3
Toward the close of Galatians 2 Paul gives us the gist of his stand against Peter's dissimulation, which is
crystallized in verse 16 as `the faith of Christ' and is given his personal allegiance in the trenchant words of
Galatians 2:20.
`I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me' (Gal. 2:20).
His final condemnation of the legalistic gospel is:
`I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, THEN CHRIST IS DEAD IN VAIN' (Gal. 2:21).
The opening verse of Galatians 3 shows that Paul did indeed `preach Him' among the heathen for he says:
`O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath
been evidently set forth, crucified among you?' (Gal. 3:1).
Paul's preaching of `Jesus Christ and Him crucified' must have been vivid, as we can well believe. He uses a
figure borrowed from the hustings, for the words `evidently set forth', prographo, refer to the exhibition of placards
which modern though it may sound, was a practice in common use at the time of the apostle.
This emphasis upon the supremacy of Christ in the Gospel is pursued throughout this epistle to the end.
The curse of the law is removed for He was made a curse for us (Gal. 3:13).
All promises focus in Christ:
`Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one,
And to thy seed, Which is Christ' (Gal. 3:16 see also 17,22).
The goal and purpose of the law was to lead us to Christ. Those who have been baptized into Christ have put
on Christ:
`There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in
Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise' (Gal.
3:28-29).
God's answer to the groan of creation in the bondage of law, was, when the fulness of the time was come, that
He sent forth His Son, and they who are redeemed are sons, not slaves, and in the spirit of sonship cry `Abba, Father'
(Gal. 4:6).
How does Paul set about the re-establishment of grace and the deliverance of these Galatians from the yoke of
bondage?
He tells them that he travails in birth again until `Christ be formed in you' (Gal. 4:19), and bids them:
`Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free' (Gal. 5:1),
for `Christ shall profit you nothing' if you submit to the rite of circumcision, and `Christ is become of no effect unto
you, whosoever of you are justified by the law'. `They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh' (Gal. 5:2,4,24).
Turning in conclusion to the relationship of believer to believer, he said: `Bear ye one another's burdens, and so
fulfil the law of Christ' (Gal. 6:2), and assures all that `In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature' (Gal. 6:15). His final and extremely personal word apart from the doxology
being `I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus' (Gal. 6:17).
The reader must bear in mind that we have a simple purpose before us in this series. We make no attempt to deal
with the epistle as a whole. We pass by without comment, problems and difficulties either of translation or
exposition, and focus attention on one matter only `The place of Christ, in the ministry of Paul'.