What is it that saves us from the penalty our sins deserve? Many of the first Christians had fallen into believing that it was a combination of works and faith. Even though they had come to the correct conclusion that Jesus was in fact the Messiah God had promised so many years before, some Christians continued to think that it was necessary to perform ceremonies such as circumcision that were taught in the Law of Moses.

But Paul challenges all of us to a more radical understanding – that no one was ever saved by following the Law of Moses. Instead, he reminds us that, well before the time of Moses, Abraham “believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness” (3:6; Genesis 15:6). In the same way, Paul makes the astounding claim that people are justified, declared righteous in the sight of God, not by anything we do or leave undone, but simply “by faith in Jesus Christ” (2:16).

So, does that mean that God doesn’t care what we do or leave undone? No, but it does mean that the reason for our good works is turned on its head. For the wonderful truth is that Christians don’t have to follow the Law in order to be saved. Instead, as we are joined to Christ by trusting in Him, we have already been crucified with Him, dying to the power of sin and the Law. But that frees us to live the new life He gives us, a life filled with purpose and meaning, a life devoted no longer to our own pleasures and comforts but to the glory of God and for the good of others (2:20). In short, by faith in the Son of God, we are empowered to live His resurrection life.

And it is the indwelling Spirit of God Who gives us power to live in this way, the Spirit Whom we receive not by works of the Law, but by faith in Christ (3:2, 5). So, instead of trying to fix our own spiritual problems, instead of trying to muster up enough strength within ourselves to live the way God wants us to, let’s trust in Christ. Let’s trust Him to save us by His grace. Let’s trust Him to fill us with His Spirit, so that we might live His life of self-sacrificial obedience, so that we might truly be the sons and daughters of Abraham.

Galatians 2:11-3:9 (ESV)

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.
13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
4 Did you suffer so many things in vain– if indeed it was in vain?
5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith–
6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.