Galatians

3:5 He therefore who bountifully supplies to you the Spirit and does works of power among you, does He do it out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith?

3:6 Even as "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.''



The contrast between faith and law

In chapter three there is a strong contrast between faith and law. Law was the basis for the relationship between man and God in the Old Testament, whereas faith is the principle by which people contact God in the New Testament. The Old Testament was a dispensation of law, whereas the New Testament is a dispensation of faith. As the basis for the relationship between man and God, the law requires that man use his own effort to fulfill the law’s requirements in order to please God. The law is not related to God intrinsically. Rather, it stands apart from God and places demands upon man that must be fulfilled if man is to please God. According to the principle of faith, man is not required to strive in his flesh to please God. Instead, man is to hear how God desires to be everything to him. God has planned to bless us. For our sake, He became incarnated, lived on earth, and died to accomplish redemption. He has been resurrected from among the dead and has become the life-giving Spirit. Now He is calling people to receive Him. He is eagerly expecting to come into people and to be their life and their everything so that they may be one with Him. This is the hearing of faith.



In this hearing of faith, we hear all the well-speaking of God, all His blessing. Faith involves the hearing concerning all the good things of God toward us. Through this hearing an appreciation for the Lord Jesus is awakened within us. Out of our appreciation for the Lord, we spontaneously call on His name. In this way we receive Him, accept Him, and join ourselves to Him. Then we go on to partake of Him and enjoy Him. All this is related to faith. Law requires man to work, but faith receives all that God is, all that God has planned and purposed, all that God has accomplished, all that God has obtained and attained, and all that God intends to impart into us. With law, there are demands. But with faith there are no demands; there is only the receiving of the processed Triune God. By receiving the Triune God, we also receive redemption, salvation, forgiveness, eternal life, and all the heavenly, divine, and spiritual things. What a contrast between law and faith! Surely it is foolish to turn from faith and go back to the law.



The gospel by faith through man’s believing

In 3:6-9 we see that the gospel is by faith through man’s believing. This gospel was altogether by faith, not by works of law. In Genesis 12, 15, and 17 Abraham had the hearing of faith. This hearing stirred up a sense of appreciation within him. We are told that Abraham believed God and that God reckoned his believing as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). The preaching of the gospel was received by Abraham through the hearing of faith.