3 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 bythe 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 —
With chapter 3 Paul passes from the autobiographical emphasis of the first two chapters - an emphasis he deemed necessary in order to establish his apostolic authority and message - to the doctrinal, and for two further chapters he unfolds sustained and impassioned argument in vindication of his position, and of the truth of the gospel. Throughout this section, then, there is the contrast between law and grace, between works and faith. It is clear that, for Paul, this is an issue which is quite fundamental. Not to be clear and sure in this, he means, is to be in jeopardy.
My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
This is Paul's central affirmation. This was the gospel he had preached to the Galatians and by which they had been brought into the kingdom of God. But now, these opposers had come proclaiming, 'Ah, yes, that is right and true, but in addition to Jesus' blood and righteousness, you need also circumcision and the works of the law'. Paul's concern is to show that
All other ground is sinking sand
- circumcision, or any other aspect of the law.
The last verse of the previous chapter really begins the argument: 'If righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain'; but the immediate background of 1ff may be seen in Acts 13, especially vv 38, 39. The gospel that saved the Galatians, that made such fruitful impact on their lives, called them out of darkness into light, and into the joy of forgiveness, was undoubtedly the gospel of free justification that Paul unfolds and insists on in the first two chapters. It is against this background that we look at what is said here.