O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. ² Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by 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? ⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 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— ⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? ⁷ Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ⁸ 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.” ⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 

      I know times are tough. I know times are changing. We all feel the weight of impending doom looming over our heads waiting for just the right time to crush us. We busy ourselves to put order into our lives and yet chaos ensues. Sometimes we resort to unsavory actions to make up for the chaos. We shift and bend at the winds of popular opinion or circumstances instead of remain faithful to principles that has stood the test of time over and over again. When something new and exciting we grab hold of it and ride it until the thrill is gone and then wonder why we’re in the mess we’re in.

      The Galatian churches were willing to trade their redemption by faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone for the false doctrine of pious peddlers we have come to know as Judaizers. They wanted to add certain aspects of the Law of Moses to the gospel of Christ. This resulted in the nullification of free grace.

      We live in an arena of ideas that would nullify the grace of Jesus Christ. We need something we can hold on to through thick and thin. Those times maybe financial ruin or political unrest or persecution or relational difficulties or critical illnesses or the untimely death of a loved one. Or, they may be lesser problems that make a big impact in our lives. Or, like the Galatians, you may be wrestling with the claims of false teachings contrary to that of the Bible.

      In all these situations, Galatians 3:1-9 provides for us three steps that will help you rest in the assurance of God’s grace.

      The first step that will help you rest in the assurance of God’s grace is cling to the gospel that has brought you to the Lord. – v.1

      Due to the purpose of this letter’s writing, Paul has been using very strong language. But, for the first two chapters he has used it to prove his authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ in preaching the gospel. Now he’s getting a little personal with the churches of Galatia.

      Calling them “foolish,” he asks “who has bewitched you?” The term bewitched has its roots with the eyes meaning that someone has cast an evil eye over the victim. They had become so convinced of the Judaizers’ doctrine that Paul can’t help but believe that a spell had been cast over them.

      Paul uses a little play on the word eyes with this next phrase. It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Jesus was clearly preached and taught to the Galatians by Paul. That teaching was out there for all to witness. Jesus Christ voluntarily dying for sin on the cross, appeasing the wrath of God and that eternal life is a free gift because of the price Jesus paid on our behalf was seen and believed by these churches. It was as if Paul had put up a giant billboard advertising that eternal life was obtained by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Now the Judaizers had come and covered the billboard with so much “Law of Moses” graffiti that the original message of grace is no longer evident.

      Paul further drives this message home by using a tense for the word crucified that denotes a past event that has significance in the present. This is a reminder to the Galatians that Jesus did everything on the cross needed for their salvation. There is no further work they have to perform to solidify the salvation obtained for us by Jesus.

      What makes Christianity different from all the other religions of the world? Years ago that very question was discussed at a conference. Some of the participants argued that Christianity is unique in teaching that God became man. But someone objected, saying that other religions teach similar doctrines. What about the resurrection? No, it was argued, other faiths believe that the dead rise again. The discussion grew heated.

      C. S. Lewis, a strong defender of Christianity, came in late, sat down, and asked, “What’s the rumpus about?” When he learned that it was a debate about the uniqueness of Christianity, he immediately commented, “:Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”

      How right he was! The very heart of the gospel is the supreme truth that God accepts us with no conditions whatever when we put our trust in the atoning sacrifice of His incarnate Son. Although we are helplessly sinful, God in grace forgives us completely. It’s by His infinite grace that we are saved, not by moral character, works of righteousness, commandment-keeping, or churchgoing. When we do nothing else but accept God’s total pardon, we receive the guarantee of eternal life (Tim3:4-7).

      Eternal life is ours by trusting in Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for our sins on the cross in our place. No one cannot add to nor subtract from what He did there.

      The second step that will help you rest in the assurance of God’s grace is regularly review how you came to know Christ.

      In verses 2-5 Paul asks a series of questions aimed at getting the Galatians to think about what they’re doing with the gospel entrusted to them by Paul when he first presented it to them.

      The first one is how did you receive the Spirit or how did you come to know Christ? This is a question of initiation designed to take the readers back to the point of their conversion. This was easy for Paul to do with the Galatians because their conversion happened at an age where they could understand and remember exactly what was happening. Their conversion was most likely a result of his preaching to them. They had a point in history where they could say, “This is when I came to Christ!”

      Pau’s asking if that conversion came from keeping the law or faith. Obviously not keeping the law, they were gentiles not Jews. At the very beginning of their walk with Jesus, it was evident that their entry into heaven was not based on their works, good or bad. Eternal life rests solidly on the shoulders of Jesus Christ.

      After calling them foolish again Paul asks the second question; how are you perfected? This is a question of completion or how Christians make it to the end of the Christian life. Is it by the works of the flesh or the work of the Holy Spirit?

      We are constantly presented before God having been justified. We have a place there because of Jesus. The process of making us holy is called sanctification. This the work of the Holy Spirit who enables us more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. The Holy Spirit is the means of bringing us to Christ and living a life pleasing to Christ. We must continually rely on Him. So, we begin our Christian life by the Spirit, we live our Christian life by the Spirit, and we end our Christian life by the Spirit. The Judaizers believed that after having begun your Christian life by the Spirit, you were to continue to live according to human effort in obedience to the Law of Moses.

      The third question Paul asks is why do you suffer? This is a question about persecution which is the cost of following a crucified Christ.

      Whatever the suffering is, most would not suffer it if it were a result of their own works. But, we would if it were a result of Christ’s work. Since you are suffering for the sake of the gospel you have done so in vain IF you are turning your back on the gospel that saved you. The Galatians had suffered something, most likely some form of persecution. It was a result of their believing in Christ and worth it because of what He did for them. However, if they now decide to add to the gospel, it then no long being the gospel, they have suffered in vain. Maybe it was a post persecution complacency that has turned their attitudes toward human effort.

      The fourth question is are the Spirit and miracles acts of the law or faith? This is a question about miracles and their meaning for the Christian life. Asked a different way, are blessing in your life there because you deserve them? If so, you have based your life on works. The Spirit and miracles are from God’s grace, not from our works or conjuring.

      Boiled down to one question all these questions are asking does the Christian obtain the Holy Spirit by working the law or by hearing with faith?

      Have you ever seen a baseball autographed by a famous player? Pending who the player is that baseball is worth a lot of money. What would happen to the value of that baseball if someone traced over the signature of the player? Tracing over the signature would cheapen it.

      Trying to add human effort to the grace of Jesus Christ is like tracing over the signature; it cheapens it.

      During these times of economic, social, and political unrest, review how you can to Christ. Bask in the glory of God’s free grace through His Son Jesus Christ. Realize that now, like then, you cannot do anything that would make God love you more or less. His love for you is complete and your position in Him is secure, no matter what!

      The third step to help you rest in the assurance of God’s grace is regularly review biblical doctrine to know what you are to believe.

      Paul has proven in verses 2-5 that the experience of the Galatians should teach them that eternal life is all about the grace of Jesus Christ and nothing more. In verses 6-9, Paul makes a convincing argument from the Scriptures.

      The Judaizers, former Pharisees, were making the claim that they were physical descendants of Abraham. Circumcision was instituted by God as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel. They thought that accepting Jesus was good to get you into heaven but it took obeying the Law of Moses, summarized in the rite of circumcision, to keep you there. Paul was great at handling Scripture. Abraham did not experience receiving eternal life like the Judaizers.  Abraham’s experience was just like what the Galatians had experienced when Paul first presented Christ to them.

      The sign of circumcision was given to Abraham in Genesis 17:10. It was a sign of God’s promises in the Old Testament just like baptism is for New Testament believers. And, just like now with baptism, circumcision did not deliver anybody from their sins then.

      Paul offers the chronological argument that Abraham belonged to the kingdom before he was circumcised. In Genesis 15:6 Abraham believed in God’s promises and it was counted to him as righteousness. Not only was this two chapters previous in Scripture but it was at least 10 years before the sign of circumcision was instituted. Abraham was a friend of God’s before any component of the law was issued. The place of the law in our lives is in obedience to the King of Whom we belong, not in becoming one of His subjects.

      What we can learn from this is it is biblical Christian doctrine that explains experience and not experience that explains doctrine. Good doctrine makes good faith.

      Martin Luther had an interesting description of how he studied the Bible. I study my Bible like I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. I search the Bible as a whole like shaking the whole tree. Then I shake every limb—study book after book. Then I shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters. Then I shake every twig, or a careful study of the paragraphs and sentences and words and their meanings.

      And may we all have a passion for the Bible like the man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. His face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read Braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in Braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the Braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time of the documentation of this man’s story, he had “read” through the entire Bible four times.

      And, may we not be like the son who when he left for his freshman year at Duke University, his parents gave him a Bible, assuring him it would be a great help. Later, as he began sending them letters asking for money, they would write back telling him to read his Bible, citing chapter and verse. He would reply that he was reading the Bible—but he still needed money. When he came home for a semester break, his parents told him they knew he had not been reading his Bible. How? They had tucked $10 and $20 bills by the verses they had cited in their letters.

      “Sam, what part of the Bible do you like best?” “Well, sir, I like the New Testament best, Sir.” “What book in the New Testament?” “What book sir? What book? I think it’s the book of parables, Sir.” “Would you kindly relate one of those parables to this council?”

      Poor Sam was up against it, but there was a possibility that the members of the council knew no more about their Bibles than he did. He decided to make a bold attempt, and proceeded as follows:

“Once upon a time a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves and the thorns grew up and choked that man and he went on and he didn’t have no money and he met the Queen of Sheba, and she gave that man - she gave that man, sir, a thousand talents of gold and silver and a hundred changes of raiments. And when he was driving along under a big tree, his hair got caught in a limb and left him a hanging there. Yes, sir. And he hung there many days and many nights and the ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink. And one night while he was hanging there asleep, his wife, Delilah, come along and cut his hair off, and he dropped and fell on stony ground and it began to rain and it rained forty days and forty nights. And he hid himself in a cave. And the man went out into the highways and byways and compelled him to come in. He went on and come to Jerusalem and he seen Queen Jezebel sitting high up in the window and when she saw him she laughed and he said, “Throw her down out of there,” and they threw her down. And he said, “Throw her down again,” and they threw her down, seventy times seventy times and the fragments they picked up were twelve baskets full. Now whose wife will she be in the days of judgment?”

      There was no one on the council who felt qualified to question the candidate further, and he was passed.

      I’m hoping that we do not take the reading and studying of the Bible as lightly as this candidate and council did. God has given us the gift of His Word to for us to know what we are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of us. Amen.