5:5
In this verse, Paul wrote about the people who had not separated themselves from Christ. They continued to believe in Christ for justification. They had rejected circumcision as a means of justification. They would attain righteousness by means of faith in Christ.
But: Verse 5:5 begins with a conjunction that is normally translated as “for.” Understood that way, it would introduce the reason why people who try to be justified by the law have fallen away from grace (5:4b). Some English versions translate it that way. For example:
For (English Standard Version)
However, this conjunction can also be understood as introducing a contrast between “you” (who obey the law to be made right with God) and “we” (who believe in Christ to be made right with God). The Berean Standard Bible and some other English versions translate this conjunction as But in order to focus on the contrast.
Some other ways to begin 5:5 are:
But we
-or-
However, as for us
-or-
As for us (Good News Translation)
by faith: There are three ways to interpret what the phrase by faith is connected to:
(1) It is connected to righteousness:. According to this interpretation, “righteousness by faith” is in contrast with “justified by the law” in 5:4a. For example:
But we…eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith. (New Living Translation (1996))
(New Living Translation (1996), Contemporary English Version)
(2) It is connected with eagerly wait for. For example:
faith causes us to wait eagerly (God’s Word)
(Berean Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word)
(3) It is connected with the Spirit. For example:
The power of God’s Spirit working through our faith (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation)
Most English versions translate by faith literally and it is not possible to tell which interpretation they follow. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
The final goal of a believer’s life is righteousness. It is by means of faith in Christ that believers attain this righteousness.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
we are made right with God by our faith
-or-
we are righteous because we believe/trust
faith: See faith, Meaning 1 in the Glossary.
we: The pronoun we refers to Paul and the other people who were not following the law in order to be made righteous. These are the people who had not fallen away from grace. You may need to make this explicit. For example:
?we who have not fallen away from grace? , we
-or-
?we who reject circumcision for justification? , we
The we is neither completely inclusive nor completely exclusive. It includes the majority of the Galatians, but it excludes those who have fallen from grace. If a choice has to be made, it is best to use the inclusive form, because Paul still considered the Galatians to be his brothers in Christ.
eagerly await: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as eagerly await refers to waiting for and looking forward to the end of the age when Christ will return.
Some other ways to translate this verb are:
eagerly wait for the final day
-or-
wait for that day with our whole heart
through the Spirit: There are at least two ways to interpret what the phrase through the Spirit is connected to:
(1) It is connected to the verb eagerly await. According to this interpretation, the Holy Spirit helps us and encourages us to eagerly wait for the final day when we will be made completely righteous. For example:
this is what we wait for by the power of God’s Spirit (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, New Century Version)
(2) It is connected to the word hope. According to this interpretation, the Holy Spirit causes us to hope or be sure that God will make us righteous. For example:
the Spirit makes us sure (Contemporary English Version)
(Contemporary English Version)
Most English versions are literal and it is not possible to tell which interpretation they follow. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
In 3:3, Paul said that believers begin their lives with the Spirit. They must continue to live their lives and wait for the day when the Lord returns. They can do this through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
we, by the help of the Spirit, are eagerly waiting (TCNT)
-or-
through ?the power of? the Holy Spirit
-or-
by the Spirit we wait eagerly for this hope (New Century Version)
-or-
the Holy Spirit helps/encourages us to wait for
the hope of righteousness: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as the hope of righteousness refers to the righteousness that believers hope to receive on judgment day. The word righteousness refers to being “upright,” “blameless” or “just” before God.
The word hope refers to something good that a person expects to happen. He is sure/certain that it will happen. In this context, believers expect to be declared righteous because God promised it. It is different from the modern use of the word “hope” in English.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
the righteousness for which we hope
-or-
the righteousness that we expect
-or-
the righteousness God has promised to us (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
we are eagerly waiting for God to declare us blameless. This is what we hope for/expect.
© 2016 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.