Galatians:3
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You foolish Galatians !
Whose sophistry has bewitched you –
you to whom Jesus Christ has been vividly portrayed as on the Cross ?
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Answer me this one question , »
Is it on the ground of your obedience to the Law that you received the Spirit ,
or is it because ,
when you heard ,
you believed ?«
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Are you so foolish ?
Having begun by the Spirit ,
are you now going to reach perfection through what is external ?
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Have you endured such sufferings to no purpose –
if indeed it has been to no purpose ?
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He who gives you His Spirit and works miracles among you –
does He do so on the ground of your obedience to the Law ,
or is it the result of your having heard and believed :
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even as
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Notice therefore that those who possess faith are true sons of Abraham .
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And the Scripture ,
foreseeing that in consequence of faith God would declare the nations to be free from guilt ,
sent beforehand the Good News to Abraham ,
saying ,
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So we see that it is those who possess faith that are blessed with believing Abraham .
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All who are depending upon their own obedience to the Law are under a curse ,
for it is written ,
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It is evident ,
too ,
that no one can find acceptance with God simply by obeying the Law ,
because
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and the Law has nothing to do with faith .
It teaches that
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Christ has purchased our freedom from the curse of the Law by becoming accursed for us –
because
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Our freedom has been thus purchased in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing belonging to Abraham may come upon the nations ,
so that through faith we may receive the promised Spirit .
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Brethren ,
even a covenant made by a man –
to borrow an illustration from daily life –
when once formally sanctioned is not liable to be set aside or added to .
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Now the promises were given to Abraham and to his seed .
God did not say »
and to seeds ,«
as if speaking of many ,
but »
and to your seed ,«
since He spoke of only one –
and this is Christ .)
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I mean that the Covenant which God had already formally made is not abrogated by the Law which was given four hundred and thirty years later –
so as to annul the promise .
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For if the inheritance comes through obedience to Law ,
it no longer comes because of a promise .
But ,
as a matter of fact ,
God has granted it to Abraham in fulfilment of a promise .
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Why then was the Law given ?
It was imposed later on for the sake of defining sin ,
until the seed should come to whom God had made the promise ;
and its details were laid down by a mediator with the help of angels .
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But there cannot be a mediator where only one individual is concerned .
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God ,
however ,
is only one .
Is the Law then opposed to the promises of God ?
No ,
indeed ;
for if a Law had been given which could have conferred Life ,
righteousness would certainly have come by the Law .
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But Scripture has shown that all mankind are the prisoners of sin ,
in order that the promised blessing ,
which depends on faith in Jesus Christ ,
may be given to those who believe .
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Before this faith came ,
we Jews were perpetual prisoners under the Law ,
living under restraints and limitations in preparation for the faith which was soon to be revealed .
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So that the Law has acted the part of a tutor-slave to lead us to Christ ,
in order that through faith we may be declared to be free from guilt .
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But now that this faith has come ,
we are no longer under a tutor-slave .
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You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus ;
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for all of you who have been baptized into Christ ,
have clothed yourselves with Christ .
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In Him the distinctions between Jew and Gentile ,
slave and free man ,
male and female ,
disappear ;
you are all one in Christ Jesus .
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And if you belong to Christ ,
then you are indeed true descendants of Abraham ,
and are heirs in fulfilment of the promise .