Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
The recipients of this letter were redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had laid down His life so that they could have life. However, they were being duped into accepting something other than the truth. They were yielding to false doctrine.
The Bible shows us that our flesh is weak. We also lack discernment at times. We also learn that the devil is very subtle. If we, those who are saved, are not faithfully in God’s Word as we must be, and if we are not walking humbly with God as we must, we can be bewitched.
The Greek word translated as “bewitched” means to fascinate by false representation. That is what was happening here. Peter had been guilty of being a part of that sin. We see here that the truth must be obeyed by those who are redeemed. That is not optional. It is a necessity. It is the way of joy and peace.
The apostle Paul had done an excellent job of showing these saints the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had preached the Gospel so carefully and clearly, that they could see the sacrifice that Jesus Christ had made on their behalf. They did not see that with their naked eye. They did not see it in a vision either. They saw it with their soul and their heart. They were impacted by the Truth to the point where they were saved.
What had happened? In verse 2 God directed Paul to ask an important question. How did these saints get saved? We know it is a fact that every born again Christian received the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. What did the saints in Galatia do to receive the Holy Spirit? What work did they do? Which law did they keep that allowed the Holy Spirit to enter into their hearts? Or was it by faith that they received the Holy Spirit?
The natural man cannot see the difference between works salvation and true salvation. The natural man fights against any order, because they want to be independent. The natural man wants to believe that he is right, even though he does not follow the way of God.
True faith comes from hearing the unadulterated Word of God. As we mentioned yesterday, the lost have a very corrupted view of salvation. The flesh loves that. However, as witnessed over and over again, that view of salvation falls far short of what the soul needs. Sometimes a person will end up taking their own life because they just do not have the right faith. When challenges come, they cannot face them. The devil is always there to try to convince a person that it is hopeless.
Judas walked with Jesus for over three years. He had a front row seat with Him. Yet, when he betrayed Him, he was so deeply linked with the devil that he could not see any way out except to kill himself. He went straight to hell.
Peter walked with Jesus the same amount of time. He also knew Jesus intimately. He denied Him three times and went out and wept bitterly. He did not run to the false teachers for help. He went back fishing and left the door open for the Lord Jesus Christ to meet with him. Jesus Christ was there to show Peter how to deal with his sin.
In verse 3 Paul again asked why the Galatian believers were so foolish. Since they knew they had begun in the Spirit, why then would they assume they would be made perfect by the flesh? Obedience for the child of God is not the way of perfection. It is the way of love. True saints follow God obediently because they know His is right. His way works. Nothing else will.
In verse 4 Paul reminded the saints that they had suffered for their faith. The Judaizers hated the truth. They were trying to stop the preaching of the Gospel. They were no different than the Catholics or the United, or many other groups today. They all want to stop the faithful preaching of the Gospel. They want people to believe a lie, and sadly, they have a large following.
Paul wanted to know if the saints truly thought all that suffering had been in vain. Was it really not worth it to identify with the true Lord Jesus Christ?
In verse 5 Paul was directed to take another approach. The one who ministered to their needs in the Spirit, and even did miracles among them; did he do that by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
How had Paul been ministering unto them? Did he use the tactics of the Pharisees? Did he use gimmicks and tricks? Did he use coercion? It was important for these saints to take a serious look at what they were allowing.
In verse 6 Paul took the saints back to Abraham. They were familiar with him. They knew that God had promised him a son. God did not delay his promise. He had a plan and Abraham needed to trust in God’s plan. In Genesis 15 we read that Abraham finally believed God, even though he did not have that promised son yet. God knew what He was doing. When Abraham believed God, God counted that unto him for righteousness. Abraham did not “do” anything to be counted righteous. He trusted in God. God did the work. Abraham needed to trust Him without hesitation or reservation.
In verse 7 Paul pointed out something these saints needed to understand. Those who lived by the faith of Christ, were the children of Abraham. We are adopted into God’s family by faith. We follow God by faith.
In verse 8 Paul was directed to point back to the Scripture. That is the authority that we have. We do not need some made up story. We do not need some other distraction. We need to be grounded in the pure Word of God.
God promised Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through him. Even the heathen would see the hand of God at work in Abraham’s life and there would be some that would be blessed through that. Ultimately, Jesus Christ came from the seed of Abraham in His incarnation. All the nations are blessed in Jesus’ gift of salvation. Even though Muslims who reject God and Jesus Christ; and even though the Catholics and many other religions reject God’s gift of salvation, they are blessed in the fact that they could turn to Him.
In verse 9 we see that those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. There is a true connection with Abraham through the faith of Christ. It is not of works. The Jews were required to be circumcised, but that was not the way to enter into God’s rest. Many of Abraham’s physical descendants never knew God’s blessing. That included Ishmael and his descendants. Many Jews never enjoyed those blessings even though they lived in the land of Israel. It was the few that received that blessing because they trusted in the true God. When they brought their sacrifices, they were not trying to earn favour with God. They believed in Him and trusted in His plan that He was revealing in His time. They looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. His coming was essential to their forgiveness as it is to our forgiveness.
It requires humility to be able to hear the Truth. Those who put their dukes up and resist miss out on the blessings of God’s salvation.
Today is the Lord’s day. God is giving you another opportunity to go to a good church and learn the truth. Don’t let your pride keep you from hearing the Word of God that is so important for your spiritual life. We are here to help those in our area. Our website is there to help those near and far to know the truth.
Pastor Bartel