The law, however, is not based on faith;
The Apostle Paul contrasts the law with faith, emphasizing that the law operates on a principle of works rather than belief. In the context of Galatians, Paul addresses the Judaizers who insisted that Gentile Christians must adhere to the Mosaic Law. Historically, the law was given to Israel at Mount Sinai and served as a covenant that required strict adherence to its commandments. This phrase highlights the fundamental difference between the Old Covenant, which was based on obedience to the law, and the New Covenant, which is based on faith in Jesus Christ. The law's purpose was to reveal sin and point to the need for a Savior, as seen in Romans 3:20 and Galatians 3:24.

on the contrary,
This phrase introduces a contrast between the law and the principle of faith. Paul uses this to emphasize that the two are mutually exclusive as means of justification. The historical context of the early church involved a struggle to understand the role of the law in light of Christ's fulfillment of it. The contrast here is not to denigrate the law but to clarify that it cannot provide the life and righteousness that faith in Christ offers.

“The man who does these things will live by them.”
This quotation is from Leviticus 18:5, where God tells the Israelites that obedience to His statutes and judgments will result in life. In the cultural context of ancient Israel, life was understood as both physical well-being and spiritual blessing. Paul uses this Old Testament reference to illustrate that the law demands perfect obedience for one to attain life through it. However, since all have sinned (Romans 3:23), no one can achieve righteousness through the law alone. This points to the necessity of Christ, who perfectly fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17) and offers life through faith. This phrase also connects to the broader biblical narrative of salvation history, where the law serves as a tutor leading to Christ (Galatians 3:24).

1. Paul the Apostle
The author of the letter to the Galatians, addressing the churches in Galatia about the role of the Law and faith in Christ.

2. Galatia
A region in modern-day Turkey where the recipients of the letter resided. The churches here were struggling with the influence of Judaizers who insisted on adherence to the Mosaic Law.

3. Mosaic Law
The body of laws given to Israel through Moses, which includes moral, ceremonial, and civil laws.

4. Judaizers
A group of Jewish Christians who taught that Gentile converts must adhere to the Mosaic Law, including circumcision, to be saved.

5. Faith in Christ
The central theme of Paul's message, emphasizing that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not by works of the Law.The Nature of the Law
The Law is not based on faith but on works. It demands perfect obedience, which is impossible for fallen humanity.

The Role of Faith
Faith in Christ is the means by which we receive righteousness. Unlike the Law, faith does not rely on human effort but on trust in God's promise.

The Purpose of the Law
The Law serves to reveal sin and our need for a Savior. It points us to Christ, who fulfilled the Law on our behalf.

Living by Faith
As believers, we are called to live by faith, trusting in Christ's finished work rather than our ability to keep the Law.

Freedom in Christ
Understanding the distinction between Law and faith frees us from legalism and empowers us to live in the grace of God.(12) The law is not of faith.--The ruling principle of the Law is not faith, but something else--works.

The man that doeth them.--By "them" is meant the "statutes" and "judgments" mentioned immediately before in the verse (Leviticus 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.

Verse 12. - And the Law is not of faith (ὁ δὲ νόμος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ πίστεως); but the Law is not "by faith." This is closely connected with the latter part of the preceding verse, as forming another portion of the proof which is there introduced by "for." Ver. 11 should end with a semicolon, not with a full stop. The δὲ at the beginning of this verse is slightly adversative, setting "the Law" in contrast with the notion of "living by or from faith." These words, "by or from faith" (ἐκ πίστεως), are borrowed from the preceding citation. We may paraphrase thus: The Law does not put forward as its characteristic principle, "by faith;" the characteristic principle of the Law is rather that which we read in the third book of Moses (Leviticus 18:5)," The man who hath actually done them shall live by them." But, The man that doeth them shall live in them (ἀλλ Ὁ ποιήσασ αὐτὰ [ἄνθρωπος] ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς: (the word ἄνθρωπος is omitted by the recent editors, as having crept into the text from the Septuagint); but, He that doeth them shall live in them. The whole verse (Leviticus 18:5) in the Authorized Version, following the Hebrew, stands thus: "And ye shall keep my statutes and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord." The Septuagint runs thus: "And ye shall keep [or, 'and keep ye'] all my statutes and all my judgments, and ye shall do them [or, 'and do ye them']: the man that doeth them shall live in them (ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς) I am the Lord your God." It thus appears that the pronoun "them" recites "my statutes and my judgments." But this the apostle is not at present particularly concerned to specify; his main point here is that the Law requires such and such things to be actually done, before it holds out the prospect of life to be gained thereby. Those under the Law were bound to render strict obedience to all its requirements, whether moral or ceremonial; and whosoever set aside any of whichever class was constituted by the Law a "transgressor" and a man "accursed." As it stands in the passage of Leviticus referred to, the clause which is cited bears not so much the aspect of a promise as of a restrictive statement implying a threatening or warning, and is therefore its harmony with the commination quoted in ver. 10. The "doing" here spoken of differs essentially from evangelical obedience. Comprising as it did its very large proportion the observance of the ceremonial prescriptions (προστάγματα) of the Law, it points to a course of conduct in which a man, striving to earn pardon and acceptance by a meritorious life, had continually to be turning his eye, slavishly and under fear of the "curse" in case of failure, towards an external Law, whose detail of positive enactments, in addition to the regulation of his moral conduct and inward spirit, he was bound with scrupulous exactness to copy in his life. The spiritual obedience of "faith," on the other hand, evolves itself (in the apostle's view) freely and spontaneously from the inward teaching and prompting of God's Spirit, of which it is the natural product or "fruit" (ch. Galatians 5:22). Such are these two forms of religious life when viewed each in its idea. When, however, we compare the spiritual state of many even sincere believers in Christ, so far as we can estimate it, with the spiritual state of (say) the marvellous author of Psalm 119. or of David and other pious Israelites, as disclosed in the exercises of pious feeling garnered in that same devotional book, we cannot fail to perceive that an Israelite under the Law might yet be not "of the works of the Law," but in no small degree qualified to teach the Christian believer himself, even in the life which is "of faith." "Shall live in them;" that is, shall find in them a fountain, as it were, of life. The Targums, Bishop Lightfoot observes, define the meaning of "living" by "life eternal."

Parallel Commentaries ...


The
ὁ (ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Law,
νόμος (nomos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3551: From a primary nemo; law, genitive case, specially, (including the volume); also of the Gospel), or figuratively.

however,
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

is
ἔστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

not
οὐκ (ouk)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

based
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

on faith;
πίστεως (pisteōs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4102: Faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.

on the contrary,
ἀλλ’ (all’)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

“The [man who]
Ὁ (Ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

does
ποιήσας (poiēsas)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

these things
αὐτὰ (auta)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Neuter 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

will live
ζήσεται (zēsetai)
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2198: To live, be alive. A primary verb; to live.

by
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

them.”
αὐτοῖς (autois)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Neuter 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.


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NT Letters: Galatians 3:12 The law is not of faith (Gal. Ga)