Galatians 3:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

NIV: I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?

NASB: This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

CSB: I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?

NLT: Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.

KJV: This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

NKJV: This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

The Galatian believers had accepted the gospel through Paul's preaching (Galatians 1:6–9). Now, however, they are starting to listen to the Judaizers, men claiming they must follow the works of the law to truly be saved. These false teachers suggest that faith is not enough to obtain salvation (Galatians 2:4). Paul has made his opinion clear: falling for this lie is "foolish" (Galatians 3:1).

Here, Paul begins to ask the Galatians a series of leading questions. His purpose is to help them reevaluate what they know to be true.

First, he asks them to look at the evidence of what happened when they were saved. These believers received the Holy Spirit from God at the time of their conversion, as do all Christians. Apparently, this was accompanied by certain outward signs, such as speaking in tongues, meaning languages the Galatians did not know. This often happened in the earliest days of Christianity. Whatever the specifics, Paul is referring to some obvious expression of God's supernatural power.

Paul asks them to remember that moment. Did it happen when they heard and believed in Jesus? Or, did they have to perform some works of the law, first? Paul's question is meant to help them see God gave His Spirit to them willingly by His grace and not because of anything they had done.

Galatians 3:1–9 begins with Paul calling the Galatian Christians he loves ''foolish.'' They have begun to believe they must follow the law of Moses in order to be included in the family of God. Paul asks: did God give His Spirit to them with great power after they believed, or after doing works of the law? Clearly, the Spirit arrived in response to their faith. Abraham also was declared righteous by God in response to his own faith. Paul insists God's promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him pointed to this time when Gentiles would be saved by faith in Christ.

Paul indicates the Galatian Christians are foolish for believing they need to follow the law of Moses to be right with God. He offers three specific arguments to support this. First, they received God's Spirit in a powerful way after believing in Jesus, but before doing any works of the law. Second, Scripture itself shows God's blessing coming by faith, and His curse coming by the law. Christ paid the price of that curse on the cross. Third, God's covenant with Abraham is like a legal document, and it cannot be revoked.

In Galatians chapter 2, Paul declared that we can only be justified—''made right with God''—by faith in Christ and not by following the law of Moses. In chapter 3, Paul offers three arguments for why that is true. He argues from the Galatians own experience, from the Scriptures themselves, and from the legal standpoint of a covenant contract. Finally, Paul answers what the law is for if it cannot save us from our sin. In part, it reveals our sinfulness and convinces us of our need to be saved by faith in Christ. The following chapter will expand on what it means to be an ''heir,'' spiritually.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.