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From: Galatians 3:1-5
Justification By Faith
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Commentary:
1-14. It is his love for the Galatians, rather than indignation at their behavior, that
causes the Apostle to call them “foolish”. His love causes him suffering because
they have forgotten that only Jesus, and not the Law, brings salvation. The Gala-
tians should know very well that they received justification without even having
heard mention of the Law, for the Holy Spirit came upon them prior to the arrival
of the people from Jerusalem (vv. 1-5). All they have to do is remember the cha-
risms which they received — the “so many things”, the “miracles”, which are
manifestations of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12-14).
Besides, there is the example of Abraham (vv. 6-9; cf. Rom 4). The Lord pro-
mised him that his descendants would be blessed; he established a covenant
with him and justified him not by the works of the Law, which had not yet been
promulgated, but through his faith. In the same way, all who have believed and
who will in the future believe in God as Abraham did will be his true descendants
and will also receive God’s blessing.
Finally, the Mosaic Law, far from bringing salvation, is rather a cause of spiritual
death, insofar as every precept involves a penalty if it is not obeyed (vv. 10-14; cf.
Rom 7:7-12). Our Lord freed us from the curse of the Law by voluntarily taking on
himself the punishment merited by man’s sin (cf. Is 53:4; Mt 8:17; Rom 3:21-26;
5:6-10). By reverting and submitting to the Law they would in effect be saying
that our Redeemer’s sacrifice was unnecessary and ineffective.
1. St Paul boasted that he preached Christ crucified, even though he fully rea-
lized that it was a stumbling-block to Jews and folly to pagans (cf. 1 Cor 1:23).
The mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ was in fact the
very essence of the Apostles’ teaching (cf. Acts 2:22-24; 3:13-15; etc.), for it
was these mysteries that contained all hope of eternal life and salvation. That
is why Paul adds that, for believers, Christ crucified, far from being folly, is the
power of God and the wisdom of God (cf. 1 Cor 1:24).
Paul had probably described our Lord’s Sacrifice with such force and effect that
it had been deeply engraved in their memory — and now these Judaizers, these
deceivers, were hypnotizing the naive Galatians and causing them to lose sight
of Christ: they had switched their attention from Christ on the Cross to the ac-
tions of the interlopers.
St Paul’s warning is an invitation to fix one’s gaze once more on that sign which,
as it were, sums up all Christianity — the image of Christ on the Cross, which
ever since apostolic times presides over altars and altarpieces, and places of
work and leisure.
2-5. St Paul reminds the Galatians that in Baptism they received the Holy Spirit
and his gifts. Since their Baptism, and not prior to it, they had experienced the
action of the Spirit who, although he is in all ages a source of joy in the Church,
was even more evident in the apostolic age in which the Galatians were living.
So, how did this life of the Spirit reach the Galatians — through faith in Christ
and through Baptism, or through the works of the Law? The Apostle poses the
question without providing an answer, surely because it is obvious that it came
through Christ. The Mosaic Law played no part at all. How, then, can they be
so foolish as to change the Gospel which Paul had preached to them?
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.