Church of Fools
1You Galatians are just plain ignorant! Who put a hex on you? You’re acting like you’re blind. Didn’t you see the news that Jesus the Messiah was crucified? 2I have just one question for you. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the Jewish law or by having faith?3Are you out of your mind? You started your spiritual journey with the help of the Spirit. But now you want to go the rest of the way by helping yourself—earning your way with good behavior. 4You folks suffered a lot because of your faith. Was it for nothing? I hope it wasn’t for nothing.
5Tell me something. It’s about the one who gives you the Spirit and who does miracles that you can see with your own eyes. Has he been doing this because you’ve obeyed Jewish law? Or has he been doing it because of your faith?
Did Abraham Follow Jewish Law?
6Come on, people, think about Abraham. “The Lord saw Abram’s extraordinary faith. Because of Abram’s faith, the Lord recognized him as a man after his own heart—a good and right-hearted soul.” [1]7I’ll tell you who Abraham’s children are. They’re the people with faith. 8The Bible predicted it. God told Abraham that through faith, non-Jews would one day have a good relationship with the Lord: “All the families on the planet will be better off because of you and your family.” [2] 9So, those who believe are honored by God, [3] like Abraham was. He believed too. 10But if you’re counting on the Jewish law to save you, you’re doomed. The Bible says so. “Anyone who doesn’t agree with the words of these teachings and doesn’t prove it by obeying them, that person will be cursed.” [4]
11So, this much is clear: No one gets on the good side of God by obeying the Jewish law. “People who are right with God put their faith in him.” [5] 12The Jewish law, however, isn’t about faith. It’s about obedience: “Obey these laws and you’ll live.” [6] 13The Messiah spared us from the Law’s curse. He took our place. He became cursed himself. The Bible says, “Anyone who hangs on a tree is cursed.” [7] 14God used the Messiah, Jesus, to deliver on the promise he made to Abraham. Jesus is the reason non-Jews can experience God’s Spirit, through faith.
Jewish Law Doesn’t Trump God’s Promise
15Family, let me give you a practical example of what I’m talking about. When you make a contract, it’s binding. You can’t back out of it later. You can’t change it on your own. 16The Bible says God made a promise to Abraham and his “descendant”—singular—not to Abraham’s “descendants,” plural. That one unique descendant the Bible is talking about is the Messiah.17Here’s what I’m trying to say. The Jewish law that came 430 years [8] later doesn’t cancel the contract God made with Abraham and throw that promise out with the trash. 18If the spiritual inheritance we’re talking about is now based on the Law, it can’t be based on the promise God made to Abraham. You can’t have it both ways. God gave the promise to Abraham.
Why God Gave Jews the Law
19So, why did God bother giving the Law? It was a stopgap measure for dealing with sin until Abraham’s descendant came—the descendant in God’s promise. This law was set up by angels working with a middleman. [9] 20A middleman isn’t necessary when there’s just one party involved. Well, God is one party. [10]21Am I saying the Jewish law clashes with God’s promise to Abraham? Heavens, no. But I’m telling you this, if there had been such a thing as a law that could give you eternal life, then folks could get on the right side of God by obeying the Law. But it doesn’t work that way. 22Scripture, with its law, locked everybody up as sinners. [11] Jesus freed everyone with the faith to believe God’s promise. 23Before faith came along, we were all under arrest. The Law stood guard on us, protecting us from ourselves and from others. All the while, we waited on faith to come. 24The Law worked as our guardian. But only until the Messiah came. Then, by faith, we got our freedom and the stamp of God’s approval: righteousness.
We Are God’s Kids
25We’re free now, thanks to faith. The Law isn’t our guardian anymore. 26You are all God’s kids because of your faith in the Messiah, Jesus.27For those of you baptized into the faith, [12] you’re now wearing the Messiah like you’d wear a new set of clothes. [13] 28Here’s what all of this means. We’re not Jews or non-Jews. We’re not slaves or free folk. We’re not men or women. We’re one people, united in Jesus the Messiah. 29If you’re one of the Messiah’s people, then you’re a descendant of Abraham. You’re part of the family. And you’re going to inherit what God promised.
