Galatians 3:8-11
"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. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith," Galatians 3:8-11.
The biblical term "salvation by faith alone" simply means that salvation is by faith alone apart from any works which man can do. This leads to Soli Deo Gloria, which means that God alone gets the glory. We learned last time that faith without works is dead being alone. This means that our works are proof that the Lord has saved us. True saving faith always produces good works. If someone says they are saved, but they are not producing good works, then the bible says they have a dead faith; dead faith is the same faith the devils have (James 2). Let us get into Galatians 3:8-11.
"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," Galatians 3:8. "Scripture in this verse is Holy Writ. Put for the contents of Scripture, i.e. scriptural declaration, promises, etc.. The Scripture already proclaimed that God would justify the heathen through faith. Notice it is God that justifies the heathen. No one can justify themselves. "Would justify" in this verse speaks especially of the justification bestowed by God on men through Christ, in which He is said to regard and treat them as righteous, i.e. to absolve from the consequences of sin and admit to the enjoyment of the divine favour. God saves the sinner on His time, and His way. When God saves someone, that person is truly saved. Turn to Romans 8:28-39. When God saves us, no one and nothing can separate us from Him. No one can bring a charge against us because God justified us. No one is greater than God. No one, not even ourselves, can make God revoke our justification.
Notice the kind of people God justifies; the heathen. This is great news. "Heathen" in this verse means the Gentile nations or the Gentiles in general as spoken of all who are not Israelites and implying idolatry and ignorance of the true God, i.e. the heathen, pagan nations. Out of the nations around the world, God has chosen to save people. What kind of people? Heathens. Aren't you thankful? Abraham was a heathen from Ur of the Chaldees. God saved Abraham just like he saves everyone else, through faith.
"Preached before the gospel" in this verse means to proclaim the gospel beforehand. The gospel was proclaimed to Abraham, and he believed by faith. "In thee shall all nations be blessed." Through the line of Abraham would come the Messiah. The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Through Abraham all nations would be blessed. This doesn't mean that all nations would be saved, but that people from all nations would be saved. The blessing of Abraham is justification by faith.
"So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham," Galatians 3:9. "Faith" in this verse means of faith in Christ's death, as the ground of justification before God, saving faith. All who have been given saving faith are blessed in like manner of faithful Abraham. Faithful Abraham believed what God said. He was justified by faith, without the works of the law.
"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them," Galatians 3:10. All who are trying to earn their salvation by keeping the law are under the curse. "The curse" in this verse means a devoting or dooming to utter destruction; hence condemnation, doom, punishment. No matter how much you try, and no matter how successful you think you are, if you are trying to earn your salvation, you are doomed to eternal punishment. You only have to break one law, one time, and you are cursed; accursed, under a curse, doomed to punishment. No one has ever made it to heaven by keeping the law. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all," James 2:10. If someone is seeking to be saved by the Law, they must understand that they are doomed to eternal punishment because there is no way any one can continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Salvation is by faith alone, apart from works. This biblical point is made again in verse 11.
"But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith," Galatians 3:11. There are those who are so steeped in their religion that they will not see this biblical truth, even though it is clearly in front of them. Notice this verse says, no man. This includes everyone who has been born of the seed of Adam, and includes Adam and Eve. No one is the exception. No one is declared to be just by the Mosaic code in the sight of God, and this is crystal clear. All who are saved are saved by faith. This is faith in Christ's death, as the ground of justification before God, saving faith. Please understand, when we come to God for salvation, we come broken over our sins. We come to God with nothing in our hands. We come to God believing His Word. By His grace he gives us the faith to trust Him. He saves our souls, and we never get over it. "We love him, because he first loved us," I John 4:19. "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost," Titus 3:3-5.
True salvation is a work that only God can do. Has He done that work in you? Is your life a testimony of the power of God to forgive sins? I am so thankful that God justifies the heathen by faith. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
