Spirit: Start to Finish

Scripture Text: Galatians 3:1-14

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 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 hung on a pole.”14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Retrieve Your History:

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified (Gal. 3:1).

• A very personal Appeal. The Apostle loves these friends of his in the churches of Galatia. He wants them to enjoy the full benefits of what Christ Jesus did for them.

• Do you remember the crucifixion of Jesus?

• The meaning of the death of Christ is bound up in God’s grace and our faith. The death of Christ was for the very purpose of saving us. “By HIS stripes WE are healed.”

• They are foolish because they have minimized the death of Christ in order to exalt their own human effort in salvation.

• Do you recall your spiritual history: “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?”

• Here he is asking them to remember how they themselves came to enjoy the work of the Spirit in their lives.

• The Holy Spirit is given to those who trust in Christ for salvation. He is our constant companion, our comforter, and our guide. He Convicts us, instructs us, and carries us when we cannot walk ourselves.

• He endows us with grace gifts that we can use to bless others in the Body of Christ. He is the enabler so that we can use these gifts in ministry to others.

• Do you realize how you are perfected in Christ? You began by the work of the Spirit in your hearts. That is how you grow and mature in Christ—through the Spirit. You do not complete the work of the Spirit by human effort but by continued faith in Christ and the grace of God.

• Justification is a work of grace by which God provides for you what you cannot provide for yourself—forgiveness and a right standing with him through Christ and his cross.

• Sanctification is also a work of the Spirit by which God grows you into his own likeness in the inner person. This, too, is a work of grace. Your role, as always, is to have faith in God as you cooperate with him in what he is doing in your life.

Believe the Message:

So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith (Gal. 3:9).

• I told you that others would resist this word of grace through faith. It happened again just recently in an education setting. A religion teacher argued with one of our deacons that the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith was in error.

• Salvation by faith alone, Paul declares, has been the teaching of Bible ever since Abraham: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Gal. 3:6). The Apostle is quoting the Old Testament, Genesis 15:6.

• Abraham did what? He believed. God said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward” (Gen. 15:1). God Himself was Abram’s protection and reward.

• How did Abram appropriate such an amazing relationship with God? Through faith.

• The Hebrew word haman in Gen. 15:6 is translated by pisteuo in both the Septuagint and here in Gal. 3:6. It is the verb form of the word “faith.

Receive the Promise:

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit (Gal. 3:14).