The righteous will live by faith

Galatians 3:1-13 (TNIV) -

1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by your observing the law, or by your believing what you heard?

6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because “the righteous will live by faith.”12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “Whoever does these things will live by them.”13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

My thoughts -

What does it mean to receive the Spirit through belief? Does that get us out of any obligation to obey the law? Does that get us out of any obligation to follow the example of Christ? Does that exempt us from God's demand for righteousness and for justice? Does that exempt us from any obligation to the poor and the oppressed? In short, can we say "I believe" and stop there? Does God demand nothing more from us than this?

The answer to these questions should be obvious: Of course not! Although rigid obedience to a strict set of rules cannot redeem you, ignoring all of the teachings of Christ, of Paul, of all of our early church leaders because you can't be saved by the law but through belief is lazy, selfish, and inherently dishonest.

What does it mean to live by faith? What faith does it show that you might say "I believe" and then willfully choose to not obey? What kind of a belief demands nothing further than some kind of academic assent? Is it not nonsensical to say that you believe that Jesus is the Savior and then not allow for salvation in this life by not doing what Jesus commands? To say that we are only saved through belief ignores any possibility of redemption in this life and defers grace to the next. It is fundamentally useless to say that you are saved and then to continue in the same patterns of selfish sin anyway. You are saved? Saved from what? From eternal consequences? You've still got to live here.

And what would it say of you to claim salvation and then deny grace to others through your selfish actions or inaction? The idea that we are only saved through belief and that all that God demands of is is belief ignores these very words: "The righteous will LIVE by FAITH." How does one live by faith if that faith does not allow that God's way is better than our own and we should obey that which we claim to believe in? It's nonsensical, selfish, arrogant, and quite frankly not Scriptural, no matter what Biblical text may seem to support it.

Cheap grace, grace that demands nothing but academic assent and provides nothing but relief from eternal consequences, is WORTHLESS in this life, and ultimately probably worthless in the next. Grace that does not remake you; grace that does not transform you; grace that does not lift you out of the patterns of sin and despair in this life; that grace is no grace at all. It is worthless. In fact, it is less than worthless. It is damning.