In this enlightening episode, we continue our journey through Galatians, focusing on Paul’s argument against the necessity of adhering to the law for salvation. Through detailed journal reflections spanning years, we explore how faith, rather than works, serves as the cornerstone of Christian salvation. Reflect on the timeless truths of faith being the pathway to becoming heirs according to promise, and engage with the question of how this applies to modern believers striving for spiritual clarity.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 03 :
Today we are in Galatians chapter 3 and we will listen to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of the 29 verses of this chapter. Galatians 3
SPEAKER 02 :
O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? 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, just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 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. So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for The righteous shall live by faith. but the law is not of faith. Rather, the one who does them shall live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith. To give a human example, brothers, even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring, who is Christ. This is what I mean. The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise. But God gave it to Abraham by a promise. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made. And it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one. But God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not. For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think the best way to go back through Galatians chapter 3 is to look at the journal entries that I used for those three years. So let’s begin with 1999. I wrote, Salvation comes by faith, not by works or obedience to the law. Judaizers were trying to make Gentiles Jews first as a condition of salvation. Paul opposed it. Today it may be like becoming a religion, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, before becoming a Christian. Paul argues against it. Faith, belief, is what it takes. The promise of faith and belief was to Abraham, not through the law. Paul is trying to point the Jews back to the promise God gave Abraham of Jesus, which was before the law. The law was to point us to Jesus. It did not need to enslave Gentile believers. I think my notes in 2008 even clarify this more when I wrote Salvation by Works or by Faith. Even Abraham, quote, believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, according to verse 6. He was before the law even existed. Then, quoting verse 14, “…in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Continuing, I wrote, Quoting verse 22, Quoting verse 22, And in 2012, I think we bring even more clarity to this chapter when I wrote, Paul challenges the Galatians in verse 2. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Obviously by hearing, not by works. Then he jumps back past the law of Moses all the way back to Father Abraham. Abraham was justified by faith, not by works of the law. In Abraham, not Moses, all the nations will be blessed. If we choose to live under the law of Moses, we have to keep the whole law or be cursed, according to verse 10. Christ became the curse for us through crucifixion, so that we can skip the law and be justified by faith. Freedom in Jesus. So, salvation comes by faith, not by keeping the law. So why the law? It was a step between Abraham and Christ. It defined sin and provided a sacrificial system of temporary forgiveness. If the law could give life, there was no need for Jesus. Once Christ came, the intermediary step was no longer necessary. We don’t have to go through Judaism to faith. We go directly through Jesus now. So Paul was making the argument in his day that they only needed Jesus now for eternal life. And that these new found Christians did not have to go back through the law, which no one in the past could keep anyway, and try to come up with some way to salvation. How does this apply to us today? I think for some in Christianity, we still combine salvation and works. And that’s what Paul was arguing here, is salvation is in Christ alone, not in our works. So when you ask some people if they are going to heaven and they say yes or maybe, why? And they say because they’re a good person or they’ve never killed anybody or they’ve done good in their life. If Paul was here, he would argue against that and say being good is not good enough and doing good works is not good enough. What we need is faith in Jesus Christ. That was the ticket to heaven then. That is the ticket to heaven today. Father, we thank you for your word that clarifies our theology. And we thank you for your word that clarifies how we gain eternal life. And that’s through Jesus Christ and his sacrificial gift on the cross at Calvary. It is not by being good or good enough. And we thank you for that, Lord, because none of us could live up to the letter of the law. So thank you for salvation in Christ and Christ alone, in whose name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting AdBible by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. We thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same. These make great Christmas gifts for families and friends. It will encourage them to join you in Bible engagement in 2026. You will find helpful and inspiring tools to enhance your personal time in God’s Word. We have a few weeks left in 2025. Most people decide their Bible reading game plan for the new year in December. Today, I want to review a few tools you may want to consider for your reading plan in 2026 and share it with others. First, Club 365. This is a monthly subscription opening our vault of all AdBible audio recordings and all printed pages of the entire Day by Day Through the Bible devotional series. By joining Club 365 for only $7 a month, you have access to both audio and written information on all 66 books of the Bible. Club 365 is a goldmine. And it is completely flexible to your personal Bible reading plan. So if you are reading Matthew or Isaiah, Psalms or Revelation, you have access to audio or written comments, applications and prayers on any of them at your fingertips. Get Club 365 at EzraProject.net today like many others have. Other tools are our Bible reading journals. We offer two. One is a chronological Bible reading journal that contains a daily Bible reading plan chronologically. You don’t have to buy a chronological Bible, just get our chronological Bible reading journal. It has over 200 pages so you can journal your way through the entire Bible. This book is our number one bestseller over the last two decades. The other journal is called the Trio Journal because it has three annual Bible reading plans in it. A New Testament schedule, an Old Testament schedule, and if you do them both on the same day, a complete Bible reading plan for the year. We have limited supplies of the Trio Bible reading journal. The cool thing about our journals is they start when you start. Day one of the schedule is the day you start. Yes, it can be January 1, 2026, but you could start now if you want. Again, completely flexible to your Bible reading habits. Order your journals for just $9 at EzraProject.net, and we will ship it free. The other product is one of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. There are only 11, but they cover all 66 books of the Bible filled with comments about the passages, applications from the passages, and prayers related to the passages. Listeners are understanding Bible passages in a whole new way thanks to digging deeper with a day-by-day supplement to their daily devotions. You can find all 11 books on our website at EzraProject.net. They are available in print or digitally. Get ready for the new year by selecting your plan and ordering today at EzraProject.net. That’s all for today. Join me tomorrow for another chapter of AdBible. I know you’re going to enjoy it and want to share it with others.
