As we take up the study of the third chapter of Galatians, we come to the very heart of its teachings. In this chapter we are plainly shown that the means by which we receive God's blessings is faith in Christ — not the works of the law of Moses.

FIRST LET US GLANCE AT WHAT THIS CHAPTER REVEALS OF THE LIMITATIONS OF THE LAW. There are some things which the law cannot do.

IT CANNOT IMPART THE SPIRIT OF God. This is the clear implication of Paul's questions in verses 2, 3, and 5.

"This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? . . . .

"He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth He it by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith?"

This is logical, because if men are to become partakers of the Spirit of God, He, Himself must give that Spirit to them. It must be His workThe works of the law, on the other hand, are the works which WE do. God has plainly and repeatedly testified in His Word that men cannot be saved by their own good works:

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5).

The law cannot give life. It is true, the law proposes a condition on which, theoretically, one can gain life through law-keeping. This is stated in Gal. 3:12, quoting from Lev. 18:5:

"The man that doeth them shall live in them."

But in order to qualify for life on this basis, one's obedience to the law must be absolutely, continuously perfect, without a single deviation — without a single lapse. Who can qualify for life on this ground? It is not because the LAW is imperfect but because MEN are imperfect that the law cannot give life. And so we read in verse 2 1 :

"If there had been a Law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law-"

Again, the law cannot give righteousness. This we have seen in previous lessons, but here we find the same truth emphasized by repetition:

"But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith" (Gal. 3:11).

And finally, we learn here that THE LAW CANNOT FRUSTRATE THE PROMISES OF god. Arthur Way's beautiful paraphrase brings out very clearly the meaning of verses 15-20:

"Brothers — it is but an illustration drawn from social relations — still, even a contract between 'man and man, when once signed and sealed, cannot be set aside or have new conditions inserted by anyone. Now certain promises were uttered to Abraham, with reversion 'to his seed'. Note, that the words do not run 'and to thy seeds," as though they applied to several individuals, but, with reference to a representative ONE, 'and to thy seed' — which can mean only the Messiah. Now I argue thus — here was a covenant originally ratified by God: the Mosaic law, which only came into existence four hundred and thirty years later, cannot make it void, to the extent of annulling the promise. Yet these false teachers would have you believe that it has done so; for, if our inheritance in the Kingdom of heaven depends on our observance of the law, it has ceased to depend on faith in God's promise; whereas God did give it as a free gift to Abraham by virtue of a promise. 'What then,' I shall be challenged to say, 'was the purpose of the law?' It was, I reply, superadded to that promise, to make men feel the guilt of their transgressions; and it was designed to operate until the coming of that Representative Seed, to whom the promise had been given. It was enacted through the agency of angels, and was delivered through the hands of Moses, who was here the mediator between God and man. The office of a mediator, however, has its limitations; it gives him no authority to interfere retrospectively in another arrangement made by one sole party, who has no equals. But God, Who gave that promise to Abraham does stand alone— He has no equals. Therefore Moses' law had no authority to override God's previous decree."

"But," someone may ask, and quite rightly, since the law cannot do any of these things, what can it do? It is God's Word, is it not? What, then, is it good for? The chapter before us gives us a most satisfying answer to this question, showing that THE LAW CAN DO AND DOES DO THREE THINGS.

The law reveals sin. This is why the Holy Spirit through the pen of Paul says,

"We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and that all the world may become guilty before God" (Rom. 3:19).

The law is a revelation of the righteousness which a Holy God demands of men. It is a perfect measuring rod. But when men begin to measure themselves by that measure, instantly they see that they have fallen short, and so in another place we read:

"It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made" (Gal. 3:19).

The law was given for the specific purpose of revealing how sinful sin is, and how needy the sinner.

Again, the law can and does bring men under judgment. it not only reveals man's imperfection and short-coming— it pronounces upon him the judgment of God. And so we read in verse ten, of this third chapter of Galatians:

"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Cf. Deut. 27:26).

But the law also leads men to Christ, that from His gracious hand they may receive the blessings which the law can never give.

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24).

It does this in two ways.

First, the law leads men to Christ by showing them their need. When one has honestly faced the righteous demands of God's holy law, he is overwhelmed with the consciousness of his own sin and helplessness and need. Thus his 1-eart is prepared to trust Christ, when he learns that Christ is able and willing to meet his need. The writer knows whereof he speaks, for it was desperation, born of the keen consciousness of sin and need produced by the law, which prepared his heart to trust the Saviour.

Second, the law witnesses to Christ directly. Rightly understood it is full of types, each of which, somehow, pictures the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour Whom the world so sorely needs- The priests of the law all picture our wonderful High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the sacrifices and offerings all point to the sacrifice upon the Cross of Calvary by which He provided eternal redemption for all who would trust Him as their Saviour.

Now let us turn for a few moments to the work of faith, as contrasted in this chapter with the work of the law, or rather we should say, with the limitations of the law. As we study this, we find that faith can and does do what the law can never do.

Faith imparts the Spirit. Listen once more to Paul's questions:

''Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

"He that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth He it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Gal. 3:2, 5).

It is apparent from the form of the questions, as well as from the context, what the answer is. But this answer is clearly stated for us in verse 14, where we are told that Christ has redeemed us,

"....that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Faith also gives perfect righteousness to all who trust the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour:

"The Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe" (Gal. 3:22).

Verse 24 says also,

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

These Scriptures make it very clear that we become righteous in God's sight, not by the works of the law, but by simple faith in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ:

"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Gal. 3:6).

Not only so, but faith gives that life which we so sorely need — the life which the law cannot give. This is the witness of verse 1 1, which says, quoting from Hab. 2:4,

"The just shall live by faith." And this is the significance and force of that marvellous statement in verse 26:

"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."

And finally, faith insures that all who trust the lord Jesus Christ shall share in the blessings which god promised Abraham. Verses 7 and 8 say,

"Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, 'In thee shall all nations be blessed."

Verse 22 adds,

"that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

While verse 29 states conclusively,

"If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Let us not forget, however, that faith in the abstract is powerless and valueless. It is the object on which our faith is fixed which gives it its value, even Christ Jesus. Its power is, after all, the power of Christ, and faith is but the channel through which His power works. So, in our next study, God willing, we will see what this chapter discloses about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.