Galatians 3:1-13 Faith and Belief (James 2:14–26)
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh? Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing? Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe?
So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Christ Has Redeemed Us
All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
Paul is frustrated beyond belief. After spending long amounts of time leading the Galatians to Christ and discipling them, Paul now finds that the Judaizers and others are leading them astray.
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh? Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing? Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe? “
Evidently, the Galatians have accepted the good news of Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection; however, they still wonder if they shouldn’t slaughter a few animals or something. From Paul’s remarks, it seems that God has lavished the Holy Spirit on the Galatians in very special ways, even working miracles. Certainly, such wonders should convince anybody of the truth of Paul’s teachings, since God Himself has crowned those teachings with miracles. Nobody has ever caused miracles to happen by following a set of laws, no matter the source.
Paul wants the Galatians and all of us to know that holiness comes by faith in Christ Jesus. It is by faith that we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. Face it, none of us can possibly earn miracles; we can only praise God when they appear.
So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Why does the Bible spend so much time describing the story of Abraham? Abraham was a man of faith and God blessed him for it. God knew that all of us would need the example of such a man. Forget worrying about sexist verbiage; all who live by faith are sons-and daughters-of Abraham.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” No matter how much we might hate the idea, each of us is born with a sin nature, something we cannot get rid of by ourselves. Sins can only be paid for with blood and Jesus has paid that debt for all who will believe in him.
What does Jesus substitutional death have to do with holiness? Without the remission of sin, none of us can be holy. And “without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.” (Hebrews 9:22) Why should we want to be holy? Because a holy God cannot tolerate anything unholy near to Him. If we want to truly be close to God, we must be holy. Only the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes such holiness possible.
“Why should I want to be close to God?” You might ask. God is the Source of all light and life and love and everything else good in the entire universe. Who would not want to be close to Someone who knows us and loves us more than we can even love ourselves.
What can we do to become holy? Ask Jesus to become the Lord of your life and ask Him to live in your heart. The closer you get to Jesus, God’s Son, the closer you get to God and the more you will want to please God.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we long to be near You. We give You permission to enter our lives and hearts and to remove anything that is keeping us from You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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