Galatians 3:12 Commentary and Bible Study

Paul now shows that if justification is by faith alone, it cannot also be by the law because the justification that the law provides operates on an entirely different basis. The law demands good works, but faith says nothing whatsoever about good works as the quotation from Habakkuk proves.It is enough to quote the terms of law for it to be clear that faith and works justify a person on entirely different grounds and are incompatible with each other as means of justification. Faith could never say, ‘the man that does these things shall live by them’. Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5 which contains the essence of the law in his estimation. The law promises life but it is life for which the individual is entirely responsible. He must do something, he must keep the commandments, and he must do so to the satisfaction of the law and meet its demanding standards. If he succeeds he will secure his own life for it is by what he does that the law grants him life – his life is in his own hands. And of course he takes the credit for what he does, so that he can say, ‘I, by my works have obtained my own life.’ The law demands works and if faith were to offer itself to the law, the law would ask, ‘Where are your works?’ But faith does not speak of doing anything because it is complete with an act of trust. Faith can exist in the heart without any work or action taking place. We know enough about our hearts to know that though belief is something significant which alters the whole direction of our lives, in itself, it takes place without any accompanying work, for it lies behind our works as the mainspring out of which they arise. Faith does not merely believe that God exists, but it puts its trust in him as one who is willing to receive sinners in mercy, to pardon them and reconcile them to himself. Faith enjoys the blessing of justification from the moment it is first exercised, but works cannot be justified until life ends and every test has been passed.