Galatians 3:1

GAL. 3

In this great chapter, Paul proceeded, after relating his confrontation with the apostle Peter, to expound the central theme of Galatians, which is Justification by the Faith of Jesus Christ. This chapter is considered by many commentators and theologians to be the stronghold of their doctrine that the subjective faith only of Christians is the ground for justification, notwithstanding the truth that not a single word in the chapter may legitimately be construed as teaching such a proposition.

Some prior knowledge of Almighty God and the nature of his dealings with mankind will help to understand this chapter. From the days of Cain and Abel, one of whom was cursed and the other blessed, for the simple reason that the deeds of one were righteous and the deeds of the other were evil (1 John 3:12), and throughout the history of the patriarchs, and continuing down through the Jewish monarchy, where of various kings it is said that some "did that which was right and good in the eyes of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 14:2), and of others, that they "did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 33:2), with the result that some received God's blessing and others did not, people's obedience or disobedience to God's commandments has been the primary and invariable determinator of their destiny. Not even the perfect salvation which Christians have received "in Christ" nullifies this basic law of God's dealings with mankind. As Paul wrote the Corinthian church:

For we must all be manifest before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Any notion that Paul relaxed or countermanded this truth is erroneous. The relationship between the Jews and the Law of Moses, as contrasted with the relationship between the Christian and the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:2), lies only in this: (1) if the Jew did his best to live up to the law (and failed, as all must fail), he nevertheless stood condemned anyway; (2) but if the Christian does his best to keep all of the commandments of the gospel (failing in particulars, as all must fail), he is nevertheless justified and remains uncondemned, because through his identity with Christ "in Christ" and "as Christ," the righteousness of Christ, with whom the true Christian is fully identified, stands in the stead of his own failure, saving his soul anyway. But in such a conception there is no relaxation whatever of the eternal rule that obedience to God is the sine qua non of salvation. In Christ, the obedience is provided by Christ, but certainly not on behalf of those who refused to obey, believed that they were not required to obey, or who through indifference and neglect never got around to obeying. The great fallacy of salvation by "faith only" is that it utterly removes from human hearts all concern whatever with regard to keeping the commandments of the Lord. Paul thunders the refutation of that fallacy throughout his writings, as in this example:

Rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:7,8).

Furthermore, the necessity of obedience (to the fullest extent of human ability) in order to be saved, does not make man his own Savior; because the Christian, no more effectual than the Jew, is simply not able to give perfect compliance to God's teachings. Thus, all salvation is by grace, without human merit, unearned and incapable of being earned. Despite this, how can any man be saved who has consciously rejected for himself any requirement whatever that God has enjoined upon man? On the basis that he merely believed? Even devils believe (James 2:19).

Another fundamental truth regarding this chapter was enunciated by Halley, thus:

Those Galatians had swallowed the Judaizers' message so completely that they had instituted Jewish festival days and ceremonies (Galatians 4:8-11), evidently trying to combine the gospel with the Mosaic Law. Paul plainly tells them the two systems do not combine[1]

The works vs. faith contrast in this epistle regards the incompatibility of Judaism and Christianity, and absolutely nothing else. The separation of subjective faith from Christian obedience with regard to the ground of justification is not under consideration at all, nor may a single line in the whole epistle be rightfully applied to such a proposition.