NOTES for Gal 3:1-14

Continuing the discussion of faith and "works of Torah," Paul draws attention to the most important difference between them: faith is based on relations between God and the human person, while "works of Torah" remain the fruit of human efforts alone. The apostle does not remind the Galatian Christians by accident that the reality of the breath ("Spirit") of God, the breath of the Kingdom, was opened to them through an act of faith, through the trust in Christ of which they proved capable, and not through any "works of Torah." So why, Paul asks the recipients of his letter rhetorically, do you now rely not on this trust, not on the breath of the Kingdom so well known to you, in a word, not on the spiritual, but on purely human means, which is what any religious activity is in God's eyes (vv. 2-3)? And the One who gave you a share in the reality of the Kingdom, who let you feel His breath ("Spirit"), did He do this by means of "works of Torah," rather than by calling you to faithfulness ("through instruction in faith") (v. 5)?

The apostle once again turns to the image of Abraham: after all, he was certainly faithful to God, and God was with him, but in those days there could be no talk of any "works of Torah," since the Torah itself did not yet exist; it was first revealed to the people much later, through Moses. But then others also can count on receiving what Abraham received if they turn to God and remain faithful to Him, becoming Abraham's spiritual heirs (vv. 6-8). Paul does not deny the path of unfailing adherence to the Torah; he merely points to the obvious fact that the Torah was given not as a means of justification before God, but as a kind of signpost indicating the direction in which one must move, though without faith one cannot arrive there (vv. 9-11). If one walks the path indicated by the Torah to the very end as one should, without violating a single commandment, one can obtain at the end the same life that those who follow Christ obtain (v. 12).

But everything must be fulfilled, fully and to the end, and no human being has the strength to do this. Only one thing remains: to follow Christ, who opened to everyone ready to entrust himself to Him the path of faith walked by Abraham (vv. 13-14). Paul reminds the Galatian Christians of the foundations. He speaks to them not about religion, which in itself brings no one closer to the Kingdom, just as it does not move anyone farther away from it, but about spiritual life in the true sense of the word, where the relations of people with God and with one another turn out to matter most. Relations without which there is no Kingdom.

What is the first thing we remember about Abraham? That he “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” In this case, “believed” does not mean anything easy or simple. Abraham’s faith is labor and spiritual struggle. He gathered his family and went where God had called him. No one could stop him; he listened to no one. He trusted God so deeply that he was ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice. He received God in his home; he was the first to experience communion with the Trinity. And all this happened to him not because he was righteous in himself. On the contrary, he was sinful, and the Bible describes not only his faith but also everything that was utterly incompatible with it. Yet Abraham’s righteousness consisted not in fulfilling every ritual prescription, but in unconditional trust. Paul calls believers sons of Abraham—not distant descendants, but the next generation. This means that if we believe, we inherit Abraham’s principal traits. Yes, sin is still strong within us. But faith in God, whom we serve, for whose sake we rise again each time we fall, and with whom we continue to live—this very faith will become our justification.

What the apostle calls "the works of the Torah " ("works of the Law")? The deeds of the righteous? The observation of the Torah and the execution of the commandments given by God? And why he opposes them to "the witness of faithfulness" (literally, the corresponding Greek word sounds" hearing of the faithfulness" or "hearing of faith")? To answer to the question, it is important to know what was implied in the time of Paul under "the works of the Torah". At first, it was about the observation of the commandments and about the works of righteousness. But with time, and in the process of a certain formalization of the religious life, so they began to call what today we would define as the religious duties. Here is, Paul opposes these religious duties to the witness of faith (or faithfulness, having in mind another meaning of the corresponding Greek work). In such a context the situation becomes more understandable: on one hand the witness, on the other - the religious duties. And at the same time, become more understandable the words of the apostle addressed to the church of Galatia. In fact, what relation can have the execution or the non-execution of the religious duties in the Kingdom?

Probably, the same like religion, as such. And in this respect, the same Paul always had a quite defined position. He was not of course against religion at all: after all he himself was a religious person, as every Jew of his time. But he was tremendously always against all the attempts to impose the religion to the Church and to his members in particular. The church for him was, according to his own words, "the body of Christ", and not a religious organization. It was composed not of men, professing this or that religion, but of men living in the kingdom. And the Kingdom is opened to all, independently of the religion, to enter there, it is necessary not the religion, but faithfulness to Christ, who brought the Kingdom in the world.

This is necessary and sufficient. And here is, now in the church, according to the sense of what is written by the apostle, there are people, who began to put in first place particularly the religion, the religious duties, as if the religion itself could save someone! And Paul gives to his coreligionists a completely regular, in such a situation, question: when you felt in yourselves the breath of the Kingdom, which made you different, new people, with what was connected this breath for you: with the testimony about Christ and what He has done for our salvation, or with any religion? And if so, then why you put region in the first place? Rhetorical question. And relevant. At all times.

What is the first thing we remember about Abraham? That he "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." "Believed" here means nothing light or simple. Abraham's faith is labor and struggle. He gathered his family and went where God called him. No one could stop him, he listened to no one. He trusted God so much that he was ready to sacrifice his only son. He received God in his home; he was the first to experience communion with the Trinity. And all this happened to him not because he was righteous in himself. On the contrary, he was sinful, and the Bible describes not only his faith but also everything that in no way fits with it. But Abraham's righteousness became not the fulfillment of all ritual prescriptions, but unconditional trust. Paul calls believers sons of Abraham. Not distant descendants, but the next generation. This means that we inherit Abraham's basic traits if we believe. Yes, sin is still strong in us. But faith in God, whom we serve, for whose sake each time we fall we rise again, with whom we continue to live, this faith will become our justification.

Today the Apostle Paul speaks to us about the faith that alone can serve for our justification. He quotes the prophet Habakkuk, emphasizing that faith alone, and nothing else, can become the source of life for us. On Christmas night we will witness a strange and inexplicable miracle: the God whom nothing can contain will appear in this world as a helpless Infant. He Himself becomes like the tiny mustard seed from His parable that we read today in the Evangelist Luke. He does not come amid a blare of trumpets as a Warrior and Ruler. He Himself is forced to become a refugee and flee to Egypt from the very human evil whose defeat we expect from Him. And therefore an effort of faith is required of us in order to worship Him together with the shepherds and the Magi. It is precisely of this effort that the Lord speaks in today’s Gospel: strive to enter through the narrow gate.