What’s the Problem with the Law?: Jews, Gentiles, and Covenant Identity in Galatians 3:10–12

Galatians 3:10–12 is a passage that continues to be the subject of significant debate among Pauline scholars. Traditionally, Protestant interpreters have understood a contrast here between the “works-righteousness” system of redemption inherent to Judaism over against Paul’s “law-free” gospel of Jesus Christ. Since the advent of the New Perspective on Paul, this reading has been increasingly challenged. However, in many such readings, the Torah is still largely viewed as incompatible with the new age of the gospel. In contrast, I will argue that Paul presupposes the continuing significance of the Torah in demarcating Jewish identity, and as a basis for covenant praxis. The function of this passage is strictly to dissuade gentile Christ-followers from undergoing proselyte conversion to Judaism, which, for Paul, is irreconcilable with “in Christ” identity, as the three biblical texts cited in this section (Deut 27:26; Hab 2:4; Lev 18:5) suggest.