Galatians 3

Galatians 3:1

Continue to Believe the Truth An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians www.easyenglish.info Roy Rohu This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 3 v1 You foolish Christians at Galatia, someone has made fools of you. But you have known how Jesus died! v2 I want you to think about this one fact. You did not receive the *Holy Spirit because you obeyed the laws. You received the *Holy Spirit because you heard. And then you believed.

Here is what the Christians at Galatia had received:

Paul, who brought the *good news (4:14).

The *good news itself (1:9, 12).

God had brought them into his family (4:5).

The *Holy Spirit (3:2).

They had received all of this. Paul cannot believe that they could forget.

v3 Do not be so foolish! You cannot complete by effort what God has started. v4 You have suffered so many things. And I am sure that you did not suffer in vain. v5 God gives his *Holy Spirit and he does *miracles among you. He does not do this because you obey the laws. Instead, you believe the truth that you heard. And so God does these things among you.

v6 Similarly, Abraham trusted God and God declared him to be a friend of God. v7 You see! People who trust God are the real ‘sons’ of Abraham! v8 There it is in the *scripture! God decided to make people right with him by *faith. There is the *good news to Abraham, ‘Through you I will do good things for all the people in the world.’ This includes *non-Jews. v9 So then anyone who has *faith has *peace like Abraham.

Some people think that we do not need the *Old Testament. But we could not understand verses 6-9 without it. God is angry with those who trust in keeping rules. We know this because the *scriptures say so. (See Deuteronomy 27:26.) This is because people cannot keep all the rules. (See Deuteronomy 31:26.) Nobody has ever obeyed all the laws (Romans 3:10). If a person does not obey one part of the laws, he is also guilty of the other parts. This shows that the person is against God (James 2:10).

v10 Some people think that their own efforts please God. But he is angry with such people. The *scripture says, ‘God is angry with everyone who does not obey all of the laws.’ v11 To obey the laws does not make a person into a friend of God. But *faith gives life to the person who becomes a friend of God. The *scriptures say that. v12 The laws do not bring *faith. The person who obeys the laws will just continue to obey rules. v13 Christ has removed his anger from us.

We do not need to obey the laws in order to have *peace with God. He took our punishment upon himself. The *scriptures say, ‘A punishment is on everyone who hangs on a tree.’ v14 Christ died for us. In that way, God’s promises to Abraham now come to all the people in the world. So, because of what Jesus has done, we can receive the *Holy Spirit by *faith.

Because of what Jesus did, God will not punish us. Jesus took the punishment on himself to make us free (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).

v15 Nobody can change a man’s *will after he has made it.

v16 Now God gave the promise to Abraham and to his *descendant. *Scripture does not say ‘*descendants’, it says ‘*descendant’. That is, one *descendant. That *descendant is Christ. v17 Now the laws came 430 years after God’s promise to Abraham. So the laws cannot put an end to God’s ‘*will’, (his promise). v18 If we have to gain the promise by keeping rules, God’s promise is nothing. But God freely gave the promises to Abraham.

We are not able to *earn our *salvation by what we do. And we are not able to *earn it by what we do not do. The laws show us that. When we see that, we are ready to go to Jesus for help.

The purpose of the laws and the rest of the *Old Testament was to lead us to Jesus (Matthew 11:13; Luke 16:16). When we are right with God, we can show our love for God. God’s *Holy Spirit (verse 14) helps us to love God. And he helps us to obey God.

v19 I will tell you why God added the laws. He added them because people were doing wrong things. The laws would last until Abraham’s *descendant, Jesus, came. *Angels gave the laws to Moses. And Moses gave the laws to the people. v20 But, when God gave his promise to Abraham, he did it by himself alone.

Moses stood between God and the *Jewish people. God used *angels to give his laws to Moses. (See Hebrews 2:2; Acts 7:53; Deuteronomy 5:5.)

v21 But the laws are certainly not against the promise of God. Because, if life could come from the laws, then to obey the rules would make us right with God. v22 But the *scripture says that all people are guilty of *sin. So the promise is for all who have *faith in Jesus.

v23 At first, the laws were all that we had. That was before *faith came. We had to wait for the *faith that was to come. v24 The laws were our *guardian until *faith came. Now, by *faith in Jesus, we can be right with God. v25 Now that *faith has come, the laws are no longer like our *guardian. v26 Now that you have *faith in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God. v27 You have accepted *baptism in the name of Jesus. His life covers you like new clothes.

*Baptism is an important action. People who want *baptism should be ready to live to please Jesus. Paul writes more about *baptism in Romans 6:1-8.

v28 There is no longer *Jew or *non-Jew, slave or free person, male or female. God makes all of us one family in Christ Jesus. v29 If you are Christ’s, you are Abraham’s *descendant. And the promise of God to Abraham is yours too.

This verse teaches that every Christian person is in God’s family. God is a loving Father, who cares for each Christian. He appreciates men and women, servants and rulers, and people from all countries. God does not prefer one person to another person. Things like colour of skin and wealth can divide people. In Christ, they are no longer important to us. He wants us to live at *peace with each other (John 17:20-23).

© 1997-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

December 2005

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