O stupid Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 I want to learn only this from you: did you receive the Spirit from works of the law, or from faith in what you heard? 3 Are you so stupid? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? 4 Did you experience so many things in vain?—if indeed it was in vain. 5 Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you and works mighty deeds among you do so from works of the law or from faith in what you heard? 6 Thus Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Realize then that it is those who have faith who are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture, which saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, foretold the good news to Abraham, saying, “Through you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham who had faith. 10 For all who depend on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in doing all the things written in the book of the law.” 11 And that no one is justified before God by the law is clear, for “the one who is righteous by faith will live.” 12 But the law does not depend on faith; rather, “the one who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree,” 14 that the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Paul was frustrated because after the Galatians had accepted his preaching about Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:22-23), they were now being influenced by Jewish converts who were preaching in error that they had to be circumcised (Gal. 5:1-6). He was so astounded that they were turning away from the gospel message of Jesus Christ to revert to slavery to the law (Gal. 4:8-9) that he called them bewitched. It seemed as if they received the Spirit in vain. Paul emphasized that they had been converted through faith in what they heard not by works of the Law. They had received miracles ‘mighty gifts’ that transformed their lives through the Holy Spirit. God counted Abraham’s faith in His promises as righteousness (Gen. 15:6), and the true descendants of Abraham are those who share his faith not just his lineage.
Abraham is a key figure in Judaism in that he was the father of Israel’s faith, the first of the Patriarchs with whom God made a covenant. Abraham is also considered the father of faith in Christianity and Islam. The covenant with Abraham was sealed by male circumcision (Gen. 17:11), an outward sign, and this was at the heart of the issue with the Galatians. Circumcision was repulsive to the Greeks, so Paul sternly addressed the Galatians who had somehow been convinced that they needed to be circumcised to receive the gifts promised to Abraham and his descendants. The fact that Abraham was circumcised may have been used to convince the Christians of Galatia that circumcision was necessary.
The Scriptures foresaw that the Gentiles would be justified through faith and gave Abraham the good news through the covenant; “All the families of the earth will find blessing in you (Gen. 12:3).” God credited Abraham’s faith as righteousness (Gen. 15:6) before he was circumcised (Gen. 17:11) so those who have faith, both Jews and Gentiles, are blessed in the same way Abraham was blessed. Consequently, it was not necessary for the Galatians to be circumcised.
If the Galatians wanted to practice circumcision, then they would be obligated to observe every word of the law otherwise one failure in obeying the law beings a curse (Deut. 27:26; Gal. 5:3). The law requires strict obedience to it for one to attain righteousness, but faith relies on God’s sanctifying grace. Jesus Christ took the curse of the law upon himself by being crucified for our salvation (Deut. 21:23). He did this so that the blessings of Abraham would flow through to the Gentiles, fulfilling God’s promise that they would receive the gift of the Spirit.
Almighty God, strengthen our faith by your sanctifying grace so that Christ may dwell in our hearts and we may attain the gift of eternal glory. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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