Galatians 3:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Did you suffer so many things in vain — if indeed it was in vain?

NIV: Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?

NASB: Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

CSB: Did you experience so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing?

NLT: Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

KJV: Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

NKJV: Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

The Galatians were being convinced by false teachers that they must follow the Old Testament law in order to be truly saved (Galatians 2:4). Paul is asking them a series of leading questions to help them remember what they learned from him about salvation by faith through God's grace and not self-effort (Galatians 3:1–3).

Here, Paul asks if these Galatian Christians have suffered in vain. Paul might be addressing persecution they suffered for their faith in Christ. Many early Christians were mistreated by Jewish religious leaders for following Jesus. Paul is asking these believers if their suffering was, in the end, meaningless. After all, if they are now going to agree with those religious leaders and begin to follow the law, doesn't that mean agreeing with their "foolish" claims (Galatians 1:6–9)?

Alternatively, the Greek word translated as suffered, epathete, can also mean "experienced." It may be that instead of persecution, Paul is referring to all the amazing, supernatural things the Galatian believers have seen since trusting in Christ. That would fit with the mention of miracles in the following verse.

In either case, Paul is asking if the Galatian Christians now consider those prior experiences to be pointless. Did they mean anything, if the Galatians will now stop trusting Christ for their salvation, and instead rely on their own ability to keep the law?

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.