John Calvin Commentary Galatians 3:11

"Now that no man is justified by the law before God, is evident: for, The righteous shall live by faith;" — Galatians 3:11 (ASV)

But that no man is justified by the law. He again argues from a comparison of contradictory schemes. “If we are justified by faith, it is not by the law; but we are justified by faith, therefore it is not by the law.”

The minor premise is proved by a passage from Habakkuk, which is also quoted in the Epistle to the Romans (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17). The major premise is proved by the difference in the methods of justification. The law justifies him who fulfills all its precepts, while faith justifies those who are destitute of the merit of works and who rely on Christ alone. To be justified by our own merit and to be justified by the grace of another are two schemes that cannot be reconciled: one of them must be overturned by the other. This is the substance of the argument; let us now attend to the separate clauses.

The just shall live by faith. As we had occasion to expound this passage where it occurs in the Epistle to the Romans, it is unnecessary to repeat its exposition here. The prophet evidently describes a proud confidence in the flesh as contrasted with true faith.

He declares that the just shall live; by which he means not that they are supported for a short period and liable to be overwhelmed by an approaching storm, but that they shall continue to live, and that, even amidst the most imminent danger, their life shall be preserved. Therefore, there is no weight to the scornful reproaches of our adversaries, who allege that the prophet there uses the word Faith in a broader sense than Paul does in this passage. By Faith he evidently means the exercise of a calm, steady conscience, relying on God alone, so that Paul’s quotation is properly applied.