NOTES for Gal 3:1-14
The apostle Paul speaks to us today about the importance of a living relationship with God. Everyone who has experienced a personal encounter with God knows this experience of Christ's cross “publicly portrayed before our eyes.” His death for us and His resurrection become the reality of our daily life. Then we continue on our way, the way with Christ and in the Church. Here it is important not to replace our relationship with Him by external signs. This certainly does not mean that we may neglect the sacraments or the teaching of the Church. The question is what comes first: rules or the living God? How do we obtain salvation: do we earn it, or receive it freely by God's grace? Enthusiasm for the “works of the law” so often leads to a sense of self-sufficiency. Paul reminds the Galatians, and us along with them, that the Lord Himself acts within us and that attempts to achieve something by our own efforts in the spiritual life are futile.