Galatians 3:1-14
There are 2 questions we would like to address today. 1) How does one become a Christian, accepted, saved by God? 2) How does a Christian continually grow in God? There is a gap between us and God. How can we bridge that gap? Works based thinks that we have to bridge that gap culturally, morally, or in some way. With works, we admit that we are in need but think that we can remedy that need. Scripture is opposite. It says, don’t trust in selves but in Jesus alone. Righteous live by faith, not by works or by some moral code. What makes us a Christian? What makes us grow as Christians? Good things we do? Self work? If so, how good do we have to be to be? How moral do we have to be? What can I do? Am I actually good enough to be accepted by God? What standard am I living by? God’s standard? Can I trust my ability? Have I really done enough?
In this passage, Paul continues to strongly argue and prove that God saves sinners only through faith in Christ and not by works of the law. In verses 1-5, he does so with a personal argument, where he asked the Galatians 6 rhetorical questions as to whether they became a Christian by faith or by works. These 5 verses also strongly refutes the thought & common idea that one needs Jesus & the gospel for salvation (justification), and after that they need to buckle down and work really hard to grow as a Christian (sanctification). Then in verses 6-14 he uses a scriptural argument by quoting 6 OT passages to prove that salvation is by faith, not by works.
I. Five Personal Arguments (1-5)
1. Verse 1a: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?“ Paul says they were bewitched. Under a curse. A trance. This is very strong language. What happened? They listened to Paul and were excited about Jesus and what he did on cross. But now they were suddenly excited about something else. They were no longer trusting in Christ for growth, but in something else. Do we do this? Start out trusting Christ, loving him, making him the center? But after a while, start getting into works, moral deeds, religion, adding things? By doing this, we begin to judge others. We think we’re the good guys, and the “others” are the the bad guys. But according to Bible, we’re all the bad guys and there’s only one good guy, Jesus. To break their spell, Paul pointed their eyes back to the cross.
Verse 1b: “It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” This is very important. Galatians didn’t see the crucifixion of Jesus. Not even Paul did. Nor did we. But he said “before your very eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” How could they see it then? When we hear something, at 1st it’s just head knowledge. We can’t yet see it from our hearts. But as soon as we understand it and can grasp it, then we can see it. Galatians tasted Jesus’ Crucifixion. They saw it, felt it. They knew and could see clearly from their eyes of their hearts that Jesus Christ had been crucified for their sins. How do we become Christians? Clearly not when we hear or know about Jesus’ Crucifixion. The whole world knows about it, yet not many believe. It’s when we can taste and see Jesus’ Crucifixion from our hearts. It’s when it sinks deep into our hearts. It’s when we see it. That’s why Paul is alarmed. Galatians forgot about the sacrifice Jesus made. Forgot that his crucifixion was final. It was his death that saved us from our sins. It was his death that allows us to be accepted by God. In other words, it was only what Jesus did, not anything that we do or even ever have done.
2. Verse 2: “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” When did you become a Christian? When you worked? When you were baptized? When you were circumcised? When you read 5 chapters of the Bible? When you evangelized? When you prayed? If so, then there is something that I must do. But does God give us the Holy Spirit when we do these things? No. If so, then we can claim, “It was me.” But now who gets the glory? Us or God? We become Christians when Holy Spirit comes. It’s done by God and it’s only by his Grace alone. And the Holy Spirit comes because of what Christ did on the cross for us. Jesus says in Jn 16:7, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” We can’t do anything to please God. Our Obedience does not bring blessing. It does not make us a Christian or even a stronger Christian. But God’s blessing, his giving the Holy Spirit through Jesus’ death and resurrection brings obedience.
3. Verse 3: “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Here, flesh refers to act of circumcision. So it means our own efforts. Paul is addressing Christian growth. Do we grow by now adopting human efforts. Paul states through a question that Christian life begins with Holy Spirit, it’s empowered with Holy Spirit, and ends with Holy Spirit. Paul says you started with Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit gave you new heart, new life, love, revealed Jesus. But now you’re cocky and think you don’t need Holy Spirit anymore. You think you can perfect yourself on your own. I can read books, I’m big enough to drive. But can we be better than the Holy Spirit – God himself? Who created the heavens and the earth? Who created all life? How did we get here? Who forgives our sins? Who gives us eternal life? Who saves us from hell? Us? Can we do it, now that we’re Christians? NO WAY! There is nothing you can do by the flesh. We can’t add anything to our salvation or growth. If we do, it’s like we’re saying Christ’s finished work is not enough. I need to help him out. But, it’s only God. God began and worked with our faith, and God will continue to work with our faith. Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” We became Christians because we believed. Thus, we grow as Christians the same way we become Christians. What does this mean? It means the gospel is for Christians just as much as it is for non-Christians.
4. Verse 4: “Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” Such people had been persecuting the church for a long time. Paul says you’ve resisted for a long time. Why give in now? Nothing has changed since you first received the Holy Spirit. God hasn’t changed his plan for your salvation now that you’ve been a Christian for a while. Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The Judaizers must have had a loud voice for them to give in.
5. Verse 5: “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith.” Galatians had experienced the Holy Spirit upon their conversion. They felt the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. These fruits came not because they did anything. They also experienced miracles. Driving out demons. People being healed. Surely, the Galatians could not deny what the Holy Spirit had done for them.
So, what makes us Christians? What saves us? How can we grow us Christians? According to verses 1-5, there are only 2 choices, 1) By works of the law, 2) Hearing with faith. So, it’s either we have to do something to get God’s reward or by hearing with faith. Hearing with faith means hearing the gospel. What does the gospel say?
II. Six Scriptural Arguments (6-14)
1. Verses 6: “Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"’? Genesis 15:6. Judaizers always went back to Abraham’s circumcision because to them, belonging to God meant being a child of Abraham. It meant obeying the laws of God. But Paul went back even further. How did Abraham even become a child of God? Abraham had no child, was old. But God promised he would give him a child. This promise was hard to believe. But Abraham took God’s promise as every divine promise should be taken, by faith. As soon as he believed, it was counted to him as righteousness. Not when he left his homeland. Not when he was circumcised (in fact he hadn’t been yet). But when he believed. This is the gospel. Abraham wasn’t righteous. He never became sin free. He didn’t suddenly become good, loving. He didn’t become righteous. He still made mistakes. But his faith was counted as righteous. He didn’t work for it. God declared him as righteous. It was a gift from God. This is what it means to become a Christian. Paul was telling Galatians you didn’t become Christians when you followed the law, but when you had faith that it was Jesus Christ who died for your sins.
Verses 7: “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” Legalists come into church and say, “You have to be just like Abraham.” Abraham was a Jew, circumcised, and obeyed O.T. laws, laws of Moses. What they are saying is, to be a Christian you must be a Jew, circumcised, and obey O.T. laws. But Paul says no. The children of Abraham are those who believe God like Abraham did. What did Abraham believe? He believed God. Not just God’s promises, but God himself. He believed God would take care of him. When he had no home, he believed God would give him a home. When he had no child, he believed God would give him a child. To be children of Abraham, we must have the same faith as Abraham. We must have faith in God. We must trust his promises. Trust that he will provide and show us the way to go. Most importantly, we must have faith that God will save us from us sins, as God promised through his Son.
2. Verses 8-9. “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. “Gen 12:3, 18:8, 22:18.
Paul goes back even further into the Bible. He says that God’s plan for justification by faith has always been God’s plan for all people. In fact, he says that God preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. Jesus hadn‘t even come yet. He hadn’t died yet. But God preached the gospel, the good news of salvation for all peoples. Justification by faith alone was preached to Abraham and went all the way to Christ. It was the gospel. The gospel is, we don’t have to do anything to be justified. God is the one who will justify us. How? By coming down to this world in human flesh and dying on the cross for our sins. This has always been God’s plan. And Abraham believed this. Only God can justify us. Only God can save us. God’s wrath must be fulfilled. To fulfill it, God decided to unleash it all upon himself. He came as Christ. He died in our place. He gives us eternal life. These are the very things Abraham believed. Abraham didn’t know Jesus Christ by name, but he trusted God nonetheless. He knew God would save us from our sins. He even believed in the resurrection. When God asked him to sacrifice his son, he believed that God would raise him from the dead.
3. Verse 10: “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’" Deut 27:26 Verse 11: “It is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’" Habakkuk 2:4 Verse 12: “The law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’" Leviticus 18:5
Moral law of O.T. is good. We should obey God’s laws. But the problem is, the law demands that all of its precepts be kept. If you don’t, you’re under a curse. Story of Mount Gerizam (blessing) and Mt. Ebal (curse). 6 tribes per mountain. No one can be accepted by God unless law is kept 100%. If you don’t, you’re cursed. What’s the curse? Banishment from God. Eternal suffering and death. Because we all break the law, we are all under God’s curse. No one can keep them all. We’re all doomed. Who has never lied, hated, gotten angry, looked wrongfully at someone, stole something, loved something else more than God? A lot of Christians, including myself, fail at these. What happens when we fail? We feel bad. We’re depressed. Why? Because we’re living by the law, by works righteous. So what can we do? Paul is saying we should keep God’s law and be perfect as God is perfect. But no one can be perfect. It’s impossible. That’s why we can’t rely on our works. Romans tells us we all have sinned. No one is righteous. 1 Kings 8:46 says, “for there is no one who does not sin.” If we’re all sinners, why would anyone base salvation on keeping the law? This was Paul’s point. Judaizers were only condemning themselves to hell. Those who rely on works of law are those who want God to justify them because of what they do. But they too, then, are only cursing themselves.
4. Verses 11 says, “Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall life by faith.’” Habakkuk 2:4.
If the law cannot justify us before God, then how can we be justified? How can God accept me? How can I grow as a Christian? How can I stand before God? Paul says justification comes only by faith. We live by faith. We believe that God has justified us from all of our sins through. There is nothing we can do. Martin Luther struggled with us. Thought it was about works. He hated God. But finally realized that justification comes only by faith.
5. Verse 12: “But the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’” Leviticus 18:4-5.
Of course, law is good. We must keep it. But the law is different from salvation. Paul says, “The one who does them shall live by them.” Law is not for believers but for doers. It has nothing to do with faith. We do them and struggle to keep them because of God’s blessing. But again, we can’t.
So what’s the answer? How can we be justified? How can we become a Christian? How can we continually grow as Christians if all we do is sin? One day I may have faith, but the next day I don’t Verses 13-14 explain that only Christ can justify a sinner.
6. Verses 13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” Deut. 21:23
We are all under God’s curse. To be saved, the curse must be removed. God knew the only way to save us, to lift his curse, was by sending his Son Jesus. Jesus came to redeem us from the curse of the law. Redemption means “payment of a price”. In Paul’s time, slave was redeemed through a payment. To redeem us, Christ took all of mankind’s sin upon himself and died in our curse. The curse we deserved was legally transferred from us to him. What was the redemption price? Hanging on tree. "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree" (Deut 21:23). According to the O.T., anyone who is hanged on a tree is considered cursed by God. He was hanged publicly for all to see his sins. But he was not to be left there at night. Doing so would be an offense to God. Hanging on a tree was the ultimate curse. Imagine how the Jews felt when Apostles made this their main point of teaching. It was blasphemy. A cursed Messiah on a cursed cross? Doesn’t make sense. But to redeem us from the curse, Christ had to be considered cursed by God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
We deserve to hang on that tree. But Christ took our place of punishment. He was crucified in our place, by being nailed to a cross. He lifted our curse. Therefore salvation can only be found in Jesus. Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." When Christ took our sins upon himself, he was accursed, not for his sins, but for our sins. The curse we dissevered was legally transferred from us to him.
Verse 14: “So that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”
Jesus was crucified to remove our curse. Because we are no longer under the death penalty of the law, we can receive the promise of the gospel. We can be blessed like Abraham and receive the promised Spirit. Jesus Christ became our righteousness. He set us free from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. We can be accepted by God because of what Christ had done for us, not by anything that we do. We came become Christians because of what Christ has done for us, not whether or not we keep all the laws of God. We can grow as Christians, because of what Christ has done for us. We grow by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. There is no other way. We are blessed like Abraham and we receive the Spirit through faith.