What is the theme of this chapter?
Justification by faith alone explained.
What is the key verse(s) of this chapter? Verses 25-26
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
What can I apply to my life from this chapter (things to do/avoid)?
I can be on my guard against telling others, or even smiling and agreeing with others, that salvation is through faith plus works, not faith alone. So EASY to slip up on this!
Additional observations/questions:
Interesting that traditional Reformed theology practically hinges on this one verse, Galatians 3:16 — "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ." They say that this verse was the Holy Spirit's own exegesis, or explanation, of all the promises made to Abraham. They insist that no matter how plainly the promises themselves seemed to refer to Abraham's multiplied seed, God Himself says in Galatians 3:16 that they referred to one particular Seed alone: Christ.
Two things about this:
1) If God made promises to Abraham which obviously referred to his multiplied seed but actually meant them to apply to only one particular seed — Christ — wouldn't that portray God as being dishonest with Abraham (See Gen 12:1-3; 13:14-16; 15:5; 17:6-8; 22:17-18)? Surely the promises referred to in Deut 1:8,10, 21; Isa 60:1-3; Jer 23:3,5,6 and Zech 8:13,23 must refer to the multiplied seed of Abraham — because they could not refer to Christ. Was Christ "a curse among the nations"? Did He have to be "saved" to become a blessing to them? The two verses from Zechariah 8 alone establish beyond a doubt that it was God's plan — and still is — to bless the nations through the multiplied seed of Abraham. And this does not change in the New Testament (See Acts 3:25,26,19,21; Rom 11:25-26).
2) In order to make their premise work, the traditional Reformed must read all of the above OT references symbolically. Interesting that they don't do this with Galatians 3:16...
Justification by faith alone explained.
What is the key verse(s) of this chapter? Verses 25-26
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
I can be on my guard against telling others, or even smiling and agreeing with others, that salvation is through faith plus works, not faith alone. So EASY to slip up on this!
Additional observations/questions:
Interesting that traditional Reformed theology practically hinges on this one verse, Galatians 3:16 — "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ." They say that this verse was the Holy Spirit's own exegesis, or explanation, of all the promises made to Abraham. They insist that no matter how plainly the promises themselves seemed to refer to Abraham's multiplied seed, God Himself says in Galatians 3:16 that they referred to one particular Seed alone: Christ.
Two things about this:
1) If God made promises to Abraham which obviously referred to his multiplied seed but actually meant them to apply to only one particular seed — Christ — wouldn't that portray God as being dishonest with Abraham (See Gen 12:1-3; 13:14-16; 15:5; 17:6-8; 22:17-18)? Surely the promises referred to in Deut 1:8,10, 21; Isa 60:1-3; Jer 23:3,5,6 and Zech 8:13,23 must refer to the multiplied seed of Abraham — because they could not refer to Christ. Was Christ "a curse among the nations"? Did He have to be "saved" to become a blessing to them? The two verses from Zechariah 8 alone establish beyond a doubt that it was God's plan — and still is — to bless the nations through the multiplied seed of Abraham. And this does not change in the New Testament (See Acts 3:25,26,19,21; Rom 11:25-26).
2) In order to make their premise work, the traditional Reformed must read all of the above OT references symbolically. Interesting that they don't do this with Galatians 3:16...
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