📖 Passage Breakdown — Galatians 3:11–12

“But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’ Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’”

Galatians 3:11–12

📜 Background, Setting & Purpose

✍️ Author

Paul the Apostle.

👥 Written To

The churches of Galatia—primarily Gentile believers who were being influenced by Judaizers insisting that faith in Christ wasn’t enough for salvation and that they must also keep the Law of Moses.

⏲️ When

~AD 49–55, one of Paul’s earliest letters.

🌍 Setting & Purpose of Galatians

Paul writes to confront false teachers who were corrupting the gospel of grace by adding law and works. The entire theme of Galatians is that believers are not under law but under grace—and the apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, drives that truth home throughout this powerful letter.

The problem arose when Judaizers—Orthodox Jews who believed the gospel of the kingdom preached by Jesus, Peter, and the eleven—began infiltrating Paul’s grace-based assemblies. They taught that Gentile believers must be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses to be saved.

Their message was rooted in the gospel of the kingdom—that Jesus was indeed Israel’s promised Messiah who would defeat their enemies and establish the long-awaited earthly kingdom. But when these men from the Jerusalem church began adding law to grace, Paul—under the Lord’s direct command—stood in bold opposition.

His confrontation with the Jerusalem leadership was epic. Paul declared, by divine revelation, that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, apart from the Law or any works.

The setting is no different in Galatians 3:11-12.

✨ Verse-by-Verse Breakdown

Galatians 3:11 — “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident…”

• Paul makes it unmistakably clear—no one can be justified (declared righteous) by keeping the Law.
• You might fool people into thinking you’re righteous by outwardly keeping religious rules—but you will never fool God.
• God sees the heart, not performance. The Law exposes sin; it doesn’t erase it (Romans 3:20).

“…for ‘the just shall live by faith.’”

• Quoted from Habakkuk 2:4, this principle has always been true.
• Faith—believing God and taking Him at His Word—is the only basis for righteousness.
• Paul is emphatic: “The just shall live by faith.” That’s it. Nothing after that.
• Salvation is faith alone in the gospel alone—Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1–4).

Galatians 3:12 — “Yet the law is not of faith…”

• Law and faith are two completely different systems.
• The Law says “do and live”; faith says “believe and live.”
• The two cannot mix—Law demands perfection, faith rests in Christ’s perfection.

“…but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’”

• Quoted from Leviticus 18:5. The message is clear:
  
  
  If you’re going to depend on the Law for salvation, you’d better keep it perfectly—from birth to death.

• So you want to work for your salvation? Then you need to keep the whole Law without failing once (James 2:10).
• That’s why we must stop and ask:
  
  
  “Am I trying to obtain salvation by some kind of works religion?”
  

When you add anything to faith, it becomes religion—man’s attempt to earn favor with God.

Religion says, “Do this and you’ll live.”
Grace says, “It’s done—believe and live.”

There’s no comparison between the two. Religion always demands, but grace always gives.

True biblical Christianity says, “You do nothing—because God has done it all.”

❌ What These Verses Do Not Mean

• They do not mean faith cancels morality or obedience; rather, salvation is by faith alone, and obedience flows from salvation—not for it.
• They do not suggest the Law was evil; it served to show mankind’s inability to meet God’s standard.

✅ What They Do Mean

• No one has ever been justified by keeping the Law.
• The just live by faith—alone, apart from works or rituals.
• Faith and Law cannot coexist as a system of salvation.
• Christianity is not religion—it’s grace.

🔗 Cross-References

• Romans 3:20 — “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified…”
• Galatians 2:16 — “…a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ…”
• Romans 10:4 — “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
• James 2:10 — “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”

🙏 Devotional Summary

Galatians 3:11–12 draws an eternal line between faith and works.
The Law says “do,” grace says “done.” The Law condemns, grace justifies.

Maybe you can fool people by Law-keeping, but you will never fool God.

Salvation has always been—and will always be—by faith alone in Christ alone.

When you rest in Christ’s finished work, you are no longer striving to earn what He freely gives.
 

Religion says, “Try harder.” The gospel says, “It is finished.”