!2 But Paul nuances that good news by adding the notion of blessing (3.8b): In you shall all

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1 Faith, Sonship, and Blessing (Gal ) WestminsterReformedChurch.org Pastor Ostella November 4, 2018 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them. 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith. 12 But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. Introduction At the end of chapter 2 (17-21), Paul gives a passionate plea for repentance in which he calls the Galatians to turn away from nullifying God s grace and making the cross a purposeless waste. No wonder he intensifies his astonishment (of 1.6) with passionate language calling them foolish (twice, 3.1, 3) and bewitched (3.1). He thus appeals subjectively to their experience of the Holy Spirit and reminds them that justification by faith involves both the beginning and the continuing of the Christian life. Believing over against working defines the dynamic of the new life in Christ from start to finish (3.1-6; you do not begin by God s grace and end by your merits). At this point in the letter, Paul embarks on the major defense of his gospel of gracious justification. He begins with a fact that the Galatians should know (3.7): Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. This has the backdrop of the pressure placed on Gentiles to become Jews by receiving circumcision and adopting food laws. Their right standing with God, the false teachers claim, is by obeying the law. You Gentiles have to obey these laws to become Abraham s children. Jews by birth have the law and by it are justified; Gentiles without the law must submit to the law, especially circumcision. This means that Gentiles are sons of Abraham by law-keeping. Paul counters this claim head on in 3.7: those of faith are the sons of Abraham. The ones who have righteousness (justifying righteousness that is not their own but counted to them) are those who believe God as Abraham believed (3.6 based on Gen 15.6). In the remaining verses of this section (8-14), reference is made to the blessing of Abraham three times and to its polar opposite, cursing, five times. Practically speaking, the blessing that comes by faith defines what it means to be a son of Abraham. Thus, our title is faith, sonship, and blessing. We can use three hooks on which to hang the difficult argument and the many OT citations that occur here: Scripture promises blessing, the law brings the opposite of blessing, and Christ secures the blessing (Scripture, the law, and Christ in relation to blessing). I. Scripture promises blessing In 3.8-9, we read: 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. There are many interesting things worthy of comment in these verses, not the least being the way Scripture is personified. Instead of the usual it is written (as in 10, 13), Paul says that Scripture looked to the future with the predetermined knowledge of what God would do to justify the Gentiles by faith. Therefore, Scripture preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. It is obviously the good news of Gentile justification by faith without law-works that made up the content of this proclamation. Scripture preached just the opposite of what the agitators in Galatia preached.

2 !2 But Paul nuances that good news by adding the notion of blessing (3.8b): In you shall all the nations be blessed. The Scripture he has in mind is Genesis 12.3: I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families [tribes, clans, families] of the earth shall be blessed. In you indicates that Abraham is the channel through whom blessings as opposed to cursings flow. Also, we should notice that in you in the parallel texts refers to in your offspring (Gen 12.3; to Abraham; 26.4, to Isaac; 28.14, to Jacob). Paul s reference to in you is short for in your offspring through your son of promise Isaac and through your grandson Jacob. Nations, not used in the text Paul quotes, 12.3, comes from the parallel in Genesis He connects the justification of Abraham by faith (Gal 3.6 rooted in Gen 15.6) with the promise of the blessing of the Gentile nations by faith (Gal 3.8) to draw out the conclusion of Galatians 3.9: So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Gentiles are blessed along with Abraham in one way: in the communion of faith. There is no law obedience for Abraham as the gospel distorters teach. As to circumcision, his faith preceded it. He did not receive the promise by obeying this command or by any other obedience to the law. How Abraham received the promise of justification indicates how the blessing of the nations will come to them. That seems to be the point of the addition, the man of faith (v. 9). Those of faith receive the blessing along with Abraham in unity with him before God and God s way of salvation and justification. Thus, they must be people of faith as well, men and women of faith like he was to inherit the blessings. That he is the man of faith shows that he is a paradigm of justification by faith (as father of the faithful in Romans). So, Scripture (as if a person) preached the blessing of the Gentiles (including righteousness by faith without works) in the promise: in you shall the nations be blessed. Genesis is not only a promise of offspring from Abraham s very own body; it is also a promise of Gentile justification and sonship by faith without the law that will be realized in his offspring through Isaac and Jacob. II. The law brings the opposite of blessing The texts in Deuteronomy that Paul cites (27.26; 21.23) are found in places that put blessing back to back with cursing ( ; 8.1; 9.1; 27-30). In Galatians , Paul cites three OT passages that ultimately reveal this contrast of blessing and cursing. Let s try to follow the thought of each from Deuteronomy, Habakkuk, and Leviticus. We need our thinking caps. A. Deuteronomy announces a curse for relying on the law Here in Galatians 3.10, we read: For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written [in Deut 27.26], "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them [Deut has by doing them]. In Deuteronomy, the quote is followed by And all the people shall say, Amen. It sounds a positive note but Paul uses it in a negative way. The false teachers claimed that by relying on law-works you receive the blessing of the covenant, but Paul turns this around and uses this text to make the point that relying on law-works brings you under the cursing of the covenant. The agitators rely on the law; they claim obedience, and Deuteronomy talks about disobeying the law. Paul adds that it is about not doing all things written in the Book of the Law [this totality not explicit in Deut]. How does this text support the point that if you seek justification by the law, by relying on your law-works, you come under a curse? Moses is encouraging the redeemed nation to obey the law with the threat of cursing (27.26) and the promise of blessing (28.1); hence, the Amen. The people of Israel would fulfill their calling with an abundance of blessing if they walked in obedience. 1 So, obedience to the law is encouraged; hence, the Judaizers make a plausible point. However, Paul quotes the passage for a different purpose, namely, to show that resting on the law as a basis to gain right standing with God brings Also, they would face judgment in severe cursing if they walked in disobedience; again, even in this negative way, 1 obedience is promoted for the already redeemed nation.

3 !3 people under the curse of the law. Paul assumes failure to abide by all things written in the law (3.10; note his extrapolation to all ), which is why the attempt in this law-works endeavor brings people under a curse. No one can keep the whole law. It is one thing for a redeemed people (already in right standing with God) to seek obedience to the law for covenant blessing. 2 It is quite another thing when the law is used to gain right standing with God; then it can only merit cursing. 3 B. Habakkuk shows that the blessing of justification is not by the law Paul says (Gal 3.11): Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for [in Hab 2.4 we read] The righteous shall live by faith. The apostle quotes Habakkuk and omits the reference to his faith, which refers to God s faithfulness [the righteous shall live by His faithfulness]. Despite all appearances (Babylonian brutality, pressing trials, and so forth), God is faithful and He will do as He promised (2.2-4): Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end-- it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. 4 "Behold, his soul [the soul of the enemy] is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith [by the faithfulness of the Lord who will not lie]. So how does this make it evident that no one is justified by the law? 4 It gives part of the story Paul is telling that requires another OT text to complete it. But this much is here: justification is not by the law because the righteous are such by faith, which is implied by Abraham s righteous standing by faith (Gal 3.6 based on Gen 15.6). Moreover, they have this right relationship with God by His work (not by any work of theirs, as it was with Abraham): the righteous by faith live a blessed life by faithfulness, that is by the faithfulness of God. This central OT text shows that the blessing of justification is not by our doing of the law. Righteousness is by faith and by God s doing. C. Leviticus proves that the law is not of faith and leads to cursing In Leviticus 18.5, we have: You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD. When Paul says (Gal 3.12) But the law is not of faith, rather The one who does them shall live by them, we know that for the apostle the law brings people under cursing because these words lead him to the theme of the curse in 13. Thus, the notion of cursing is thread that runs through the fabric of verses But how does this work in the quote from Leviticus 18.5? We need to start again with Moses who is encouraging the redeemed nation to obey the law with the threat of cursing (as 18.28, lest the land vomit you out) and the promise of blessing (here in v. 5): the one who does them shall live by them in the blessings of covenant relationship with God. 5 Again, the agitators rely on works of the law and claim obedience (their claims have an initial plausibility). Understandably, their merit system is the context of Paul's reading of Paul's use of the text is to show that the law does not depend on faith (the law is not of faith) as if faith were a law itself by which a law-keeper earns justification; this would be a faith-law merit system (as Ridderbos fn.6, 125). Therefore, if one tries to earn right standing with 2 This is not unlike the path of blessing for the redeemed today. 3 So Ridderbos, versus Hays, , who brackets the larger context of reliance on circumcision and lawkeeping to earn justification (at Antioch and Jerusalem) by defining those of works to be those who get their national identity from circumcision and who thus divide Jew from Gentile. He thus restricts Paul s response to healing the national barrier without any reference to earning justification by works. This is an element in the new perspective on Paul. The old Reformed perspective spoke to both earning justification by works and the dividing of Jew from Gentile. 4 And we rightly wonder why Paul leaves off His in quoting 2.4; especially when additions and subtractions are often indications of interpretation by departing from verbatim quotation. We can understand that Paul is thinking by faithfulness, which he takes to mean God s faithfulness in context. He obviously is not seeking to ground justification in our faithfulness. Granted, the OT saint loved the law as a person redeemed by grace. By the law, he had covenant fellowship with 5 the Lord. Even with its laws and abominations, Leviticus 18 graciously guides the life of the saint.

4 !4 God by law keeping (even if faith is added as another law) then he comes under the curses (not blessings of the covenant). It is one thing for a redeemed people (already in right standing with God) to seek obedience to the law for covenant blessing. 6 It is quite another thing when the law is used to gain right standing with God; then it can only merit cursing. We might paraphrase the text like this: but in contrast to the teaching of Habakkuk that the righteous by faith without works live by the faithful work of God, the law as a merit system is not rooted in faith as itself a meritorious work; instead, the one who does law works to earn right standing shall live by them in cursing and not in blessing. No one can keep the law in its wholeness and depth; if you try to keep it in a merit system you live by it under its curses. III. Christ secures the blessing Paul cites one more OT text in 3.13: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-- for it is written [in Deut 21.23], "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. All of the references to the law confirm the point that no one is justified before God by the law, as 3.11 affirms and where Paul states that this truth is unmistakably evident! These thoughts on the law confirm what we know from 2.16: we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. These OT passages make the point that the law brings us under a curse (3.10) but the gospel of grace announces that we have deliverance from the curse of the law by the Lord Jesus becoming a curse for us (3.13). The quote from Deuteronomy seems to have no connection to the work of Christ. It speaks of a man that is executed and then hanged on a tree. The execution is not specifically by the act of hanging him on a tree. The point is that his body is not to be left on the tree; he is to be buried the same day because (21.23): a hanged man is cursed by God and leaving him there all night defiles the land. Paul applies the text to Christ because He was hanged on a tree and therefore He became a curse for us. As in 1.4, for us means in our stead, as our substitute. Thus, Jesus redeems us from being cursed by God by His death on the tree in our place. Accordingly, a double blessing is secured for us and bestowed upon us by our Lord becoming a curse on our behalf (3.13): so that (3.14) in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. In Him we receive the blessing of all families promised to Abraham. Further, the blessing is compounded because through the cursing of Christ we receive the promised Spirit who applies all that Christ secured for His people in His saving death. Finally, we receive double and compounding blessing blessing through faith, which is definitely without the works of the law. Application 1. On the sons of Abraham Gentiles who believe are covenant children, sons of promise like Isaac (Gal 4.28). This stands in contrast to the unbelieving sons of the covenant who crucified Christ (Acts 3.25). It is worthy of note that those of faith are not identified here as sons of God but sons of Abraham. This terminology is governed by the context. Paul s words have the backdrop of the false teachers who claimed that Gentiles must become Jews by keeping the law if they are to have a right relationship with God. In response, Paul claims (3.7) that it is by faith without the law and without the circumcision law that a Gentile becomes a son or daughter of Abraham. It is all in the promise of Genesis 12.3: in you all nations shall be blessed. The Gentiles who believe are blessed along with Abraham and share in the blessing of righteousness that the man of faith received. So, they are identified as sons of Abraham; they share in the blessings promised to him by the God of 6 This is not unlike the path of blessing for the redeemed today.

5 !5 the covenant. To be a son of Abraham is to be a son of the covenant with Abraham, an heir with him of the gospel that is received by faith and not by works. 2. On Scripture as the very word of God In a remarkable way Paul identifies Scripture as the very word of God. Scripture, he says, foresees the realization of God s plan and preaches the gospel of justification by faith without works. So, if it is difficult to understand at times, we are not to be surprised for God is speaking. Thus, we are to come up to the task with effort and do so respectfully, prayerfully, patiently and earnestly. 3. On interpretation Scripture is self-interpreting. That principle is viewed from an interesting angle here in the interpreting of the OT by the NT. Paul interprets and we wrestle to follow his lines of thinking. We need to do justice to the old itself in its context. At the same time, we need to grasp the old by how the new uses it. The NT perspective enriches our perspective, brings out things there but latent things we might never see. Consider how Paul uses the curse of a man hanged on a tree. His use is not obvious. It does not seem to be contextual to take the text as messianic. But Paul reads the text within the story line of the OT narrative. On this level, we can appreciate the fact that the text is part of the gospel of promise in the OT law. There is a foreshadowing of Christ in a criminal s execution and burial; we may not think that way reading Deuteronomy. However, Scripture uses specific language and says that a man hanging on a tree is cursed by God, and it defiles the land to leave him there all night without burial the same day. Now we can go crazy with a devotional reading to find Christ everywhere. But the problem with devotional reading is not the quest to find Christ but the abuse of careful attention to the context of both the NT and the OT. So, devotionally, let s extrapolate: Scripture told us beforehand that Christ would endure the curse of God that we sinner-criminals merit and His burial is a key to our inheritance of a new earth from which the curse is lifted. 4. On the wonder of it all At bottom: Christ took our place on that tree. We have committed crimes worthy of death and deserve execution and the curse of being hanged on a tree. But He became a curse for us to those who minimize a place for forgiveness, I ask, how can we miss it here? He is punished, cursed for us so that we would be delivered from the curse and not hung on a tree to be buried without forgiveness. He delivers us from that punishment. That is one huge way of saying that He forgives us all our sins, crimes. Of course, Paul hammers the point here that by the law we come under a curse; especially if we try to earn our justification by works of the law. Although the law defines the way of obedience and blessing for redeemed people, if it is used to gain redemption, then we must do it all, we fail, and we come under the curse. We know that from the law. Still, we have to think carefully and meditate prayerfully to absorb how Paul goes to the OT to make an application to a misuse of the law in Galatia. He draws a fine line. As disciples of Christ, it is our job to discover that line for food from the word as our delight day and night. And this is so we may be like a deeply planted tree beside a water stream, which in its season bears its fruit whose leaves stay fresh and green (Ps 1, Crown and Covenant). In this walk of the redeemed today, the law is our day and night delight for blessing. Let us fall down before the majesty of God with a deep sense of awe and wonder; may the Holy Spirit enable us to meditate on God s preaching in Scripture day and night and find there that God in Christ by the Spirit is our greatest delight in life; to the glory of the triune God, now in His church and forever, amen.