Verses 1-8
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Even though God uses sinners and their punishment to accomplish something good—to show His justice—sin is still our choice. And if we choose to sin, we deserve to be punished for it.
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Use this understanding for people who try to blame God for their sin—like He is “using”them for His judgment or that He made them to be punished.
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Verses 9-23
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No one on the planet is righteous. We are all sinners.
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Verses 19-20. The purpose of the law of Moses is to prove that we are sinners.
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Use the law to show people where they have sinned. This is effective for leading them to Jesus.
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Once it is proven from the law that we sinners, now we have to look to Jesus to be forgiven.
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The law doesn't save us. It only proves that we need a Savior, and that that Savior is Christ (Galatians 3:22-24).
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Verses 24-26
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God wants to show us that He is both just and righteous.
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God wanted to be merciful to our sins, but He also needed to show His justice.
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God's justice demanded that we die and go to hell for our sins.
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God had Jesus die instead, which satisfies that demand against us, if we believe in Jesus.
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Faith saves us.
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Now that Jesus has died in our place, God accomplished His desire to show us mercy, but He has shown His anger against sin—His justice—at the same time.
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Now we see God as both just and merciful.
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Remember that the cross is meant to show God's wrath and His mercy—wrath in how Jesus died, but mercy in the fact that God let Jesus die instead of us.
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Verses 27-31
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Because Jesus' work saves us, when we believe in Him, no one can brag about their own works.
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Jew or Gentile, everyone is saved by faith.
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Verse 31. Salvation being available to all kinds of people, and through faith, does not contradict the Old Testament (the law). In fact, our faith actually agrees with what the Old Testament says.
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- How our faith "establishes the law":
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1. Faith honors what the Law said about Jesus
Jesus Himself said that Moses wrote about Him (John 5:39–47).
To believe in Christ is to affirm the very Scriptures the law came through.
Faith validates the law’s witness to the Messiah.
2. Faith affirms the curse of the law through the Cross
Galatians 3:13 teaches that Christ became a curse for us.
Believing in His crucifixion is believing that the law’s curse for sin is real and just.
The Cross proves the seriousness of the law’s penalties.
3. Faith agrees with the law’s moral judgment on sin
To trust in Jesus for salvation is to acknowledge that sin deserves punishment.
The law teaches that sin must be condemned—faith in Jesus agrees.
Faith does not treat sin lightly; it confirms the law’s verdict.
4. Faith accepts the law’s requirement for blood atonement
The law taught that forgiveness required the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22).
Animal sacrifices pointed to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.
Believing in Jesus’ blood affirms the very system the law established.
5. Faith embraces the law’s moral standard
The Ten Commandments still reveal God’s character and moral will.
Christians do not discard this; we walk in it through the Spirit.
Faith fulfills what the law demanded but we could not accomplish alone.
6. Faith affirms the law’s role in revealing sin
The law exposes guilt and shows humanity’s need for a Savior (Romans 3:20).
To come to Christ is to agree with the law’s diagnosis of the human heart.
Faith confirms the law’s purpose as a mirror revealing our need for grace.