CLARITY ESCAPING THE SPELL

 Hab 2:4 is introduced as providing the reason why it is dh/lon (clear) that “in the law no one is justified before God.” “In the law” is the functional equivalent of “those who are of works of the law” in the previous verse. Accordingly, for Paul it is evident that those who remain “in the law,” the Judaizers and those like them, cannot be “justified before God,” simply because, in the words of Hab 2:4, “the righteous shall live by faith,” the implication being that these people do not belong to the company of the righteous who will live by virtue of their faith (fulness).

3:12 o` de. no,moj ouvk e;stin evk pi,stewj( avllV o` poih,saj auvta. zh,setai evn auvtoi/jÅ

Law is not by faith but by the one who does these things will live by them

o` de. no,moj ouvk e;stin evk pi,stewj( “but the law is not by faith.” The postpositive de. Here particularly in association with avllV that follows, is adversative (“but”), “just as it is in v 11—thereby setting v 12 in sharp contrast to v 11, just as v 11 is in sharp contrast to v 10 (contra Betz, Galatians, 147; Howard, Paul: Crisis in Galatia, 63-64). So vv 10 and 12 are lined up on the one side, that of law and curse, with v 11 o the other, that of faith and righteousness.”39 Responding to the idea that perhaps both Law and faith are necessary for justification Paul quoted Leviticus 18:5. This verse shows that they are mutually exclusive. They are two entirely different approaches to God.

3:13 Cristo.j h`ma/j evxhgo,rasen evk th/j kata,raj tou/ no,mou geno,menoj u`pe.r h`mw/n kata,ra( o[ti ge,graptai\ evpikata,ratoj pa/j o` krema,menoj evpi. xu,lou(

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it has been written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,

 STAGED EVENTS The "evil eye" was thought to work in the way a serpent could hypnotize its prey with its eyes. Once the victim looked into the "evil eye," a spell could be cast. In his commentary, F. F. Bruce stresses this nuance when he renders the term "hypnotized." Therefore, the way to overcome the evil eye was simply not to look at it. In using this phrasing, and using the word picture of bewitched, Paul is encouraging the Galatians to keep their eyes always, steadfastly, upon Jesus.

By using the term "bewitched," Paul gives the idea that the Galatians are under some type of spell. He doesn't mean this literally, but their thinking is so clouded and so unbiblical that it seems that some kind of spell has been cast over them. It amazes me when I talk with some Christians how absolutely absurd some of their beliefs are. They seem to be hypnotized.

For example, there are some Christians who actually believe that the KJV is the inspired English translation of the Bible in the same way that the first transcripts were inspired when Paul originally wrote them under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, according to them, until 1611, or thereabouts, no one had an English Bible which could be reliable. No one in the English speaking world had a Bible that could be considered the true word of God. It took the Holy Spirit almost 1600 years to finally inspire, in the same way He inspired Paul, an English Bible for the world. They seem to be hypnotized by the power of the 1611 KJV.

Now if you have the KJV or the NKJV you'll notice that they add the phrase - "That ye should not obey the truth" to verse 1

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.THANKS  BEREANS !!!