Galatians 3:1-14
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Sermon: 9:30 am-9:55 am (25 Minutes)
Sermon: 9:30 am-9:55 am (25 Minutes)
Mark of a Leader:
Godly leaders operate on the basis of faith in Christ, not on working to earn something from Christ.
Faith is how we begin our relationship with God.
Faith is necessary as we live for God
Lets work through the text
1 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.
1 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?
Foolish - one that will not reflect on truth, instead acting stupid and intellectually dead.
Paul is saying these folks have come in and totally fooled you because you are not reflecting on truth.
ILLUSTRATION: A Fools Game
Slides of pictures - which are you a fool to like?
apple/andriod
hot coffee/cold coffee
dad crocs/drip Jordans
Taylor Swift
1 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?
Goes on to say, you sure didnt doubt that faith in Christ was the truth when i plastered the news of Christ for you to see in the first place.
Has the story of Jesus changed since?
NO
Was it easy when you first became a christian ?
NO
There were serious and heavy consequences for you becoming a christian.
So why in the world would you throw all that away?
Like you are there, you made it. You were free.
Now you want to go back?
Jesus provided so you wouldnt have to earn and now you want to earn?
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.
Then he pulls a preacher move. He says, lets see what the bible says.
Turn to Genesis 15 real quick.
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Idea: Abraham was saved and perfected in the exact same way you and I are: hearing God’s promises and believing them. PERIOD.
This is all in Romans as well.
(Just for reference)
Romans 3-justification by faith
Romans 4-Abraham is the example
Romans 3:25 - forbearance just in case someone asks how they could have been saved before Jesus came.
Abraham trusted God.
That’s it.
Now we see here that there was so much more to this trust.
But Abraham didn’t know any of that, that we are aware of.
He simply believed what God said.
Do you believe God?
At the core of your Christian faith should be simple belief, a “yep God I believe you.”
Abrahams story proves that you will have doubts, but do you believe God?
There is definitely answers to be found, but do you believe God?
Not in him, do you believe him?
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.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
He is quoting
Deuteronomy 27:26 (ESV)
26 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
What were these curses?
These curses were a catch all for secret sin. The things in this passage were not legal matters that were public or became public for trial. This was, when you do things like these, you answer directly to God for he sees the secret.
There is no way the public court system could make sure everyone obeyed every law in the Law of God. The pharisees seemed to want to try.
Yet everyone has to answer to God when they do not keep the law.
Romans 3 - everyone sins
Romans 6 - wages of sin is death.
Everyone has to keep the law or will pay eternally.
Based on the law, The odds are not in our favor to be saved.
Abraham believed that God would provide a way, regardless of the odds
And He Did. Christ came
proving that God would provide a way to be saved,
so we wouldnt being cursed, even though we cannot obey the entire law.
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Paul is saying, since you cannot obey Deuteronomy to be saved
you are also cursed if you try to live that way.
Its not just a justification thing, but also a sanctification thing.
We now can receive the spirit and he will begin perfecting us.
Literally salvation is because of the work of Christ and Sanctification is because of the work of Christ.
Mark of a Leader:
Godly leaders operate on the basis of faith in Christ, not on working to earn something from Christ.
Faith is how we begin our relationship with God.
Faith is necessary as we live for God
as you go back into your groups, reflect on this quote.
Our justification, sanctification, and glorification are all three consistently founded and dependent on Jesus’ work on the cross.
Exegete
Exegete
1 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.
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.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall 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 hanged on a tree”— 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.
According to Dr. Echevarria, the Judaizers in Galatia are not Jews looking to make them Christians leave christianity. They are jewish christians trying to add to faith alone in Christ, pushing these christians to adopt the law along with grace.
This means that the rat poison is much more hidden in the good stuff than first thought. There is a lot of truth in having faith and even behaving worthy of the gospel. Yet obviously their angle here is much more deadly.
Galatians 3:1 (ESV)
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Paul says they are being folish. He doesnt call them fools. But says their actions and decisions are foolish.
Paul says they are being foolish. He doesn't call them fools. But says their actions and decisions are foolish.
Wuest says that Paul is using language that would have really sunk in for these people. There was a huge push to be enlightened and educated by Greek ways because the old religions and ways seemed out dated and “foolish.”
This phrase would have gotten their attention for sure.
Deeper meaning of foolish would be stupidity that arises from deadness and impotenence of intellect.
Paul is saying, “Are you dad-gum idiots? Seriously. Who is the world finds truth but then starts going back into dead stupidity.”
Further Wuest says its more than stupid, its dont know and dont want to know. You will not reflect on this matter to even see that you are being stupid.
This is a moral failure. Wow. Paul is saying sin is causing them to go back to Judaism.
What sin would that be?
Bewitched - baskaínō [to bewitch]
From báskanos, baskaínō means “to hurt by words,” then a. “to bewitch,” b. “to revile,” and c. “to envy.” To a. is added the thought of harming by looks (the evil eye), though sometimes this might be unintentional. In the LXX the sense is “to be unfavorably disposed to.” The only NT instance is in Gal. 3:1 (“to bewitch”). The use is figurative, but not without some realism insofar as the power of falsehood stands behind magic. In yielding to these “magicians” the Galatians have come under the power of untruth. [G. Delling, I, 594–95]
Wuest refers to the “evil eye” also. Ancient myths of an eye that has the power to hypnotize and trick people.
Makes me think of the modern day stink eye.
So,
Because you have been foolish, not wanting to think for yourself or to reflect on the truth of the gospel, someone has come in and took control of your thoughts, fed you lies, and caused you to go down the wrong path.
Examples:
Girls - getting too chummy with a guy because he told her she was special or pretty - underlying sin/failure: needs someone besides God to give them meaning and purpose.
Group-believing that Christianity is not real just simply because someone told you that theres a contradiction like God is love yet he told Israel to kill everyone in Canaan - underlying sin/failure: Does not have a christian worldview with the presup Gods word is infallible and sufficient. Presup should be, theres a good reason, lets look. Not oh man God’s word is wrong, maybe i should rethink this.
All these have an undertone of sin. They got fooled but only because of underlying sin or failure.
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Not sure where he is going in 1B.
He is saying that they saw with their own eyes that Jesus was publicly executed on a cross. Im assuming that he is telling them to use that as a foundation and anchor point for not being fooled and for reflecting on everything they hear for truth. They know this to be true, so it can be used when things are uncertain.
Weust says that this phrase was secularly used describing the public announcing of something. For instance, a father may publicly announce (write it out) that he would no longer be responsible for his son’s debts. This would let bill collectors know to not come to him.
Wuest argues that its not trying to say that these people saw the crucification, but that they have heard the public announcement of it happening, by Paul, when he first came to preach to them.
This moves us to the idea that Paul is wanting them to remember the foundational preaching he did when he first met them, preaching the gospel to them. The gospel should be their foundation for examining whether something is truth or not, from here on out.
2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
Paul asks the question rhetorically, but he is saying the question will fix their thinking. He is saying that everything has to be consistent. The same power that saved you and gave you the holy spirit, will guide you through your walk. You were saved by faith, so thats all you need. If you needed law, you would have been saved by law.
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Continuing to hammer that salvation, faith, and christian living is all consistent, he says “wait are you so different, that you were saved by faith, but whoa, now you are being perfected or sanctified by law.
WOW. He goes a step further and substitues the word flesh in for law.
I cannot recall a time when flesh was a good thing. Anytime sin is involved, it typically is labeled flesh or in the flesh.
Paul is now saying the law is flesh and sin.
But is this true?
My presup is that Paul is being divinely inspired by the holy spirit and cannot contridict here. God created and wroted down the law (Exodus). So did God create sin?
NOPE-thats my presup. There must be a different meaning.
My gut is that Paul is not saying the law is flesh. He is actually saying trusting the law to perfect you, instead of faith in the Holy Spirit, is living by the flesh.
Wuest puts it, you were so helpless to save yourself, but now you got some power to perfect yourself with you ability to follow God’s standard law? The reason you were bound for hell is because you could not and can not live up to the law.
To try to perfect ourselves with the law through effort is to reject the gospel, period. Before conversion or after!
To try to perfect ourselves with the law through effort is to reject the gospel, period. Before conversion or after!
4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
Wuest says these sufferings, although not much record, would have been something along the lines of consequences for leaving their old life and suffering as a result of this decision to follow Christ.
He is telling them, in the beginning of this whole thing, you understood that Christ is the one that saves, and you even suffered severly for that. You are now going to throw that all away?
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”?
Wuest identifies the “he” as God. I couldnt tell if Paul was talking about God or the evil eye bewitcher. Seems it is God.
I can see that now though.
Paul is futhering the argument here. He is saying everything is so consistent, that even the one who forgives and changes hearts did not use the law either to do this. He used faith.
The proof: Abraham.
Idea: Abraham was saved and perfected in the exact way you and I are: hearing God’s promises and believing them. PERIOD.
This is all in Romans as well.
Romans 3-justification by faith
Romans 4-Abraham is the example
Romans 3:25 - forbearance
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
This would have been so shocking to Jews.
Jesus called the Jews the son of Satan, not Abraham.
John 8:39-47
Romans 9:6 describes this process of adoption, taking Galatians even further.
Theres more to it than just this though. He is proving that the exact thing they are seeking , to be the in crowd, to be the people of God, does not come from birth or practice, but faith by taking them back to the original conversation.
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.
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.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall 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 hanged on a tree”— 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.
He anchors the thought process in the first section (ITS IN THE SCRIPTURE).
He isn’t making things up here, its in the scripture.
He is also attaching meaning to text.
Before our eyes, we see scripture interpretation. This is why divine inspiration is so important. If Paul is not being divinely inspired here, than he is making stuff up that foudnationally changes the meaning of the text.
The New Testament writers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are helping us to understand the Old Testament and the Old Testament is helping us understand the New Testament.
Paul is saying that there is more meaning to the phrase than just a decent of Abraham’s would be the Messiah. He is saying that his faith would be the proof that anyone CAN ACTUALLY BE SAVED!
This is possible because it is based on WHO Abraham believed in, not the method (law) of saving ourselves.
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.”
He is quoting
Deuteronomy 27:26 (ESV)
26 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
These curses were a catch all for secret sin. The things in this passage were not legal matters that were public or became public for trial. This was, when you do things like these, you answer directly to God for he sees the secret.
There is no way the public court system could make sure everyone obeyed every law in the Law of God. The pharisees seemed to want to try.
Yet everyone has to answer to God when they do not.
Yet we know that Christ came, and Abraham believed, proving that God would provide a way to be saved, not being cursed, even though we cannot obey the entire law.
Paul is saying, since you cannot obey Deuteronomy, you are also cursed if you try to live that way.
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Facts: NO ONE is good enough to obey the whole law and be justified by their works and be or become righteous. Yet we have righteous people in the Bible. God calls them righteous.
So
What gives?
12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
Very clear in scripture that everyone that is not cursed to hell keeps the law. You have to be perfect to have eternal life with God and not be punished.
So we have a problem
You are cursed if you try to keep the law because you cannot.
You are cursed if you do not keep the law.
So what should we do?
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”— 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.
Trust Christ!
It’s not that Jesus makes it seem as if we are perfect.
Christ simply took the curse we were supposed to be receiving, so that we wouldnt be banished from eternal life with God.
We now can receive the spirit and he will begin perfecting us.
Literally salvation is because of the work of Christ and Sanctification is because of the work of Christ.
Thought: You need to be calling those around you to Christ!!! But you need to be aware that constantly trying to convert people because they do not act according to the way you have deemed a christian needs to act is just as dangerous as telling people they can do what they want.
Not saying DO NOT HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE, instead of saying do not do it flipipantly and without first examining your own heart and scripture.
