(Deuteronomy 4:2 [KJV]) Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you.
(Proverbs 30:5, 6 [KJV]) Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
(Isaiah 28:10 [KJV])
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
(Isaiah 28:13 [KJV])
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
(2 Peter 1:20 [KJV])
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
All of the studies, book or topical, found here, are done with research with mainly two things: The KING JAMES BIBLE and a plain old, 1828 Webster's Dictionary. Why? Outside of actually studying secular and Jewish history, archaeology, one needs nothing more. You do not need foreign, dead languages that no one speaks, lexicons, concordances or commentaries, because they differ not only with one another and with the KING JAMES BIBLE, but they create division, confusion, debate, and unbelief. We do not need them. That Word of God written and preserved for us in our own language is supposed to be enough, like the Old Testament was for the Jews, and the New Testament for the early Christians in Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, etc. There are studies within as tangents on words, subjects found within the two testaments, as to broaden the scope of the study, to learn more, deeper truths. This is not an intellectual site with PhDs, theologians, and no worldly wisdom.. Check everything out, everything. Not just here, but with everything you read and see and hear. Be Bereans:
(Acts 17:11 [KJV])
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Always research for yourself, use all of the context, and never privately interpret!
Galatians Chapter 3
(Galatians 3:1 [KJV])
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?
Yes, they are fools. Just like anyone who denies God exists, another "gospel" makes one a fool
BEWITCH', v.t. [be and witch.] To fascinate; to gain an ascendancy over by charms or incantation; an operation which was formerly supposed to injure the person bewitched, so that he lost his flesh, or behaved in a strange unaccountable manner; ignorant people being inclined to ascribe to evil spirits what they could not account for.
Look, how I am bewitched; behold, mine arm
Is like a blasted sapling withered up.
To charm; to fascinate; to please to such a degree as to take away the power of resistance. The charms of poetry our souls bewitch.
To deceive and mislead by juggling tricks or imposter. Acts 8:9.
(Galatians 3:2 [KJV])
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
The Holy Spirit of God seals our redemption was received by faith, not the works of the law
This is the answer to the question.
We BEGIN in the Spirit; we do not get the Spirit by being righteous (self-righteous)
(Galatians 3:3 [KJV])
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
The implied answer to this first question is a resounding..."YES!" Their foolishness is exposed once again
Again, the answer is obvious, perfection is by the Spirit, not attainable by our flesh, the law, our works
So here, the implied answer to this second question is..."NO!"
(Galatians 3:4 [KJV])
Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if [it be] yet in vain.
Suffering for the cause of Christ, it is implied that their salvation was in vain to them, making them walk away
The "if" says it was not in vain. Paul is getting them to try and understand that part
The purpose of their persecution was to rely on God, to grow them in faith, to grow the church, to spread them from Jerusalem to the rest of the world ((Acts 1:8)
(Galatians 3:5 [KJV])
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, [doeth he it] by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Jesus, working miracles by the Spirit among them, is doing them because they (above) received the Spirit by faith
Ministering and working miracle among the Jews....same as when He walked among them
Hearing....as in hearing the Gospel message, accepting it
(Galatians 3:6-7 [KJV])
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
In God's eyes, the church is not Jewish or Gentilic, but is one in Christ, making us all children of Abraham, by faith
This is the same exact faith, in the same exact Messiah, as the faith from Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the Old Testament saints
Not a one of them worked their way to heaven!
(Genesis 15:6 [KJV])
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
(Romans 4:3 [KJV])
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
(Romans 4:22 [KJV])
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
(James 2:23 [KJV])
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
(Galatians 3:8 [KJV])
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.
Righteousness is always, always, always imputed, never was, is, nor will be earned.
This is the message Abraham got about his Messiah, that one day both his people and also the Gentiles would be saved
The Old Testament Gospel started right after the fall, and was woven into every place
All nations being bless, through Abraham, is also a prophecy of a direct blood line from Abraham to the Messiah
(Genesis 3:14,15 [KJV])
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
(Galatians 3:9 [KJV])
So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Those who work for their salvation, are not
Faith is the channel for God's grace to flow through
Works and keeping the law is the best way to be cursed, already in sin, declared fallen, declared unrighteous
(Galatians 3:10 [KJV])
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.
This is what was stated above, only the converse side of it
The curse is not removed by us, our nature, our actions-nothing from us but faith, belief, removed by God only
Working does nothing for grace or to show God's mercy; it just makes us look good to the world, feel good to ourselves
(Galatians 3:11,12 [KJV])
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, [it is] evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
In the sight of men is not the same as in the sight of God and can be just for show.
The law is not only not of faith, but it is the opposite.
Keeping the law is good for order, for a society, for our own well being, our own good.
Keeping the law is an insult to God IF we think it will save us, as He sent Jesus for that, so it spits in His Face to say we can save ourselves
It does nothing for eternity to save us, make us righteous before a Holy God
(Isaiah 64:6 [KJV])
But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
(Galatians 3:13 [KJV])
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:
The redemption was free to us
The redemption freed us from the curse of sin and death
Being made a curse for us meant becoming the law for us, meaning we now only have to receive salvation by grace through faith, not keeping the law
Christ became that law because we could not keep that law
This is our "replacement theology", Jesus becoming the curse of the law for us, as opposed to the mainstream "Christian" replacement theology of us the church replacing Israel. It does not.
THE HANGING CURSE
(Deuteronomy 21:23 [KJV])
His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged [is] accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance.
(Acts 5:30 [KJV])
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
(Joshua 10:3 [KJV])
Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
(Joshua 10:25 [KJV])
And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them (Adonizedek, Hoham, Piram, Japhia, Debir) on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, [that] Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, [which remain] until this very day.
(Galatians 3:14 [KJV])
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The blessing of Abraham is revealed in Christ, not by the law, not by works
This is the meaning of the Old Testament to mankind since the fall....salvation to mankind, all of mankind
THe SPirit is by faith, not by asking Him to come upon us repeatedly, not because we deserve it, earn it, or are righteous on our own
(Galatians 3:15 [KJV])
Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though [it be] but a man's covenant, yet [if it be] confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
The covenant of man is with God, not with other men
That said, it is always enforceable, always enforced, with no works added ("or added thereto")
(Galatians 3:16 [KJV])
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.
God always promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, "In thy SEED shall all of the nations of the earth be blessed"
This one letter "S" at the end changes the meaning
Throughout, the deliberately corrupt "modern" "versions" change the word "seed" in the promise to plural "descendants" or "offspring", "your family", etc.
God invented languages, God knows how to translate. When God meant Israel, it was "descendants". When it was the Gospel, it was "thy SEED" Here we see why.
The context of the message (Who God is talking to, directly prophesying, when and where) determines the meaning and word usage of "seed". etc.
(Isaiah 48:19 [KJV])
Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
(Proverbs 30:5-6 [KJV])
Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
(Galatians 3:17 [KJV])
And this I say, [that] the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
This was the time in captivity, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, with Joseph as second to Pharaoh in Egypt
That long of a time might make one forget the promise, or think it would not be fulfilled at all
Four Hundred and Thirty Years After
(Genesis 15:13,14 [KJV])
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
(Exodus 12:40-42 [KJV])
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, [was] four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It [is] a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this [is] that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.
(Acts 7:53 [KJV])
Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept [it].
(Galatians 3:18 [KJV])
For if the inheritance [be] of the law, [it is] no more of promise: but God gave [it] to Abraham by promise.
The two, law and promise, works and faith are opposites which cannot be together for salvation
We work precisely because we are saved, to show God's Glory as His children, as a witness to the lost, not to be saved
We also do not work to stay saved, since life is eternal
(John 10:28,29 [KJV])
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father's hand.
(Galatians 3:19 [KJV])
Wherefore then [serveth] the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; [and it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
The Law came from God, the angels ministered it to Moses, who gave it to the people as the mediator
The law was to keep order, to show we cannot keep the law perfectly, to show our need for a savior, to point us to that Saviour, the LORD Jesus Christ, not to save us from hell
It became necessary because of the fall of mankind in the garden. Man never would have written such a law in his fallen state
Till the seed, that is Christ, should come
This means that, after Christ came, there is no longer a need to keep the law to be in fellowship with the Father forever
It would seem that the angels blew the trumpets, the LORD (God the Son) spoke to them, on behalf of the Father
ORDAINED BY ANGELS, IN THE HAND OF A MEDIATOR
(Exodus 19:16-20 [KJV])
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that [was] in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses [up] to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
(Exodus 20:1 [KJV])
And God spake all these words, saying,
(Nehemiah 9:13 [KJV])
Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
(Deuteronomy 5:4-5 [KJV])
The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
(Revelation 1:10 [KJV])
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
(Revelation 4:1 [KJV])
After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
(Revelation 8:2 [KJV])
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
(Revelation 8:6 [KJV])
And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
(Revelation 8:13 [KJV])
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
(Revelation 9:14 [KJV])
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
(Galatians 3:20 [KJV])
Now a mediator is not [a mediator] of one, but God is one.
A mediator goes between two parties
God is triune, three persons in one, not three gods (paganism)
God can mediate between three persons (Father, Son, Spirit) as the One True God, unlike us mortals
(Galatians 3:21 [KJV])
[Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
The next few verases give the context as ti why the law is not against the promise
The law was merely a precursor to teach them and us see what the promise would be and mean
Nopr can man live without God's klaws, as a society, as a people
(Galatians 3:22 [KJV])
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
This is what the law does to us, shows us all as wicked, evil, lost, unrepentant, wayward sinners
We are declared unrighteous sinners until we believe in Jesus, then we are declared righteous by Jesus Christ before the Father
No law keeper can achieve this as an imperfect sinner
(Galatians 3:23 [KJV])
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
All is always in God's perfect timing
We are now under a new law as believers, the law of faith
This lack of works, to either get or "stay saved", means there is no room for pride
(Romans 3:27 [KJV])
Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
(Galatians 3:24 [KJV])
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
While civil order is a reason for the law after the fall, this is by far the main purpose of the law
The law shows us we need to be saved (justified before a Holy God) by faith, because we realize we cannot keep it.
The law as schoolmaster, as our guide, to steer us to Jesus, to faith, not needing the law, since now2 we have it and understand it.
(Romans 2:15 [KJV])
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
(Galatians 3:25 [KJV])
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
When we finally find Jesus Christ, we do not need a guide to help us find Jesus Christ
We are no longer required to keep the law. We do it out of thankfulness, a desire to serve God and others, because we have the Holy Ghost in us
(Galatians 3:26 [KJV])
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Not all on earth are the children of God (ie. the doctrine of universal, automatic salvation), but the we here in context is believers in Jesus Christ
Again, by faith, not by works, not by keeping the Law
(Galatians 3:27 [KJV])
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
We were baptized into Christ, by the Holy Ghost.
Putting on, as in the inner man revealed on the outside as a witness, testimony to others
(Galatians 3:28 [KJV])
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.
Nothing much to be explained here, as this is self-explanatory
This defeats the "Hebrew Roots" movement, the "Mesianic Congregational" movements, etc.
Jews who are saved are Jewsd who are saved, now members of the body of Christ, His Church
When Jews do get saved, we do not become more Jewish
When we Gentiles do get saved, we do not become Jewish
What we do become is people with a love for the Jewish p[eople and the nation of Israel, knowing and acknowledging that it was through them the Messiah, ther LORD Jesus Christ, cazme to save us
(Galatians 3:29 [KJV])
And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
This is what the previous verse and literally the entire New Testament means, and what it means to be saved
That old saying is very apropos here, "The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed."
