Galatians 3:11 Commentary

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Galatians 3:11

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Not only does the law inevitably bring a curse, but justification cannot be by the law because the only way to be justified according to Scripture is by faith. This, Paul says, is evident; it is obvious, and to prove it, he quotes Habakkuk 2:4. The whole verse reads, ‘Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.’ Habakkuk makes a comparison between faith and works, but the comparison is not stated in these bare terms. Instead he considers the outcome of a works based approach to righteousness, but without mentioning works. Those who go about to establish their own righteousness cannot help but be lifted up in pride, for the heady cocktail of imagined goodness before God for which the individual takes credit is irresistible to the pride that resides in the human heart. Since the fallen heart cannot correctly assess itself and cannot see the deceitfulness within, it believes its own story that it has done something pleasing to God. This pride is very obnoxious to the Lord and his judgment is that the soul is not upright: measured by the plumb-line of his own righteousness, everything about this person is crooked and deviates from his true standard.By contrast faith excludes pride, for there is nothing in faith that a man can take credit for. It looks away from itself to Christ for justification and discards good works as worthless for justification. The just man is the one who is counted just in the sight of God. The comparison between faith and good works forces us to see that the just person spoken of here obtains his just status not as a result of his own righteousness, but by the righteousness of Christ imputed to him. Habakkuk does not leave open the possibility that there could be another alternative way of justification: works and faith are the only two options available, and the only viable one is faith.

Application

Questions

How can a human being be counted just before God unless he has a righteousness which is acceptable to the infinitely holy God? Therefore God himself must provide that righteousness, for only he has a righteousness that meets his own exacting standards. Where does the righteousness that God imputes to us come from? It is the righteousness of the only one who has ever lived without sin, who has obeyed the law perfectly, the righteousness of Christ who came to fulfil the law in our place. While we are justified by faith, he was born under the law and was not released until he had fulfilled it in every respect. His success in doing so allows him to credit us with his own righteousness. Christ justifies us by taking away our sin and suffering the eternal consequences of it under the law, and by giving us a perfect righteousness which makes us fit for heaven.

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Galatians 3:11 Commentary and Bible Study