Galatians 3:2

This only would I learn from you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith?

It will be noted that "Law" has been capitalized throughout this chapter to indicate the one and only law Paul referred to throughout, meaning the Law of Moses. The commentators are less than candid when they use terminology that confuses this, as Dummelow, who said: "The apostle upbraids their speedy change from faith to legal observances,"[5] leaving room for the allegation that something other than the Mosaic Law is meant.

The hearing of faith ... This is a shameful rendition of a phrase which actually means "the obedience of faith."[6] As so frequently in the New Testament, faith must be understood as an obedient faith, as in Romans 1:5; 16:26. "The hearing of faith" in this verse means exactly the same thing, as Macknight pointed out:

Here, as in Galatians 3:5, it means "the obedience of faith," as also in 1 Samuel 15:22 (LXX), "behold, obedience is better than sacrifice." In like manner, the compound word means "disobedience," as translated in Romans 5:19.[7]

Cole is therefore absolutely wrong in rendering this "hearing and believing."[8] Foy E. Wallace decried the butchering of this text, saying flatly that it has "been bungled."[9] Of course, it was bungled on purpose to support a theory. Riddebos spoke of this passage as being "not easy to manage";[10] and indeed it is impossible to manage it in such a manner as to make it support the "faith only" thesis, except by mistranslating it. The "obedience of faith" mentioned here at the head of the chapter makes it certain that Paul was dealing with a contrast between Judaism and Christianity, and not between two ways of understanding the gospel.

[5] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 950.

[6] James Macknight, Apostolical Epistles with Commentary and Notes (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1969), p. 139.

[7] Ibid.

[8] R. A. Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), p. 89.

[9] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., A Review of the New Versions (Fort Worth, Texas: The Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Publications, 1973), p. 442.

[10] H. N. Ridderbos, The Epistles of Paul to the Churches of Galatia (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953), p. 113.