Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 3:12
And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
12. is not of faith ] ‘does not spring out of, or start from faith’, but its principle is performance. This is clearly laid down in Rev 18:5, ‘He that doeth them &c.’. We observe that ‘justification’ and ‘life’ are almost convertible terms. He who by faith is made one with the Son of God, hath life eternal life. Thus in Rom 5:18 St Paul argues that as by Adam’s transgression all his descendants were involved in condemnation, so by the one righteous act, the obedience unto death, of the second Adam, the blessing came to all men unto justification of life a justification resulting in and constituting life.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the law is not of faith – The Law is not a matter of faith; it does not relate to faith; it does not require faith; it deals in other matters, and it pertains to another system than to faith.
But, The man … – This is the language of the Law, and this is what the Law teaches. It does not make provision for faith, but it requires unwavering and perpetual obedience, if man would obtain life by it; see this passage explained in the notes at Rom 10:5.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Gal 3:12
And the law is not of faith.
The law and the gospel
I. They differ in the work of our justification.
1. The law promiseth life to him that performs perfect obedience, and that for his works.
2. The gospel promiseth life to him that believes for the sake of Christ.
3. The law then requires doing, the gospel believing.
II. They agree in our good conversation.
1. Faith comes first.
2. Then the life of faith.
3. Then the evidence of the love of faith in obedience.
Observe–
1. Salvation was the unfulfilled end of the law, and so it is now.
2. Salvation is the accomplished beginning of the gospel.
3. The law under which we live is not by obedience-salvation, but by salvation-obedience. (W. Perkins.)
The necessity of Divine law
Under whatever relation we consider God to stand to us we must feel that He has a law by which He governs us all. Is He a King? There must be royal decrees. Is He a Master? There must be appointed service. Is He a Judge? The very name implies a tribunal. Is He a Redeemer? The redemption must be in accordance with the principles of righteousness. Is He a Father? The home over which He presides must be a scene of harmonious action. (S. Pearson, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. And the law is not of faith] It promises no forgiveness to believing, but requires obedience. It is not, What do you believe? but, What have you done? The man that doeth them perfectly, at all times, and in all places, he shall live in them; but if in any case he fails, he forfeits his life. See Clarke on Ro 1:17, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The law saith nothing of faith in the Mediator; though faith in God be commanded in the first precept, yet faith in Christ is not commanded by the law as that by which the soul shall live. For that which the law saith is:
Do this and live: The man that doeth the things contained in the law,
shall live in them; life, in the law, is promised to those who do the things which it requireth; not to them who, have failed in their performances, yet accept of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer which God hath sent, and believe in him who justifieth the ungodly. For that by the life promised to the observation of the law, not a temporal life only is to be understood, but eternal life also, is plain from our Saviours application of it to the young man, inquiring about the way to eternal life, Mat 19:16,17; Lu 10:28.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. doethMany depended on thelaw although they did not keep it; but without doing, saith Paul, itis of no use to them (Rom 2:13;Rom 2:17; Rom 2:23;Rom 10:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the law is not of faith,…. The Arabic version adds, “but of man”; which as it is an addition to the text, so it contains false doctrine; for though the law is not of faith, yet not of man, but of God; the law does not consist of faith in Christ, nor does it require it, and that a man should live by it upon his righteousness; it is the Gospel that reveals the righteousness of Christ, and directs and encourages men to believe in him and be saved; nor does the law take any notice of a man’s faith; nor has it anything to do with a man as a believer, but as a doer, in the point of justification:
but the man that doth them shall live in them; the passage referred to, is in Le 18:5, the word “them”, relates to the statutes and judgments, not of the ceremonial, but of the moral law, which are equally obligatory on Gentiles as on Jews. The Jewish doctors x observe on those words, that
“it is not said, priests, Levites, and Israelites, but
, “the man”; lo, you learn from hence, that even a Gentile that studies in the law, is as an high priest:”
so that whatever man does the things contained in the law, that is, internally as well as externally, for the law is spiritual, reaches the inward part of man, and requires truth there, a conformity of heart and thought unto it, and that does them perfectly and constantly, without the least failure in matter or manner of obedience, such shall live in them and by them; the language of the law is, do this and live; so life, and the continuation of that happy natural life which Adam had in innocence, was promised to him, in case of his persisting in his obedience to the law; and so a long and prosperous life was promised to the Israelites in the land of Canaan, provided they observed the laws and statutes which were commanded them: but since eternal life is a promise made before the world began, is provided for in an everlasting covenant, is revealed in the Gospel, and is the pure gift of God’s grace through Christ, it seems that it never was the will of God that it should be obtained by the works of the law; and which is a further proof that there can be no justification in the sight of God by them, see Ga 3:21.
x T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 3. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The law is not of faith ( ). Law demands complete obedience and rests not on mercy, faith, grace.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And the law is not of faith,” (ho de nomos ouk estin ek pisteos) “Moreover the law is not (out) of faith; The law said “do and live,” but grace says “do not,” but believe and live, or believe and be justified from soul guilt and condemnation, Rom 4:4-5; Rom 10:5-6; Rom 11:6.
2) “But, the man that doeth them,” (All’ ho poiesas auta) “But the one doing them,” the things of the law; daily do, so as daily to live, was the law part of condemnation designed to bring man to his daily senses that he needed a savior, could not save himself by law deeds, Lev 18:5.
3) “Shall live in them,” (zesetai en autois) “He will live by them,” by doing them or in doing them continually, progressively, without a break, Eze 20:11; Eze 20:13; Eze 20:21; Luk 11:28; Rom 10:5. True religion is based on heart-felt trust in God, not in perfect outward fleshly obedience to laws, Heb 10:38.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12. And the law is not of faith. The law evidently is not contrary to faith; otherwise God would be unlike himself; but we must return to a principle already noticed, that Paul’s language is modified by the present aspect of the case. The contradiction between the law and faith lies in the matter of justification. You will more easily unite fire and water, than reconcile these two statements, that men are justified by faith, and that they are justified by the law. “The law is not of faith;” that is, it has a method of justifying a man which is wholly at variance with faith.
But the man who shall do these things. The difference lies in this, that man, when he fulfils the law, is reckoned righteous by a legal righteousness, which he proves by a quotation from Moses. (Lev 18:5.) Now, what is the righteousness of faith? He defines it in the Epistle to the Romans,
“
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Rom 10:9.)
And yet it does not follow from this, that faith is inactive, or that it sets believers free from good works. For the present question is not, whether believers ought to keep the law as far as they can, (which is beyond all doubt,) but whether they can obtain righteousness by works, which is impossible. But since God promises life to the doers of the law, why does Paul affirm that they are not righteous? The reply to this objection is easy. There are none righteous by the works of the law, because there are none who do those works. We admit that the doers of the law, if there were any such, are righteous; but since that is a conditional agreement, all are excluded from life, because no man performs that righteousness which he ought. We must bear in memory what I have already stated, that to do the law is not to obey it in part, but to fulfill everything which belongs to righteousness; and all are at the greatest distance from such perfection.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) The law is not of faith.The ruling principle of the Law is not faith, but something elseworks.
The man that doeth them.By them is meant the statutes and judgments mentioned immediately before in the verse (Lev. 18:5) from which the quotation is taken. Just as the stress was upon faith in the last verse, so here it falls on the word doeth: it is a matter of works.
Shall live.The idea of life receives an enlargement, corresponding to the fuller revelation of immortality in the New Testament as compared with the Old. In the Old Testament, life is an existence upon earth, shortened by no judgment, reposing upon God, and delighting itself in God. On the other hand, death is the sudden and dreadful end, the destruction of this existence through a judgment of some special kind (Schultz, Theology of the Old Testament, 2:163). Such a judgment would be the Chaldean invasion; and when the prophet Habakkuk says that the just shall live, he means that he should be saved from this calamity, and still continue to enjoy the divine favour and protection. The promise in Leviticus declares that he who keeps the Law shall be preserved from all judgments of this kind. With St. Paul, as in the Old Testament, the root idea is that of drawing support and sustenance from God; but with him this is not confined to the present life, or extended beyond the grave only in some dim and shadowy way: it begins in time and stretches on into eternity.
In them.His life shall spring out of them and be nourished by them, just as a tree strikes its roots into the earth.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Law is not of ( out from) faith Law has no justifying power flowing out from faith, but from the perfect doing.
Doeth them Lev 18:5.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gal 3:12. And the law is not of faith: As the Apostle shews here, that there was no obtaining life by the law, without an immaculate obedience; faith, which is used here in opposition to it, must signify a firm belief of the promise of God, and acting according to it, in a dependance upon Christ only for righteousness and salvation; which is the way of justification and salvation revealed by the gospel.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gal 3:12 . Minor proposition; the syllogistic atqui . See on Gal 3:11 .
, is not of faith , is not an institution which has faith as the principle of its nature and action. Comp. Gal 3:10 .
. . .] but he who shall have done them (namely, the and of God, Lev 18:5 ) shall live (shall have life in the Messiah’s kingdom) through them , so that they form, in this way of doing , the channel of obtaining life. Thus in the express words of the law (Lev 18:5 ), likewise presumed to be familiar to his readers, Paul introduces the nature of the law as contrasted with . Comp. Rom 10:5 . After , is not (with Schott) to be supplied (comp. also Matthias, who understands even as runs not ); but, as the form with the apostrophe indicates, Paul has connected immediately with , leaving it to the reader not only to explain for himself and from his acquaintance with the O.T. context of the saying referred to, but also to complete for himself the connection from the first half of the verse: “The law, however, has not faith as its principle; but the doer of the commandments this is the axiom of the law shall live by them.” Comp. on Rom 15:3 ; 1Co 1:31 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Ver. 12. And the law is not of faith ] Because it promiseth not life to those that will be justified by faith, but requireth works.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The man. App-123:1, but the texts read “He”. This quotation is from Lev 18:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gal 3:12. , is not of faith) It does not act the part of faith; it does not say, believe, but do.- , the man that doeth them) Rom 10:5.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Gal 3:12
Gal 3:12
and the law is not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them.-Faith in God leads a man to obey the things commanded of God, and in doing these things he is blessed of God.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the law: Rom 4:4, Rom 4:5, Rom 4:14, Rom 4:16, Rom 9:30-32, Rom 10:5, Rom 10:6, Rom 11:6
The man: Lev 18:5, Neh 9:29, Eze 20:11, Eze 20:13, Mat 19:17, Luk 10:25-28, Rom 10:5, Rom 10:6
Reciprocal: Deu 6:25 – General Jos 6:17 – accursed Hab 2:4 – but Luk 10:26 – General Luk 10:28 – this Rom 2:13 – but the Gal 3:18 – if
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gal 3:12. -But the law is not of faith. This introduces the minor proposition of the syllogism. The law is in no sense connected with faith in its origin, essence, or working-does not spring from it, and in no way belongs to it. Theodoret says truly, , . The law is not, as Dr. Brown paraphrases, the way of justification by the law, but the law itself as an institute, the Mosaic law being the reference, and on this point representing all law. The insertion of after , which Gwynne confidently presses as the true grammatical construction, would be a clumsy and unsatisfactory interpolation.
-but he who hath done these things shall live in them. The is strongly adversative. The Received Text has after on such slender authority as D3, K, L, and it was probably taken from the quotation as it stands in the Septuagint, Lev 18:5. The Hebrew clause is, ; and the whole verse in the Septuagint is, , . The are the and of the previous clauses. Compare Neh 9:29; Eze 20:21; Bar 4:1. As in the previous quotation, there is no formula as , nor does it need to be understood. The apostle uses a well-known quotation, and does not need to name it as such; but there is a formula employed in Rom 10:5. The emphasis is on the aorist . Doing, not believing, is always connected with the law. It prescribes obedience, and threatens penalty. Works, not faith, belong to it. It does not recognise faith, for it says, Do, and then thou shalt live. He who has kept these laws lives in them as the element of his life. Praecepta legis non sunt de credendis, sed de faciendis (Thomas Aquinas). The two quotations are placed almost side by side. Faith and obedience are very opposite in nature, and so are a life of faith and a life of legal obedience. Perfect obedience would secure life; but there is, and there can be, no perfect obedience. All are therefore under the curse who are under the law, and the law has no justifying power; but by a new principle which the law knows nothing of, and which is quite opposed to law in essence and operation, are men justified-to wit, by faith. These two verses are a species of inverted syllogism. The major is, The just shall live by faith; the minor is, but the law is not of faith; and the conclusion is, therefore in the law no one is justified before God. See under Gal 2:16, etc.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Gal 3:12. The law is not of faith. The full significance of this is as if it said, “the law of Moses is not the same system as the faith of the New Testament.” Shall live by them. The Jew who carefully observed the ceremonies imposed by the law of Moses, was able to live or be contented with the thought that his life was according to the outward forms of that system. Only God would know whether he was “mixing” faith with his work (Heb 4:2), hence as long as he performed the deeds prescribed by the law, he could not be penalized by the congregation, and therefore he would escape the curse of the law.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
and the law is not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them. [Lev 18:5 . Moreover, later prophecy bears out the earlier declaration made to Abraham, for it says that the righteous obtain life, or salvation, by faith, and this has no reference whatever to the law, for the law is not a system of faith, but an antithetical system of works, for the Scripture so defines it by a counter statement to the one I have quoted, which says that whoever keeps the precepts of the law shall live by them. Compare Rom 11:6]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 12
That doeth them; that is, that fully obeys the requirements of the law.–Shall live in them; shall be saved by them.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
But the Law is not of faith; but, “The man who does these things shall live in them.”
A further statement of fact – if you are going to obey the law, you must live in it completely.
So, we have three quotes here – just where do they come from?
1. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the Book of the Law, to do them.” Deu 27:26 “Cursed [be] he that confirmeth not [all] the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.”
2. “The just shall live by faith.” Hab 2:4 “… but the just shall live by his faith.”
3. “The man who does these things shall live in them.” Lev 18:5 A bit of a paraphrase by Paul, “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I [am] the LORD.”
There is a very interesting study that any Bible school student should be required to do – not that I was, it is something I should, yet do before I am with the Lord. A study of how the New Testament writers used and quoted the Old Testament.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
3:12 {13} And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
(13) Here is a reason shown of the former conclusion: because the law promises life to all that keep it, and therefore if it is kept, it justifies and gives life. But the scripture attributing righteousness and life to faith takes it from the Law, seeing that faith justifies by imputation, and the Law by the performing of the work.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Responding to the idea that perhaps both Law and faith are necessary for justification Paul quoted Lev 18:5. This verse shows that they are mutually exclusive. They are two entirely different approaches to God. The Law demanded perfect compliance. "Them" refers to the statutes and ordinances of the Mosaic Law.
Law and faith are as different as apples and elephants. The Law requires works, but the gospel calls for faith.