Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary
The Renewed Covenant by Daniel Gregg
"Galatians 3:2-5 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the customary works, or by the hearing of faithfulness? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the customary works, or by the hearing with faithfulness?" (DLT: torahtimes.org).
received : The idea is listening to the Spirit. To receive the Spirit means to listen to what the Spirit says. To resist the Spirit means to disobey what the Spirit says.
customary works : εργων νομου. This does not refer to Torah properly practiced from love, but relates to Torah only as if it might be pleaded to obtain an acquittal from God, an improper usage which at best can be classified under tradition. The very first definition of νομος in the very best Greek Lexicon is "1. a custom, rule, principle, norm" (BDAG, 3rd edition, 2000). The construction here is the "Hebrew Genitive, Genitive of Quality" (cf. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar—Beyond the Basics, page 86). Also, the definition "law" does not even rate the first definition any more, and the reason why is that scholars have realized that this isn't the primary meaning νομος of in Greek.
comment: Christians have fallen right into the trap that Paul is discussing here. Torah was not meant as a means of acquitting one of sin, yet in the popular Calvinistic theology this is exactly what happens. This theology teaches that a person is acquitted of sin on the basis of righteousness imputed to his legal account. An acquittal is a discharge of the case from court based on a finding of no-guilt. It argues that since God finds no sin in the legal account of the Christian that he dismisses the case. However, that is not what the Torah teaches about forgiveness. The Torah and Prophets teach that sin is pardoned based on the penalty being paid. In a pardon, God sees the sinner as guilty. Messiah pays the penalty part, and then God forgives the penalty. God still sees the sin of the sinner after the payment is made, but there is no judgment. There is no legal need for God to consider the person perfectly righteous—unless one really believes in their heart in the false doctrine that an acquittal is necessary. For the rest of us, Paul says, "For we, by the Spirit, from faithfulness, a hope of righteousness do wait for" (Gal. 5:5). Righteousness is only truly imputed after we are sanctified through God's commandments.
hearing of faithfulness : ακοης πιστεως. The Greek word πιστις means in the very best Greek Lexicon means "1a. faithfulness, reliability, fidelity, commitment" (BDAG, 3rd Edition, pg. 818). It reflects the meaning of its Hebrew equivalent אמונה. In the gentive phrase, "hearing of faithfulness" the sense is ambiguous by Paul's own design. In one sense it means hearing about faithfulness—namely the faithfulness of Messiah Yeshua in making the payment of the penalty for our sins. The Spirit convicts the sinner that he needs true forgiveness and that all attempts at engineering and acquittal will fail. In the other sense, it is another genitive of quality (Wallace, pg. 86) and means "faithful hearing" or "hearing with faithfulness". In this sense it means that the faithful are willing to repent and hear the good news with a response of faithful obedience to God's commandments. The Holy Spirit is the agent of conviction of the heart to do what is right. That is why God's true people listen to the Spirit and do the desires of God. (DLC: torahtimes.org)
composed: 4/22/09.
Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/gal0302.html)
All Rights Reserved, 2009 by Daniel Gregg. No part of this article may be copied without including the above reference to the author's original: torahtimes.org. It is preferable only to include what is in the boxes, however the live link in the second box may be omitted if necessary.