Galatians 3:12. But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
Paul is quoting Leviticus 18:5 to his Jewish audience, a verse they all would know by heart. It is a scripture they would center their lives around: “The one who obeys the Mosaic law will live (eternally) by such law-keeping.” Every good Jew knew that if you keep the law, you will gain eternal life within the covenant blessings. But isn’t this the opposite of Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous shall live by faith”?
So which is it? Do we gain eternal life by the law or by faith? Are there two paths to salvation?
In one sense, there are. If any person could do the law, they would live by the law. This was, of course, what Jesus accomplished for us; he kept the law perfectly, thus earning resurrection life when he died in our place. But since we cannot keep the law perfectly, we must choose to find eternal life through faith in Jesus and his life of law-keeping while abandoning our own efforts to keep the law.
The problem comes when Christians think that they can mix law and faith, but “the law is not of faith.” Law-keeping for righteousness is never an act of faith, nor does faith help us to keep the law—not the Mosaic law, at least.
This is probably a good time to pause and be reminded that faith is not the opposite of works. Faith is never against doing good works. In fact, Paul and James would agree that “faith without works is dead.” The key is to make sure that our good works are not seen as the source of our righteousness or our acceptance by God. Rather, our good works must be the overflow of an imputed righteousness.
One way to spot the difference in your life is to ask what matters most to God: the ritual itself or the heart behind it? For example, do you take communion in order to gain favor with God, or do you partake because you trust God to expose your heart as you partake of the grace of your union with Christ through the bread and wine? Do the actions of Bible reading and prayer please God, or does the opening of your heart to hear from God and share with God please him most?
Paul’s bottom line is that all we do must flow from faith in Christ and an open heart to God, not from trying to gain approval from a God who has already justified, sanctified, and glorified you fully in Christ.
You: In what ways have your spiritual disciplines become law and not faith?
You in Christ: How does trusting our union with Christ allow our good works to be from faith and not law (earning)?
Christ in you: Is there anything that you need to stop doing or start doing in order to “live from faith”?
Pray: Father, I know I can’t live by the law. But I also know that you want me to live from faith that produces good works. Help me to live from such faith. Amen.
