EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Galatians 3:2
2So think about this: When you received God's Spirit, was it because you had obeyed the rules of God's Law? No! You received God's Spirit because you heard the message about Christ and you believed it.
Galatians 3:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
- New International Version (NIV)I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
- New King James Version (NKJV)This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Context of Galatians 3:2
1You Christians in Galatia are like fools! Someone has taught you to believe crazy ideas! I taught you clearly that Jesus Christ died on the cross as a sacrifice on our behalf. You understood that. So think about this: When you received God's Spirit, was it because you had obeyed the rules of God's Law? No! You received God's Spirit because you heard the message about Christ and you believed it. 3Do not think like fools! You first became believers by the help of God's Spirit. So do not try now to continue by your own human power. That will never get you to the end! 4You have had many troubles as believers. I want those troubles to help you. Surely they could not be without any good purpose.
Read all of Galatians 3Galatians 3:2 word by word
τοῦτο μόνον θέλω μαθεῖν ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν· ἐξ ἔργων νόμου τὸ πνεῦμα ἐλάβετε ἢ ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως;Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
- onlyμόνονmonon · onlyG3440
- wouldθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
- I learnμανθάνωmanthanō · to learnG3129
- ofἀπόapo · away fromG575
- youσύsu · youG4771
- Received yeλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
- the Spiritὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- the Spiritπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
- byἐκek ex · out fromG1537
- the worksἔργονergon · workG2041
- of the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
- orἤē · orG2228
- the hearingἀκοήakoē · hearingG189
- of faithπίστιςpistis · faithG4102
Cross-references for Galatians 3:2
- Galatians 3:5God gives to you the gift of his Spirit. He also does powerful miracles among you. But he does not do these things because you obey the rules of his Law. No, he does them because you believed the message about Christ which you heard.
- Acts 2:38Peter said to them, ‘Each of you must stop doing wrong things. You must change how you live. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then we will baptize you. God will forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to you.
- Acts 8:15When these two apostles arrived in Samaria, they prayed for the people who now believed in Jesus. They asked God to give the new believers the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 10:44While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all the people who were listening to his message.
- Acts 11:15When I started to speak to Cornelius and his family, the Holy Spirit came down on them. It happened in the same way that he first came down on us at the beginning.
- Acts 15:8God knows what people truly believe. He showed clearly that he accepts Gentile believers as his people. He gave his Holy Spirit to them in the same way that he did for us.
- Acts 19:2Paul asked them, ‘When you believed the message about Jesus, did you receive God's Holy Spirit?’ The believers answered, ‘We did not even know that there is a Holy Spirit.’
- 1 Corinthians 12:7God helps each of us with a gift from his Spirit. He does that so that we can help others.
- 2 Corinthians 11:4You are ready to listen to any false teachers who come to you. They might tell you about a different Jesus from the Jesus that we told you about. They might want you to receive a different spirit from the Spirit that you received from us. They might tell you a different kind of good news from the message that you heard from us. You seem to accept all this!
- Ephesians 1:13You believers in Ephesus also heard God's true message. You heard the good news about how God saves you. When you believed in Christ, God gave his Holy Spirit to you. He had promised to do that, to show that you belong to him.
- Hebrews 2:4God himself also showed clearly that what these people said is true. He did many miracles and powerful things which showed that he was with them. He also helped them with gifts from the Holy Spirit, in the way that he wanted.
- Hebrews 6:4That is important, because we must not turn away from Christ, after we have first believed in him. Some people have come into God's light. They have understood God's message. They have started to enjoy the true life that God has given them. They have received the Holy Spirit, like other believers.
- 1 Peter 1:12God showed his prophets that his messages about these things were not really to help them. Instead, God sent his message to the prophets to help you. That message is the good news about Jesus Christ which you have now heard. God sent his Holy Spirit from heaven to help people to tell the good news to you. Even the angels would like to understand more about these things.
- Romans 1:17The good news explains how God accepts people as right with himself. He does this when they believe in Christ. It is only because of their faith. Nothing else. This is what was written in the Bible long ago: ‘Everyone that God accepts as right will live, because they trust him.’
- Romans 10:16But not every person who hears the good news obeys its message. Isaiah said this: ‘Lord God, it seems that nobody has believed our message.’
Commentaries on Galatians 3:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law - This may refer to the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, which were very common in the apostolic Church. Did ye receive these extraordinary gifts in consequence of your circumcision, and observing the Mosaic precepts? or was it by the hearing of the Gospel, prescribing faith in Christ crucified? It may also refer to the spirit of adoption, and consequently to their sonship.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2This only would I learn of you - I would ask this of you; retaining still the language of severe reproof. The design here, and in the following verses, is, to prove to them that the views which they had at first embraced were correct, and that the views which they now cherished were false To show them this, he asks them the simple question, by what means they had obtained the exalted privileges which they enjoyed? Whether they had obtained them by the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2The Galatians, like all Christians, received the Spirit by faith in Christ, not by obeying the law of Moses (see Acts 2:38–39; Romans 8:9–11; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:11–14; compare Acts 10:44–48; 11:15–18). God accepted the Galatians because they believed the good news about Jesus (compare Romans 10:14–17). This made their return to the law unreasonable (Galatians 3:3–4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. "Was it by the works of the law that ye received the Spirit (manifested by outward miracles, Ga 3:5; Mr 16:17; He 2:4; and by spiritual graces, Ga 3:14; Ga 4:5, 6; Ep 1:13), or by the hearing of faith?" The "only" implies, "I desire, omitting other arguments, to rest the question on this alone"; I who was your teacher, desire now to "learn" this one thing from you. The epithet "Holy" is not prefixed to "Spirit" because that epithet is a joyous one…Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 3:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Galatians 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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