 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness' - to prove that faith alone made Abraham right with God, long before the law was given. Then he quotes Deuteronomy 27:26 - 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them' - to show that the law demands perfect obedience, which no one can give. Because of this, all who rely on law-keeping are under a curse, which is why Paul says no one is justified by the law. Instead, he quotes Habakkuk 2:4 - 'The righteous shall live by faith' - to show that from the beginning, God’s way of saving people has always been through trust, not rule-following.

Paul then makes a surprising grammatical argument: God’s promise was made to Abraham and to 'his offspring' - singular, not plural - meaning one person, Christ, not many descendants. This demonstrates that the true heirs of Abraham are those who belong to Christ, whether Jew or Gentile. Since the law came 430 years after God’s promise to Abraham, it cannot cancel or change that promise - like adding terms to a signed contract. God’s grace was first, and it remains the foundation of our relationship with Him.

The law brings a curse because no one can keep it perfectly, but Christ became a curse for us so we could be set free.

This means our standing with God doesn’t depend on how well we keep rules, but on whether we trust Him like Abraham did. And because Christ took the curse of the law by being 'hanged on a tree,' we receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith - not because we earned it, but because God keeps His promises.

Faith Brings the Blessing: Living by God's Promise Today

Building on Paul’s argument, the heart of the gospel is not about earning God’s favor but receiving it through faith, just as Abraham did.

For the Galatians, this was a radical reminder that their experience of the Holy Spirit - miracles, transformation, and peace - came not from following religious rules but from hearing and believing the good news of Christ. Paul’s point is clear: if the Spirit came through faith at the beginning, why try to grow in God’s favor through human effort now?

We receive the Spirit and God's blessing not by perfect rule-keeping, but by trusting Him like Abraham did.

This truth still frees us today - salvation and the Spirit are gifts of grace, not rewards for performance, pointing us back to the cross where Christ fulfilled the law and brought Abraham’s blessing to all who believe.

The Promise Fulfilled: How Christ Brings Abraham's Blessing to All Nations

This passage explains how God’s ancient promise to Abraham reaches us now through Christ, the Spirit, and the gospel.

Paul’s deep argument connects Genesis to the cross: just as Abraham believed God and it was counted as righteousness, so Christ becomes the true 'offspring' through whom all nations are blessed (Galatians 3:16). In Luke 24:26-27, Jesus Himself opens the Scriptures to show how the Messiah must suffer and rise, fulfilling the promise long before the law was given - this means the gospel was in Scripture all along, not a new plan but the original one. And just as Joel 2:28-29 foretold that God would pour out His Spirit on all people, Peter confirms at Pentecost in Acts 2 that this promise is now fulfilled in Christ, proving that the blessing comes by faith, not law.

So today, when we trust Christ, we step into Abraham’s story, receiving the Spirit, and becoming part of a family that crosses every barrier of race, status, and background. A church that lives this truth doesn’t rank people by how religious they look, but welcomes all who believe, because we’re all saved the same way - by grace through faith.

The blessing of Abraham is not a distant promise - it’s the Spirit in us today, uniting all believers in Christ.

And that changes how we live: no more trying to earn God’s love, no more judging others by rules, but growing in love, freedom, and boldness to share the gospel. This is the power of the promise - alive in us by the Spirit, pointing the world back to Christ, the one true Seed of Abraham.

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