Galatians 3:6-9
Consider Abraham and Sarah: "They believed God, and it was credited to them as righteousness." (Gen. 15:6) Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham and Sarah. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham and Sarah: "All nations will be blessed through you." (Gen. 12:3, 18:18, 22:18) So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham and Sarah, the people of faith.
I believe one of the biggest barriers that many Christians have to overcome in order to be able to allow themselves to welcome into their midst those who are "different," hinges on the issue of "justification by faith alone."
A favorite argument is, "You can't be Christian and be a homosexual!" You can argue till you're blue in the face that the Bible doesn't even address the issue of homosexuality as we know it today, and they'll not give an inch. You can trot out all the scholarly evidence available today, and they won't bat an eyelash. "'God' said it, I believe it, that settles it!" is their battle cry. So I have another approach. To the statement, "You can't be Christian and be a homosexual!" I respond with a question: "Can one be a Christian and a sinner?" The answer to the question is tied into the issue of salvation and justification by faith alone.
1 John 1:8 reads: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Romans 3:22-24 reads, "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God and are justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
The answer, of course, is "yes, a person can be a Christian and be a sinner," and we don't even have to debate which are sins and which aren't. Indeed, as the two quoted passages point out, and as a famous bumper sticker reads: "Christians aren't perfectjust forgiven." Paul uses the example of Abraham and Sarah. God had made certain promises to them, and God's promises are never broken. In spite of Sarai's (Sarah) advanced age God promised Abram (Abraham) that their offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5). Verse 6 reads, "Abram believed God, and God credited it to him as righteousness."
Paul tells the Galatians, you need to understand, then everyone who (believes) has faith is a child of Abraham. Abraham and Sarah held unique positionstogether they founded an entire nation. God had earlier told them to leave their homeland and go to where God would direct. (Gen. 12) If they did that, God promised to make them "into a great nation;" and "...all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." They did what God asked and God kept the promises. Since "all peoples/nations" were to be blessed because of the faith and trust in God of Abraham and Sarah, the Gentiles would be included in the blessing. What this means is that people of faith, regardless of their backgrounds, are considered Abraham's descendants and therefore inherit the same blessing: If you have faith, God will credit it to you as righteousnessyou are justified (declared innocent). That doesn't mean you have to be innocent (sinless)it means that God accepts you and treats you as though you are innocent (sinless).
Galatians 3:10-14
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written:
"Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (Deut. 27:26). Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because "The righteous will live by faith." (Hab. 2:4). The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The one who does these things will live by them." (Lev.18:5) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." (Deut. 21:23) Christ redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Paul now shows the other side of the coin. Those who rely on following the law really are cursed. Deuteronomy 27:26 demanded that a person follow the entire law wholly and completelycontinuously and without any deviation whatsoever. At the same time, the law was impossible to keep in its entirety. So instead of bringing blessings, the law brought only curses. Paul then offers another quotethis time from the Prophet Habakkuk, "The righteous will live by faith." (2:4). It's very evident that no one will ever get justified by God by observing the law because the law is not based on faithit's based on workson doing thingsor not doing things, as the case may be. God is much more concerned with where our hearts areWho we rely onWho we trust. As a matter of fact, in spite of what so many preachers preach, there can be no such thing as hybrid Christianitythat salvation comes through faith alone, and/but by following the "rules" (i.e. law). Faith and law are mutually exclusive. Christ, by his death on the cross, took upon himself the curse of the law. Even though He lived a sinless, guilt-free life, because He was crucified he fell under the curse of Deuteronomy 21:23, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." If Christ who was sinless, nevertheless was cursed because his enemies had him crucified, that curse demonstrated the weakness of the law and broke its back. The word "redeemed" means "to buy back." Till the coming of Christ the people were under the curse of the law. By Himself becoming a "curse" through the crucifixion, Jesus "bought" us back away from the law. During the days of slavery there were certain abolitionists who bought slaves in order to set them free. Christ's crucifixion "bought" believers freedom from the law. Freed from the law, believers through faith alone, including Gentiles, receive the blessing given to Abraham and Sarah, and the promise of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
LIFE APPLICATION