Galatians 3:1-9

                                                                     Galatians 3:1-9

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.  Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?  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—just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?  Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.  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.

We are commonly “let down” by people or circumstances.  The most common reason for that is that we place unfounded faith in unreliable people.  Perhaps the person who lets us down the most is the one we look at in the mirror.  Just as we cannot trust others, we cannot place confidence in ourselves.  The Lord is the only reliable object of our faith.  He will never let us down.

  

IT IS FOOLISH TO TRUST IN THE FLESH: Being called foolish and bewitched is not very flattering language but it describes well the natural desire that all men have: to trust in their own flesh as opposed to the Gospel.  We like to have the feeling of earning our own way.  The problem is that we can never earn our way to salvation.  Only the death of Christ on the cross can purchase our salvation.  To trust in anything else is foolish and evidence of a demonic influence on our thinking.  The church in Galatia had heard and believed the true Gospel.  As a result, they had received the Spirit of God.  It was truly foolish to now strive for in the flesh what they had already received by the Spirit.

 

IT IS VAIN TO BELIEVE IN WORKS OF THE LAW: There is a price to pay for believing in Christ.  They had suffered persecution at the hands of the Jew as well as the Romans.  However, that suffering appeared to be in vain because they were turning right back towards that which they had suffered for due to their faith in Christ.  The works of the Law will never save anyone.  However, those who do trust in their own works will surely persecute those who reject their legalistic position.  It is certainly vain to suffer to escape legalism only to return to it once again.   

 

IT IS BLESSED TO JUSTIFIED BY FAITH IN CHRIST: Ture blessing comes to the lives of all who believe. That was the promise that God gave to Abraham when he believed.  He was credited with righteousness based on his faith and given the promise that all nations would be blessed through him since he is the father of the faith.  The Jews wanted to claim that they were children of Abraham because of their physical relation to him.  However, the blessing of faith is promised to all nations.  It is truly a glorious truth that all men everywhere can be justified just as Abraham was, through faith.

 

APPLICATION: Don’t be foolish and listen to the lies of Satan by trying to be justified by the works of the flesh.  Willingly suffer the cost of trusting Christ and turning from the false hope of legalism.  Praise God for the blessing of justification by faith and spread the Good News of that blessing to all the nations of the world.

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