Galatians 3 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Mid first century AD
Location
Sent to Galatian congregations meeting in homes
Audience
Non-Jewish believers being told they must take on the law of Moses to be full members
Situation
Paul argues from the Galatians' own experience and from scripture that God accepted them through trust, not law-keeping. He works through Abraham, the curse of the law, the promise, and the purpose of the law as a temporary guardian.
Key Background
Abraham mattered here because the people urging circumcision could point to Genesis 17, where circumcision is commanded to him, so Paul goes back further to Genesis 15, where Abraham is counted righteous purely for trusting God. The guardian Paul mentions was a household slave who walked a boy to school and disciplined him until he came of age, a figure Greek readers found both familiar and slightly humiliating, which is the point. The closing line that there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female overturns three standard social divisions in a single sentence, likely quoting a baptism formula the congregations already knew.
You Who you? Jesus as The was right in front of you as on the
I just want to know one thing from you: Did you receive the of by the or by what you
Are you really that senseless? You started with the of — are you now trying to reach the finish line through your own
Did you go all of that for nothing? Surely it wasn't for nothing!
So when God gives you the Breath and among you, does he do it because you follow the law, or because you trust what you heard?
Think about — "he and it was to as being with
So understand this: the real of are those who live by
And saw ahead of time that God would make with through trust, so it announced the good news to Abraham in advance: "Through you, every nation on earth will be
So those who live by trust are right alongside Abraham, the man who trusted.
But everyone who depends on following the is living under a because it's written: "Cursed is everyone who doesn't continue doing everything written in the book of the
Now it's obvious that no one is with through the law, because "the person who is with will live by trust."
But the on Instead, "the person who does these things will live by them."
The us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — because it's written: "Cursed is everyone who is on a
He did this so that the to would come to non-Jewish people through Jesus The One, and so that we could receive the through trust.
and let me use an everyday example. Even with a human once it's been finalized, no one can cancel it or add conditions to it.
Now, the were spoken to Abraham and to his It doesn't say "and to offsprings" — meaning many — but "and to your meaning one person, who is The One.
Here's my point: The law, which came doesn't cancel the contract God had already finalized. It can't wipe out the promise.
Because if the comes through the law, then it no longer comes through a promise. But God gave it to Abraham through a promise as a
So what was the point of the law? It was added because of all the and it was meant to last until the offspring who was promised would come. It was put in place through and delivered by a
Now a mediator isn't needed when only party is involved, and is
So does the law work against God's promises? Absolutely not! If a law had been given that could actually then yes, being with would come through the law.
But instead, Scripture up under the power of so that what was promised — through in Jesus The One — could be given to those who
Before this trust came, we were in under the law, locked up until the coming trust would be
So the law served as our until The One came, so that we could be made right with God through trust.
But now that trust has come, we are no a
Because you are all of through trust in Jesus The One.
Because every of you who was into The has been with The
There is no or slave or free, male or female — because you are all in Jesus The
And if you to The then you are Abraham's offspring — heirs according to the