Galatians
3:1-13: “Paul Tells The Galatians That They Are Foolish Having Begun In
The Spirit To Now Be Perfected In The Flesh”
By
1.
In our last
study, we looked at verses 11-21 of chapter 2.
1.1.
Paul told us
about an event that occurred in which he had to rebuke the apostle Peter for
hypocrisy because when some Jewish believers came up from
1.2.
We saw that Paul
stated that no flesh shall ever be justified by the works of the Law, and we
discussed why this is so.
1.3.
We talked about
the fact that when Jesus Christ called His disciples and began to teach them
how they were to live, He did not follow the legalistic rules that the
Pharisees had set up and added to the commandments of scripture. He taught His disciples in all cases to obey
the scriptures, and to live holy lives.
But, He didn’t teach them to follow the rules and regulations that were
manmade, those that the religious establishment set in place and enforced, and
we looked at the particulars for that.
1.4.
We saw in our
study, that Paul’s argument against the keeping of the Law to make one
righteous had to do with the superiority of living an exchanged life to that of
a legalistic life, of dying to self and having Christ live through you, and
that this means that it deals with the internal matters of the heart not the
external matter of rules, regulations, and rule keeping. Paul told us that he died to the law, and
that it is Christ that is living through him, and this exchanged life trumps a
life of external observances and rites every time.
2.
In our study
today, we are going to look at verses 1-13 of chapter 3.
2.1.
Here in this
study, Paul will ask the Galatians who or how they had been bewitched into
keeping the Law of Moses in addition to faith in Christ in order to be saved.
2.2.
Then, he is going
to ask them if they received the Spirit by faith or by the works of the
Law. Next, he will tell them how foolish
they are for having begun in the Spirit to now be perfecting themselves in the
flesh.
2.3.
Paul is going to
question them about the working of the Spirit and miracles among them, if these
things came by works of the Law or by the hearing of faith.
2.4.
Next, Paul is
going to bring up the life of Abraham and how that the scripture tells us that
Abraham was made righteous by his faith, not by the works of the Law, and as such
Abraham is the father of those who will receive salvation through faith in
Christ.
2.5.
Finally, Paul
will speak about the curse of the Law, and how this curse keeps anyone from
ever being able to be justified by works of the Law. Then, he will tell us how that Christ came
and took the curse of the Law upon Himself for us by dying on the cross for our
sins.
3.
VS 3:1 - “1 You foolish Galatians, who has
bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?” – Paul calls the Galatians foolish and asks them who it is who has
bewitched them, the ones before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed
as crucified
3.1.
Paul calls the Galatians ‘foolish’ for leaving their standing
for their salvation in the simple grace of Christ to now trying to keep the Law
of Moses in order to be acceptable to God based upon their merits. He had already told them when he began
writing the book about how shocked he was to hear that they had so quickly
departed from their faith and accepted the Judaiser’s teaching and were trying
to keep the Law of Moses.
3.2.
Paul sees the actions of the Galatians at this point in time as if they
are under a spell of witchcraft. But,
either he doesn’t know specifically who it is who has deceived them into
believing that they needed to keep the Law of Moses to be saved, or he is
befuddled by their actions to such an extent that he is trying to conceive of
how they could have been deceived that way and who it is who could have ‘bewitched’
them.
3.3.
The Greek word that is translated as ‘bewitched’ is only found
here in the New Testament, and Strong’s Enhanced Greek Lexicon has this entry
for it:
940 βασκαίνω [baskaino /bas·kah·ee·no/] v. Akin to 5335; TDNT 1:594; TDNTA 102; GK 1001; AV
translates as “bewitch” once. 1 to speak ill of one, to slander, traduce him. 2 to bring evil on one by feigning praise or an evil
eye. 3 to charm, to bewitch.
3.4.
Paul reminds them of something that in itself should cause them to
reconsider their seeking to be justified based upon law, he says that ‘Jesus Christ was publicly
portrayed as crucified’ to them. We
aren’t sure exactly what he is referring to though when he says this:
3.4.1. Some have surmised that
he is referring here to the preaching of the gospel in the early days of the
formation of the church when they had had Jesus Christ so revealed to them that
to them it was as if He had been crucified and died right there in their midst.
3.4.2. I have wondered if the
church had as part of a gospel presentation for the preaching of the gospel
performed a very moving crucifixion re-enactment.
3.5.
Regardless of whatever Paul is referring to when he writes of Jesus
Christ being publicly portrayed as crucified, this experience had made a big impact
upon the Galatians and had caused many (even of the Jews) to realize that Jesus
Christ had died for the sins of the world and that salvation came by placing
one’s faith in Christ and His death upon the cross that brought salvation.
4.
VS 3:2-3 - “2 This is the only thing I want to
find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by
hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish?
Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” – Paul asks the Galatians to consider whether they had received the
Spirit by doing works of the Law of by hearing with faith, and then he asks
them if they are so foolish as to have begun by the Spirit and yet now be being
perfected by the flesh
4.1.
Paul reminds the Galatians that the gospel came to the churches in the
early days of the church by “demonstration of the Spirit and of power,”
and the gospel dispensation was one that included the receiving of the Holy
Spirit and spiritual gifts, and there
were movements of God’s Spirit among the people. The Jews who in the early days of the
formation of the church had come to salvation had been won over because of
these spiritual manifestations and giftings, as they reasoned also that the
dispensation that was of works and law-keeping did not provide the joy and
blessing of the new covenant and dispensation.
4.2.
Moving in the power and under the leading of the Holy Spirit and law
and rule-keeping are polar extremes and mutually exclusive means of
spiritual involvement. One could not be committed
to keeping the Law of Moses as a Jew and also be led of the Spirit and
experiencing the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and one could not
be filled and led of the Holy Spirit if they were caught up in the legalism of
rules and law-keeping.
4.3.
It appears that all great revivals and movements of God’s Spirit in the
church have been followed by men trying to quantify and qualify God’s work by
defining it and establishing rules and regulations to follow to make sure it
continues. However, this type of thing
just kills the movement and work of God, and it is perfecting in the flesh what
began as a movement of the Spirit.
4.4.
I’m not saying by this that the Holy Spirit leads us to sin, because He
does not, and we need to always follow whatever God’s word teaches and
admonishes us to do. But, the Holy
Spirit also does not lead us and work mightily through us when we are setting
up our own rules and regulations and demanding others to follow them so they
too will be spiritual like we are. We
too are ‘foolish’ if we believe that He will, and that this is the way
to get to spiritual maturity as a believer.
5.
VS 3:4 - “4 Did you suffer so many things in
vain—if indeed it was in vain?” – Paul asks the Galatians
rhetorically if they suffered so much persecution from their Jewish brethren if
indeed salvation by faith in Christ alone was believed in vain by them
5.1.
We don’t know the particulars of when or how the Galatians experienced
persecution from their Jewish brethren according to the flesh, but evidently
because they had trusted in Christ and His death on the cross alone in order to
be saved, they had endured quite a bit of persecution.
5.2.
Paul is telling the Galatians that it would be a shame for them to have
gone through the agony, shame, and difficulties of the persecution they had
previously endured when they became Christians if today they had just gone
right back into the Judaism they had once belonged to.
6.
VS 3:5 - “5 So then, does He who provides you
with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or
by hearing with faith?” – Paul asks the Galatians
if the One who provides them with the Spirit and works miracles among them does
it through the works of the Law or by hearing with faith
6.1.
This verse is interesting to me for a few reasons, including:
6.1.1. It implies that God had been
doing great works in and through the Galatians since the church had been
formed, including performing of ‘miracles’. This was the experience of all of the
churches in the early church.
6.1.2. Paul compares doing ‘works
of the Law’ not with “works of faith,” but rather with ‘hearing
with faith’. This is not what we
would expect.
6.2.
It seems to me that Paul is using the phrase ‘hearing with faith’
to indicate the means by which one would come to believe in Christ and thereby
to “walk in faith.” By saying
this, Paul hopes then that the Galatians would remember how that it was through
the preaching of the gospel and the word of God that they came to faith in
Christ for salvation, it was not through the keeping of the Law of Moses. It is in walking by faith that the Holy
Spirit works mightily through individual’s lives, and thus He moves through the
church.
7.
VS 3:6-9 - “6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of
faith who are sons of Abraham. 8
The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.”
9 So then those who are of
faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” –
Paul uses Abraham as our example showing that the scripture told that Abraham
had his faith reckoned to him as righteousness, and that the scripture was
written to foresee that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and thus
preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham telling him that all of the nations
would be blessed in him, and finally, he states that those who are of faith are
blessed with Abraham, the believer
7.1.
This verse refers back to the events in Genesis involving God’s
interaction and calling of Abraham, and the promises made to Abraham. In Genesis chapter 15, God came to Abraham in
a vision and told him that one day one would come of his very own offspring and
that this child would bring Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars of the
sky. Then, in Genesis 15:6 it says the
following about Abraham: Genesis 15:6: “6
Then
he believed in the Lord; and He
reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
7.2.
The Jews thought that they were descendants of Abraham because they
were circumcised and tried to keep the Laws of Moses, however Paul tells the
Galatians here that it was God’s intention to use Abraham’s faith and
relationship with God as an example for the Gentiles to follow. Just as Abraham was declared righteous before
God based upon his accepting and acting by faith upon God’s word and promises,
so the believer in Christ of the New Covenant was declared righteous before God
based upon his faith in Christ and Christ’s death upon Calvary’s cross.
7.3.
Paul reveals to the Gentiles in
7.4.
Abraham was not made acceptable to God based upon his works, keeping
the Law of Moses, or by his law and rule keeping. He was made righteous before God because he
heard God’s word and put His faith in God and trusted that what God had said He
would in fact do. Showing the
genuineness of his faith, Abraham obeyed God’s commandment and moved out to a
land that the Lord said He would show him.
8.
VS 3:10-13 - “10 For as many as are of the works
of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law,
to
perform them.” 11
Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary,
“He who practices them shall live by them.”
13 Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”” – Paul tells us that those who are of the works of the Law are under a
curse because the Law demanded that one perform ‘all things’ that are written
in the Law, however the scripture says that the righteous man shall live by
faith, but, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law having become a curse
for us, for it is written that everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed
8.1.
The covenant of
the Law of Moses contained promises for
8.2.
What if I told
you today, that getting to heaven is really pretty simple. You just have dribble a basketball down a
court and then dunk it in the net. Then,
I were to tell you that there is only catch though, the net is 1,000 miles
high. That is what it in a sense is like
regarding making yourself acceptable to God based upon the keeping of the Law.
8.3.
Paul speaks here of those who ‘are of the works of the Law’, and
by saying this he is speaking of those who were seeking to be justified by the
keeping of the Law. They are under a
curse. The reason this is so is because
you can’t just pick and choose which parts of the Law you want to keep, you
have to keep it all, every single law.
And, if you break just one of those Laws you are completely and
automatically disqualified forever to be justified by the Law. Perfect obedience to all of the requirements
of the Law would be like trying to dunk a basketball in a net that is 1,000
miles high.
8.4.
Plus, Paul points out that even when one was living under the Law of
Moses as a Jew that the scripture had already foretold in Habakkuk 2:4 that ‘THE
RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH’.
God has always accepted people not because of their being worthy based
upon their works, but rather simply upon their faith in trusting in Him and the
promises of His word. Obedience to God’s
commands was never meant to be the means of salvation, but rather the result of
it.
8.5.
When Paul writes here that Christ ‘became a curse for us’ and then goes on to mention that the Old Testament
taught that anyone who hung on a tree was accursed, he is quoting from
Deuteronomy 21:22-23: “22 If a man has committed a
sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree,
but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed
of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.”
8.6.
Why was it a curse for someone to hang upon a tree as Deuteronomy 21:22-23 tells us?
An author has written that at
issue was who would be hung upon such a tree, namely, a criminal whose crime
was so heinous and despised that he would be hung from a tree as a public
spectacle, and, the sentence given was to bring fear of shame and punishment to
any man who would consider committing such deeds.
8.7.
Christ took the ‘curse’
of the Law of Moses upon Himself by dying in our place as our substitute so that
we would not have to pay for our own debt of sins. His sacrifice and death was that of a
horrible criminal, one who deserved to not only die but also be shamed and hung
upon a tree for all to see. He did that
for us, He took our shame, He suffered the blows we were due, and He died when
we deserved to die. Now, we shall live
forever who have trusted for our salvation in Christ alone and His death upon
the cross for our sins.
8.8.
The foolish
Galatians however were now going back and living under the Law as a Jew, but
they were putting themselves under a curse in doing so. They were cursed because if you want to live
under the Law before God this means that you have to keep “ALL” the
commandments, and not pick and choose.
And, since the scripture tells us in Rom. 3:20, “All have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God,” they can only expect condemnation and
judgment for their sins if they don’t repent and start trusting in Christ alone
for their salvation.
9.
CONCLUSIONS:
9.1.
Don’t lose out the blessings of walking in the Spirit and experiencing
the gifts and leading of the Spirit by making the Christian life a life of law
and rule keeping. Having begun in the
Spirit, don’t be being perfected by the flesh.
9.2.
Realize that if you are going to start trying to be justified before
God based upon your works, that you would have to keep every one of God’s laws
perfectly to do that. And, of course,
you cannot do that.
9.3.
Christ became a curse for you, taking the curse of the Law for you. Trust in Him who loved you so much that He
was willing to do this for you, and go through all of the horrors of
crucifixion so that you could be made righteous through Him. Thank Him and praise Him often who became
your substitute.