"I trust that the Lord will keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge the person who is confusing them, whoever he is "
Galatians 5:10 (NLT)
Oh silly Galatians! in this case, Oh foolish Christians! ... Who has bewitched you? For the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ was explained to them as clearly as if they had seen him die on the cross. Let me ask you a question: did you receive the Holy Spirit for obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! They received the Spirit because they believed the message they heard about Christ. Is it possible that they are so stupid? After you have begun to live the Christian life in the Spirit, why do you now try to be perfect through your own efforts? Have they been through so many experiences in vain? It can not be that they have not been served at all!
I ask you again: does God give to the Holy Spirit and do miracles among you because they obey the law? Of course not! It is because they believe the message they heard about Christ.
Similarly, "Abraham believed God, and God considered him righteous because of his faith." So the true children of Abraham are those who put their faith in God.
Moreover, the Scriptures foresaw this time when God would declare the Gentiles righteous because of their faith. God announced that Good News to Abraham a long time ago, when he said to him: «All nations will be blessed through you». So all who put their faith in Christ share in the same blessing that Abraham received because of his faith.
However, those who depend on the law to become righteous before God are under the curse of God, because the Scriptures say: "Cursed is everyone who does not meet or obey each of the commands that are written in the book of the law of God". It is clear, then, that no one can be made righteous before God by trying to fulfill the law, since the Scriptures say: "It is by faith that the just has life." The way of faith is very different from the way of the law, which says: "It is through obedience to the law that a person has life."
But Christ has rescued us from the curse dictated in the law. When he was hung on the cross, he carried the curse of our misdeeds on himself. For it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree." Through Jesus Christ, God blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing that He promised to Abraham, so that believers could receive through faith the promised Holy Spirit.
Beloved brothers, the following is an example of daily life: just as no one can annul or modify an irrevocable agreement, neither in this case. God has given the promises to Abraham and his son. And notice that the Scripture does not say "to your children," as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says "to his son," and that certainly refers to Christ. What I am trying to say is this: the agreement that God made with Abraham could not be annulled four hundred and thirty years later - when God gave the law to Moses - because God would be breaking his promise. For, if it were possible to receive the inheritance by obeying the law, then that inheritance would no longer be the result of accepting the promise of God; but God, by his grace, granted it to Abraham by a promise.
So, what was the law for? It was added to the promise to show people their sins, but the intention was that the law would last only until the arrival of the promised Son. Through angels, God gave his law to Moses, who mediated between God and the people. Now, a mediator is helpful if two or more parties have to come to an agreement, but God - who is one - did not use a mediator when he gave the promise to Abraham.
Is there any conflict, then, between the law of God and the promises of God? No way! If the law could give us new life, we could become righteous before God by obeying it; But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive the promise of freedom that God made, only by believing in Jesus Christ.
Before the path of faith in Christ was opened to us, we were guarded by the law. He kept us in protective custody, so to speak, until the path of faith was revealed.
In other words, the law was our guardian until Christ came; He protected us until we were declared righteous before God through faith. And now that the path of faith has arrived, we no longer need the law to be our guardian.
For you are all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. And all those who were united to Christ in baptism have put on Christ as if they were putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, man or woman, because you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that they belong to Christ, they are true children of Abraham. They are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. (Galatians 3, NTV).
THEREFORE, CHRIST IN TRUTH HAS RELEASED US. NOW MAKE SURE YOU REMAIN FREE AND DO NOT SLAVE AGAIN TO THE LAW. (Galatians 5: 1 NTV).
Those of us who live in the Spirit live according to the law of Christ!
