Thomas Aquinas Commentary Galatians 3

Previously, the Apostle rebuked the Galatians for their vanity and fickleness by the authority of the gospel’s teaching, showing that his doctrine was approved by the other apostles. Now, through reason and authority, he proves the same thing: that the works of the Law must not be observed.

He proves this in two ways:

1. From the insufficiency of the Law. Concerning this, he does two things:
   1. He utters the rebuke. Regarding this, he does two things:
      1. He rebukes them by showing that they are foolish.
      2. He gives the reason for his rebuke: before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been publicly portrayed (Galatians 3:1).
   2. He begins his proof (Galatians 3:2).
2. From the dignity of those who have been converted to Christ (Galatians 4:1).

First, therefore, he rebukes them for their folly, calling them senseless. Hence he says, O senseless Galatians. Now, “senseless” is properly said of one who lacks sense, and the spiritual sense is knowledge of the truth. Therefore, anyone who lacks the truth is appropriately called senseless: Are you also still without understanding? (Matthew 15:16); We fools considered their life madness .

Against this, however, it is said in Matthew 5:22: Whosoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire. Now, a “fool” is the same as “senseless.” Therefore, the Apostle was in danger of hell-fire. But it must be said, as Augustine suggests, that this applies only if it is said without reason and with the intention to disparage. The Apostle, however, said it with reason and with an intention to correct. Hence a Gloss says, “He says this in sorrow.”

Secondly, when he says, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, he shows how they had become senseless. Here it is to be noted, first of all, that someone becomes senseless in a number of ways: either because a truth he could know is not presented to him, or because he departs from a truth that had been presented and accepted, as when he abandons the way of truth.

Such were these Galatians, who rejected the truth presented to them and abandoned the truth of the faith they had accepted: I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you into the grace of Christ, for a different gospel (Galatians 1:6). This, therefore, is the type of senselessness for which he rebukes them when he says, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth?

To understand what bewitchment is, it should be noted that according to a Gloss, bewitchment is, properly speaking, a delusion of the senses usually produced by magical arts; for example, making a man appear to onlookers as a lion or as having horns. This can also be brought about by demons, who have the power to set phantasms in motion and to produce in the senses the very alterations that real objects usually produce.

According to this meaning, the Apostle asks, appropriately enough, who has bewitched you? It is as if to say: You are like deluded men who take obvious things to be other than they are in reality. This is because you are deluded by deceptions and sophistries, so as not to obey the truth—that is, you neither see the obvious truth you have received nor embrace it by obeying it. For the bewitching of vanity obscures good things ; Woe to you who call evil good, and good evil! (Isaiah 5:20).

In another way, bewitchment is taken to mean that someone is harmed by an evil look, particularly when cast by sorcerers whose inflamed eyes and hostile glance cast a spell on children, who grow faint from it and vomit their food.

Avicenna, attempting to explain this phenomenon in his book On the Soul, says that corporeal matter obeys an intellectual substance more than it obeys the active and passive qualities at work in nature. Accordingly, he supposes that through the mental activity of an intellectual substance (which he calls the souls or movers of the heavenly spheres), many things occur outside the order of heavenly movements and of all corporeal forces. Along the same lines, he says that when a holy soul is purged of all earthly affection and carnal vice, it acquires a likeness to the previously mentioned substances, so that nature obeys it. This is why certain holy men achieve wonders that transcend the course of nature.

Similarly, because the soul of someone defiled by carnal passions has a vigorous apprehension of malice, nature obeys it to the point of affecting matter, particularly in those in whom the matter is pliable, as in the case of tender children. Thus it happens, according to him, that from the vigorous apprehension exercised by sorcerers, a child can be evilly affected and bewitched. This position seems true enough according to Avicenna’s tenets, for he postulates that all material forms in sublunar bodies are influenced by the separated incorporeal substances and that natural agents can be no more than dispositive causes in such matter.

However, this is refuted by the Philosopher. For an agent should be similar to what is subject to it. Now, what comes into being is not a form alone or matter alone, but the composite of matter and form. Consequently, that which acts to produce the existence of corporeal things should have matter and form—either virtually, as God, who is the maker of form and matter, or actually, as a bodily agent. Therefore, with respect to forms of this kind, corporeal matter obeys the command neither of angels nor of any mere creature, but of God alone, as Augustine says. Hence, what Avicenna says about this matter of bewitchment is not true.

Therefore, it is better to say that when a person’s act of imagining or apprehending is strong, the senses are affected, or at least the sense appetite is. Now, such an affection does not occur without some alteration taking place in the body and the bodily spirits. For example, we see that when something pleasant is apprehended, the sense appetite is moved to desire, and as a result, the body becomes warm. Similarly, as a result of apprehending something horrible, the body grows cold.

When the spirits are moved in this way, they mainly infect the eyes, which in turn infect certain things through their glance, as is plain in the case of a clean mirror that becomes defiled when looked into by a woman in her monthly purification. Therefore, because sorcerers are obstinate and hardened in evil, their sense appetite is affected by the vigor of their apprehension. As a result, as has been said, the infection moves from the veins to the eyes and from there to the object upon which they look. Accordingly, because the flesh of children is soft, it is influenced and charmed by their hostile glance. And demons, too, can sometimes produce this effect.

He says, therefore, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? It is as if to say: You once obeyed the truth of the faith, but now you do not. Therefore, you are like children infected by some hostile glance who vomit the food they have eaten.

Then he tells why he rebukes them, when he says, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been publicly portrayed, crucified among you. This can be interpreted in three ways. One way, Jerome’s, corresponds to the first meaning of “bewitchment.” It is as if he says: I say that you are bewitched because before your eyes Christ has been publicly portrayed—that is, the proscription of Christ, who was condemned to death, is as vivid to your eyes as if it were being enacted before you, and He was being crucified among you. In other words, the crucifixion of Christ was as clear in your understanding as though it were taking place there. Hence, if you no longer see it, it is because you have been deluded and bewitched. Against such a change of heart, it is said in Song of Solomon 8:6: Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm.

Another way, Augustine’s, is as if he said: You are justifiably bewitched, because like children, you vomit out the truth you have received, namely, Christ by faith in your hearts. And you do this because before your eyes—that is, in your presence—Jesus Christ is proscribed, meaning expelled and refused His inheritance. This should trouble you, because the very one whom you should not allow to be proscribed and expelled by others has been proscribed among you—that is, has lost His inheritance, namely, yourselves. Then that which follows, namely, “crucified,” should be read “with a heavy burden and obvious pain,” because he adds this to make them consider the great price Christ paid for the inheritance He lost among them, and thus move them more deeply. It is as if to say: Christ has been proscribed among you, He Who was crucified—that is, Who with His cross and His own blood purchased this inheritance: You are bought with a great price (1 Corinthians 6:20); Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled (1 Peter 1:18).

The third way, Ambrose’s, is as though he says: Yes, you are bewitched—you, before whose eyes (that is, in whose opinion, according to your judgment) Jesus Christ is proscribed, meaning condemned without saving others. And among you (that is, so far as you understand) He was crucified, meaning He merely died but justified no one, in spite of the fact that it is said of Him, Although he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God (2 Corinthians 13:4).

It can also be explained in a fourth way according to a Gloss, to the effect that by these words the Apostle proclaims the gravity of their guilt. Because in deserting Christ by observing the Law, they sin in a way somewhat parallel to Pilate who proscribed Christ, that is, condemned him. For in believing that Christ does not suffice to save them, they are made to be sinners similar to Christ’s executioners who hung Him on the cross, condemning Him to a most shameful death and killing Him. The parallel is taken from the one against whom they sinned, because the Galatians sinned against Christ Jesus just as Pilate and those who crucified Christ did.

Having given his rebuke, the Apostle goes on to show the insufficiency of the Law and the power of faith.

First, he proves the insufficiency of the Law.

Second, he raises a question and answers it (verse 19).

Concerning the first point, he does two things:

First, he proves the deficiency and insufficiency of the Law by appealing to what they experienced.

Second, by authority and reasons (verse 6).

As to the first of these, he does two things:

First, he proves his proposition by appealing to something they experienced.

Second, by using something he himself experienced (verse 5).

With respect to the first of these, he does two things:

First, he discusses the gift they have received.

Second, the defect into which they have fallen (verse 3).

He discusses the gift they received by asking them from whom they received it. Therefore, assuming they had accepted the gift, he questions them: Although you have been bewitched and are foolish, you are surely not so deluded that you cannot explain something very obvious to me. He says, "This is the only thing I want to learn from you," because this alone is enough to prove my point. It is evident that you have received the Holy Spirit. I ask, therefore, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith?

To explain this, it should be noted that in the early Church, by God’s providence, and so that the faith of Christ might prosper and grow, visible signs of the Holy Spirit appeared in the hearers immediately after the apostles preached. Accordingly, it is said of Peter in Acts 10:44: While Peter was yet speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word.

The Galatians, too, openly received the Holy Spirit at Paul’s preaching. The Apostle therefore asks them from where they obtained the Holy Spirit. It is obvious that it was not through the works of the Law, because, since they were Gentiles, they did not have the Law before they received the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they had the Holy Spirit—that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit—by hearing with faith. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, which was given in the Law (for the Law was given amid tremors), but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons (Romans 8:17).

Therefore, if the power of faith could do this, it is pointless to seek salvation by some other means, because it is more difficult to make the unjust just than to keep the just in their righteousness. So, if faith had made the unjust Gentiles just without the Law, it could no doubt keep them just without the Law. Great, therefore, was the gift they had received through faith.

Then, when he asks if they are so foolish that, having begun in the Spirit, they would now be perfected by the flesh, he shows the defect into which they have fallen. He expands on a twofold defect, concerning both the gifts they had received from Christ and the evils they endured for Him (verse 4): Have you suffered so great things in vain?

Regarding the first point, it should be noted that the Galatians, after they left what was great—namely, the Holy Spirit—clung to something lesser: the carnal observances of the Law. This is foolish. The Apostle asks if they are so foolish that, after beginning under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (that is, obtaining the beginning of their perfection from the Holy Spirit), they would now, while they are more advanced, seek to be perfected by the flesh. In other words, do they seek to be preserved by the carnal observances of the Law, from which they could not acquire even the beginning of righteousness? The flesh profiteth nothing (John 6:64).

In this way, you pervert the right order, because the path of perfection consists in going from the imperfect to the perfect. But because you are doing the opposite, you are foolish: A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun; but a fool is changed as the moon . They are like those who begin to serve God with spiritual fervor but afterward desert to the flesh. They are also like Nebuchadnezzar’s statue with its head of gold and feet of clay (Daniel 11:32). Hence it is said, They who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8), and he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption (Galatians 6:8).

Then, when he says, Have you suffered so great things in vain? he highlights their desertion by considering the evils they endured for Christ. Anyone who receives something without effort does not guard it as precious, but it is foolish to value lightly and fail to guard what is obtained by great effort. The Galatians had received the Holy Spirit with labor and tribulation, suffering at the hands of their fellow citizens. That is why he asks, Have you suffered so great things in vain?

It is as if he were saying: You should not despise so great a gift received with such effort; otherwise, you have received it in vain—that is, to no purpose. You endured these things to attain eternal life: Tribulation worketh patience, and patience trial, and trial hope; and hope confoundeth not (Romans 5:3). Therefore, if you shut yourselves out from the door to eternal life by abandoning the faith and seeking to be saved by carnal observances, you have suffered in vain—that is, uselessly.

And he adds, "if it is still in vain." He says this because it was still in their power to repent, if they wished, as long as they were alive. This shows that certain deadened works can be revived: Their labors are without fruit, and their works unprofitable ; I am afraid lest perhaps I have labored in vain among you (Galatians 4:11). If this is applied to evil people who do not repent, it can be said that they suffered without a cause—that is, a cause that can grant eternal life.

Then, when he says, He, therefore, who giveth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you; doth he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of the faith? he proves his proposition by appealing to his own experience. For they might say that although it is true that they received the Holy Spirit by hearing with faith, it was because of Paul’s devotion to the Law that they received the faith he preached. So he says: But even considering the matter not from your side, but from what I have done in giving you the Holy Spirit who works miracles among you through my ministry—do I do this by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? In truth, it is not by the works of the Law but by faith.

But can anyone give the Holy Spirit? Augustine, in On the Trinity (Book 15), says that no mere human can give the Holy Spirit. The apostles, for example, did not give the Holy Spirit; rather, they laid hands on people, who then received the Holy Spirit. What then does the Apostle mean when he speaks of himself as giving you the Holy Spirit? I answer that in the giving of the Holy Spirit, three things work together in a certain order: the indwelling Holy Spirit, the gift of grace and charity along with the other virtues, and the sacrament of the New Law through whose administration the Spirit is given. Therefore, the Spirit can be given by someone in three ways.

First, the Spirit can be given by someone who has authority over all three aspects: the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, the gift, and the sacrament. In this way, the Holy Spirit is given by the Father and the Son alone, since they have the authority not of dominion but of origin, because the Spirit proceeds from both.

Second, regarding the grace, the gift, and the sacraments, the Holy Spirit even gives Himself. This means that the giving implies the Holy Spirit's own causality with respect to His gifts, because, as the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 12:11, He divides to everyone according as He wills. However, concerning the author of the giving, it is not appropriate to say that the Holy Spirit gives Himself.

Third, concerning the sacrament which is given by the ministry of the Church’s ministers, it can be said that holy people give the Holy Spirit by administering the sacraments. This is the way the Apostle had in mind—the way mentioned in a gloss. Nevertheless, this is not the usual way of phrasing it, and it should not be overstated.

Again, a gloss says that the performing of miracles is attributed to faith, which operates above nature because it believes in things that are above nature. Therefore, because the apostles preached a faith that contained things beyond reason, they needed to offer some testimony to support their credibility—some proof that they had been sent by God, which is itself a claim that surpasses reason. For this reason, Christ gave them His own sign as proof.

Now, there is a twofold sign of Christ. One is that He is the Lord of all; hence it is said, Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations (Psalms 144:13). The other is that He is Sanctifier and Savior, according to Acts 4:12: There is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved. Accordingly, He gave them two signs. The first was the power to perform miracles, so that they could show they were sent by God, the Lord of all creatures: He gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases (Luke 9:1). The second was that by their ministry they might give the Holy Spirit, to show that they had been sent by the Savior of all: They laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17). Of these two signs it is said in Hebrews 2:4: God also bearing them witness by signs and wonders and divers miracles and distributions of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Having proved by experience the power of faith and the insufficiency of the Law, the Apostle now proves the same things by authority and reason.

The Apostle's proof has two parts:

1. He proves the power of faith to justify.
2. He proves the insufficiency of the Law (verse 10).

He proves the first point by using a syllogism, in which he does three things:

1. He proves the minor premise.
2. He proves the major premise (verse 8).
3. He draws the conclusion (verse 9).

Concerning the first of these, proving the minor premise, he does two things:

1. He proposes an authority from which he takes the minor premise.
2. He concludes the minor premise (verse 7).

He says, therefore, that justice and the Holy Spirit truly come from faith. As it is written in Genesis 15:6 and mentioned again in Romans 4:3: Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as justice.

Here it should be noted that justice consists in paying a debt. A person is indebted to God, to themself, and to their neighbor. However, it is on account of God that they owe anything to themself and their neighbor. Therefore, the highest form of justice is to render to God what is God’s.

If you give to yourself or your neighbor what you owe but do not do this for God’s sake, you are more perverse than just, because you are making humanity your ultimate end. Everything in a person is from God—namely, the intellect, the will, and the body itself—although according to a certain order. The lower is ordered toward the higher, and external things are ordered toward internal things, for the good of the soul.

Furthermore, the highest part of a person is the mind. Therefore, the first element of justice is for a person's mind to be submitted to God, and this is done by faith: Bringing into captivity every understanding to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Therefore, it must be said that in all things, God is the first principle of justice. Whoever gives to God the greatest thing they possess by submitting their mind to Him is fully just: Whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14).

And so he says, Abraham believed God—that is, he submitted his mind to God by faith. As it is written, Believe in God, and he will sustain you; direct your way and trust in him ; and further on, You who fear the Lord, believe him .

And it was credited to him as justice. This means the act of faith, and faith itself, was for him—as it is for everyone—the sufficient cause of justice. It is credited to him as justice outwardly by people, but inwardly it is worked by God, who justifies those who have faith. He does this by forgiving their sins through charity working in them.

From this authority, he draws the minor premise, saying, Therefore, know that those who are of faith are the children of Abraham. This is as if to say: Someone is called the son of another because he imitates his works. Therefore, if you are the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham (John 8:39).

But Abraham did not seek to be justified through circumcision, but through faith. Therefore, the sons of Abraham are those who seek to be justified by faith. This is what he says: Because Abraham is just through faith, in that he believed God and it was credited to him as justice, therefore, know that those who are of faith—that is, who believe they are justified and saved by faith—are the children of Abraham by imitation and instruction.

This is confirmed elsewhere in Scripture: Those who are the children of the promise are counted as the seed (Romans 9:8); Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham (Luke 19:9); and God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9), by making them believers.

Then, when he says, Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, he presents the major premise: that Abraham was told beforehand that in his seed all nations would be blessed. When he says, Scripture, foreseeing, he introduces God speaking to Abraham (Genesis 12:3).

Therefore, he says, God told Abraham beforehand that in you—that is, in those who, like you, will be your sons by imitating your faith—all nations will be blessed. As it is also written, Many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:11).

Finally, when he says, Therefore, those who are of faith... will be blessed, he draws the conclusion from the premises. The argument can be formulated this way: God the Father announced to Abraham that in his seed all nations would be blessed. But those who seek to be justified by faith are the children of Abraham. Therefore, those who are of faith—that is, who seek to be justified through faith—will be blessed with the faithful, or believing, Abraham.

Above, the Apostle proved the power of faith; now he shows the shortcoming of the Law.

He does this in two ways:

1. First, through the authority of the Law.
2. Secondly, through a human custom (Galatians 3:15).

Concerning the first point, he does three things:

1. First, he shows the curse brought on by the Law.
2. Secondly, he shows the Law’s inability to remove that curse (Galatians 3:11).
3. Thirdly, he shows the sufficiency of Christ, by whom that curse has been removed (Galatians 3:13).

In regard to the first of these, he does two things:

1. First, he sets forth his intended proposition.
2. Secondly, he proves the proposition (Galatians 3:10), for it is written: Cursed is every one that does not abide in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

He says therefore: For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. Since he had said that those who are of faith will be blessed by being sons of Abraham, someone might say that they are blessed both on account of the works of the Law and on account of faith. To exclude this, he says: As many as are of the works of the law are under a curse.

Against this, it could be argued that the ancient fathers were of the works of the Law. Therefore, they would be under a curse and, consequently, damned—which is a Manichean error. It is necessary, then, to understand this correctly. It should be noted that the Apostle does not say, “As many as observe the works of the Law are under a curse,” because this would be false when applied to the time of the Law. He says, rather: As many as are of the works of the Law, meaning, whoever trusts in the works of the Law and believes that they are made righteous by them is under a curse.

For it is one thing to be of the works of the Law and another to observe the Law. The latter consists in fulfilling the Law, so that one who fulfills it is not under a curse. But to be of the works of the Law is to trust in them and place one’s hope in them. Those who are of the Law in this way are under a curse—namely, the curse of transgression. This is not because the Law produces the curse, for concupiscence does not come from the Law, but the knowledge of sin does. We are prone to this sin through the concupiscence that the Law forbids. Therefore, inasmuch as the Law creates a knowledge of sin but offers no help against it, those who rely on its works are said to be under a curse, since they are powerless to escape it by those works.

Furthermore, some works of the Law are ceremonies, while others pertain to morals, with which the moral precepts deal. According to a Gloss, what is said here—as many as are of the works of the law, are under a curse—is to be understood as referring to ceremonial works and not moral works. Alternatively, it should be said that the Apostle is speaking here of all works, both ceremonial and moral. For works are not the cause that makes one righteous before God; rather, they are the carrying out and manifestation of righteousness. No one is made righteous before God by works, but by the habit of faith—not an acquired faith, but an infused one.

Therefore, as many as seek to be justified by works are under a curse, because sin is not removed, nor is anyone justified in the sight of God by them. Instead, one is justified by the habit of faith, made alive by charity: And all these, though approved through the testimony of faith, did not receive the promise (Hebrews 11:39).

Then, when he says, For it is written: Cursed is every one that does not abide in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them, he proves his proposition. According to a Gloss, this is proven by the fact that no one can keep the Law in the way the Law prescribed. As it says, As many as do not keep and do all that is written in the book of the law... cursed shall they be (Deuteronomy 28:15). But it is impossible to fulfill the whole Law, as it is said in Acts: Why do you tempt God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (Acts 15:10). Therefore, by the works of the Law, no one is anything but cursed.

In another way, the passage, For it is written... can be taken not as a proof of the proposition but as an exposition of it. It is as if to say: I say that they are under a curse, that is, under the one of which the Law speaks, For it is written: Cursed is every one that does not abide in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them. Here, the curse is understood to refer to sin. For the Law commands that good be done and evil avoided, and by commanding this, it places one under obligation without giving the power to obey. And so he says, Cursed—as though placed in contact with evil—is every one, without exception, because, as it is said in Acts, God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). He says, that does not abide to the end: He that shall persevere to the end (Matthew 24:13); in all things, not in some only, because as it is said in James, Whoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, has become guilty of all (James 2:10); which are written in the book of the law to do them, not only to believe or will but actually to fulfill them in works: A good understanding to all that do it (Psalms 111:10). Yet the holy patriarchs, although they were of the works of the Law, were nevertheless saved by faith in the one to come, by trusting in His grace and by fulfilling the Law at least spiritually. For, as a Gloss says, “Moses did indeed command many things which no one could fulfill, in order to tame the pride of the Jews who said: ‘There are many willing and able, but no one to command.’”

But a difficulty arises about saying, Cursed is every one that does not abide in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them. For it is said: Bless, and curse not (Romans 12:14). I answer that to curse is nothing other than to speak evil. I can say that good is evil and evil is good, or I can say that good is good and evil is evil. The first is what the Apostle forbids when he says, Curse not—that is, do not say that good is evil. But the second is lawful. Hence, when we denounce sin, we do indeed curse, not by calling good evil but by declaring that evil is evil. Therefore, it is lawful to curse a sinner, that is, to say that he is given over to evil or is evil.

Then, when he says, But that in the law no man is justified with God, it is manifest, he shows the inability of the Law to rescue us from that curse, for it could not make one righteous. To show this, he uses a syllogism. Righteousness is by faith, but the Law is not by faith; therefore, the Law cannot justify. With respect to this:

1. First, he states the conclusion when he says, But that in the law no one is justified.
2. Secondly, he states the major premise: because the just man lives by faith (Galatians 3:11).
3. Thirdly, he states the minor premise (Galatians 3:12).

Therefore, he says: I say that a curse was introduced by the Law, and yet the Law cannot free one from that curse, because it is obvious that no one is justified before God by the Law, that is, through the works of the Law. On this point, it should be noted that those who rejected the Old Testament took occasion to do so from this statement. It must be said, therefore, that no one is justified in the Law, meaning, through the Law. For through it came the knowledge of sin, as is said in Romans (Romans 3:20), but justification did not come through it: By the works of the law no flesh shall be justified (Romans 3:20).

But against this, it is said in James: Was not Abraham our father justified by works? (James 2:21). I answer that “to be justified” can be taken in two senses. It can refer to the execution and manifestation of righteousness, and in this way a person is justified—that is, proven righteous—by the works they perform. Or, it can refer to the infused habit of righteousness, and in this way one is not justified by works, since the habit of righteousness by which a person is justified before God is not acquired but is infused by the grace of faith. Therefore, the Apostle significantly says, with God, because the righteousness that is before God is interior, in the heart, whereas the righteousness that is by works—that is, which manifests that one is righteous—is before men. It is in this sense that the Apostle says, with God: For not the hearers of the law, but the doers are just before God (Romans 2:13); For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something to glory in, but not before God (Romans 4:2). Thus, the conclusion of his reasoning is obvious: the Law cannot justify.

Then, when he says, because the just man lives by faith, he presents the major premise, which is based on scriptural authority from Habakkuk (Habakkuk 2:4), restated in Romans (Romans 1:17) and Hebrews (Hebrews 10:38). Regarding this point, it should be noted that in a person there is a twofold life: the life of nature and the life of righteousness. The life of nature is from the soul; hence, when the soul is separated from the body, the body remains but is dead. But the life of righteousness is through God dwelling in us by faith. Therefore, the first way in which God is in the soul of a person is by faith: He that comes to God must believe (Hebrews 11:6); That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts (Ephesians 3:17). Accordingly, we say that in the soul, the first signs of life appear in the works of the vegetative soul, because the vegetative soul is the first to be present in a generated animal, as the Philosopher says. Similarly, because the first principle by which God exists in us is faith, faith is called the principle of living. This is what he means when he says, the just man lives by faith. Furthermore, this is to be understood of faith acting through love.

The minor premise is set down at, But the law is not of faith.

1. First, the minor premise is set down.
2. Secondly, it is proved: but he that does those things, shall live in them (Galatians 3:12).

He says, therefore, that the law is not of faith. But this seems to conflict with the truth that the Law commands one to believe that there is one God, which pertains to faith. Therefore, the Law had faith. That there is one God is stated in Deuteronomy: Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4).

I answer that he is speaking here about keeping the commandments of the Law insofar as the Law consists of ceremonial and moral precepts. This is the Law that is not of faith. For “faith,” as is said in Hebrews, is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not (Hebrews 11:1). Therefore, strictly speaking, one who fulfills the command of faith does not hope to obtain from it anything present and visible, but things invisible and eternal. Because the Law promised earthly and present things, as it is said, If you are willing and will listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land (Isaiah 1:19), it is not of faith but rather of desire for earthly things or of fear, especially for those who kept the Law in a carnal manner. Nevertheless, some did live spiritually under the Law, but this was not because of the Law but because of faith in a mediator.

He proves that the Law is not of faith when he says, but he that does those things—that is, the works of the Law—shall live in them, namely, in the present life. He will be immune from temporal death and will be preserved in the present life. Or again: I say that the law is not of faith, and this is obvious, because he that does those things, shall live in them. It is as if to say: The precepts of the Law are concerned with what is to be done, even though it proclaims something that must be believed. Therefore, its power is not from faith but from works. He proves this on the ground that when the Lord willed to confirm it, He did not say, “He that believes,” but He that does those things, shall live in them. But the New Law is from faith: He that believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16).

Nevertheless, the Law is something fashioned and produced by faith. That is why the Old Law is compared to the New as the works of nature are to the works of the intellect. For certain works of the intellect appear in the works of nature, not as though natural things understand, but because they are moved and ordained by an intellect to reach their end. In the same way, the Old Law contains certain things that are of faith: not that the Jews held them precisely as being of faith, but that they held them only as representations and figures of the faith of Christ, by virtue of whose faith the righteous were saved.

Having explained the curse brought on by the Law, as well as the Law’s inability to deliver from sin, the Apostle now reveals Christ’s power to set one free from this curse.

1. First, he shows how through Christ we are set free from that curse.
2. Secondly, how in addition we receive help from Christ (verse 14).

Regarding the first point, he does three things:

1. First, he presents the author of our liberation.
2. Secondly, he explains the manner of liberation (verse 13): by being made a curse for us.
3. Thirdly, he provides the testimony of the prophets (verse 13): for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.

He says, therefore, first: All who relied on the works of the Law were under a curse, as has been said, and they could not be delivered by the Law. Therefore, it was necessary to have someone who would set us free, and that one was Christ. He says, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and of sin, has condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). He redeemed, I say, us—that is, the Jews—with His own precious blood: You have redeemed us in your blood (Revelation 5:9); Fear not, for I have redeemed you (Isaiah 43:1). He redeemed us from the curse of the law, that is, from guilt and penalty, so that he might redeem them who were under the law (Galatians 4:5); I will redeem them from death (Hosea 13:14).

Then, when he says, being made a curse for us, he presents the manner of our deliverance. Here it should be noted that a curse is something spoken as an evil. There can be two kinds of curses, corresponding to two kinds of evil: the curse of guilt and the curse of punishment. This passage can be understood in relation to both when it says, He was made a curse for us.

First, it can be understood regarding the evil of guilt, for Christ redeemed us from the evil of guilt. Therefore, just as in dying He redeemed us from death, so He redeemed us from the evil of guilt by being made a curse—that is, a curse of guilt. This is not because there was any sin in Him—for He did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, as it says in 1 Peter 2:22—but only according to the opinion of men, particularly the Jews, who regarded Him as a sinner: If he were not a criminal, we would not have delivered him up to you (John 18:30). In this sense, it is said of Him, Him who knew no sin He has made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).

He says “a curse,” and not “accursed,” to show that the Jews regarded Him as the worst type of criminal. Thus they said, This man is not of God who does not keep the sabbath (John 9:16), and, For a good work we do not stone you, but for sin and for blasphemy (John 10:33). Therefore, he says Christ was made “curse” itself for us, in the abstract, as if to say He was the embodiment of a curse.

Secondly, it is explained regarding the evil of punishment. For Christ freed us from punishment by enduring our punishment and our death, which came upon us from the curse of sin itself. Therefore, since He endured this curse of sin by dying for us, He is said to have been made a curse for us. This is similar to what is said in Romans 8:3: God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and of sin, that is, of mortal flesh. Him who knew no sin—namely, Christ, who committed no sin—God the Father had made sin for us, that is, made Him suffer the punishment of sin when He was offered for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Then He gives the testimony of Scripture when he says, for it is written: “Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.” This is from Deuteronomy 21:23. Here it should be noted, according to a gloss, that in Deuteronomy, from which this passage is taken, our version, as well as the Hebrew, has: “Cursed by God is everyone that hangs on a tree.” However, the phrase “by God” is not found in the ancient Hebrew volumes. It is believed to have been added by the Jews after the passion of Christ in order to defame Him.

But it is possible to interpret this passage regarding both the evil of punishment and the evil of guilt. Regarding the evil of punishment, it is interpreted this way: Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree, not precisely because he hangs on a tree, but because of the guilt for which he hangs. In this way, Christ was thought to be cursed when He hung on the cross, because He was being punished with an extraordinary punishment. According to this explanation, there is a continuity with what came before. For the Lord commanded in Deuteronomy that anyone who had been hanged should be taken down in the evening, the reason being that this punishment was more disgraceful and ignominious than any other.

He is saying, therefore, that Christ was truly made a curse for us because the death of the cross He endured is equivalent to a curse. This explains the curse as an evil of guilt—though it existed only in the minds of the Jews—because it is written: Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. Regarding the evil of punishment, however, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree is explained this way: the punishment itself is the curse, namely, that He should die in this manner. Interpreted this way, He was truly cursed by God, because God decreed that He should endure this punishment in order to set us free.

Then, when he says, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, he addresses the hope which we acquire through Christ in addition to being freed from the curse. Not as the offence, so also the gift (Romans 5:16), but the gift is much greater, because He both frees us from sin and confers grace.

First, therefore, he mentions the fruit of this work and those to whom it is given, saying, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus. It is as if to say: He was made a curse for us not only to remove a curse but also to enable the Gentiles, who were not under the curse of the Law, to receive the blessing promised to Abraham: In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Genesis 22:18). This blessing was fulfilled for us through Christ, who is of the seed of Abraham, to whom the promises were made—and to your seed, who is Christ, as is said below (verse 16).

Now this blessing, this fruit, is that we may receive the promise of the Spirit. This refers to the promises which the Holy Spirit, given to us as a pledge and a guarantee, works in us concerning the eternal happiness He promises to us, as is said in Ephesians 1 and in 2 Corinthians 6. Furthermore, the pledge contains a guarantee, for a pledge is an assured promise concerning something to be received. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons (Romans 8:15), and, if sons, heirs also (verse 17).

Alternatively, that we may receive the promise of the Spirit means that we may receive the Holy Spirit Himself. It is as if to say: That we may receive the promise made to the seed of Abraham concerning the Holy Spirit: Upon my servants I will pour forth my spirit (Joel 2:29). For it is through the Spirit that we are joined to Christ and become children of Abraham worthy of the blessing.

Secondly, he shows how this fruit comes to us, saying, by faith. Through faith we also obtain an eternal inheritance: Whoever comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6). Through faith, too, we receive the Holy Spirit, because as it says in Acts 5, the Lord gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him through faith.