Galatians 3:11-12 Live by Faith, Because You cannot Live by the Law and Faith

Galatians 3:11-12 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.”

Appealing to God’s words to Habakkuk that the proud do not have a right soul within them, or that their souls are not at peace because they seek to justify themselves in their own eyes, but that the one who is righteous lives by faith in God (Habakkuk 2:4), Paul makes clear that Scripture testifies that no one is able to be justified by keeping the Law. Israel had failed in keeping God’s Law. They were not able “to live in accord with them,” as God commanded through Moses (Leviticus 18:4). Thus the Scriptures showed that those who are justified before God are justified not by keeping the Law but by trusting in God, the One who justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5).

Because the one who is righteous has been made so on the basis of his faith, not on the basis of his own pride producing works, He continues living in faith toward God. Realizing that faith is what pleases God, the one who is counted as righteous and who is upright continues in faith. Therefore, fellow Christian, since you have been justified by faith, continue walking in it. If you do not continue to walk by faith and seek to walk by the Law, you will prove that you are not the one who is righteous, but rather the one who is proud. The one who is righteous continues to walk by faith. So I urge you, do not be a slave to the Law, but rather one who walks by faith in the freedom of Christ.

But you say, “Isn’t it possible to live by faith and the Law?” Paul addresses this question, knowing that his reader will ask it. His answer is simple. The Law is not of faith. These two are mutually exclusive. He even quotes from the Law when it says that “He who practices [the Law] shall live by them.” The Law testifies that it is not of faith. If you seek to keep the Law you are walking by the Law and not by faith (not that we should not heed the moral code of the Law, but that we should not seek to live in accordance with the Law, but by faith). Thus, you can only live by the Law or by faith. You cannot do both. “The righteous man shall live by faith.”