Galatians.5

Faith Over Works: Bewitched Believers

Paul opens with a direct challenge to the Galatians, calling them foolish and asking who has “bewitched” them into abandoning the truth—specifically, the reality of Christ’s crucifixion that had been so clearly demonstrated among them. This section establishes the emotional intensity and stakes of Paul’s argument.

Bible Passage: Galatians 3:1–9

Summary: In Galatians 3:1-9, Paul addresses the Galatian church's turn from the gospel of grace towards works of the law, emphasizing that it is through faith that one becomes justified before God, not by human effort or adherence to the law.

He is speaking to saved individuals. They are in error by trying to continue their faith journey (sanctification) by works not “the just by faith shall live”.

1. Bewitched Believers

Galatians 3:1 “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?”

The Rebuke

Paul opens with a direct challenge to the Galatians, calling them foolish and asking who has “bewitched” them into abandoning the truth—specifically, the reality of Christ’s crucifixion that had been so clearly demonstrated among them.

Jesus called the disciples on the road to Emmaus foolish, Luke 24:25 “Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” It was a call from doubt and ignorance to grace and faith. Like Jesus, This section establishes the emotional intensity and stakes of Paul’s argument.

Obeying truth here is the believing the truth of the gospel. The will of the Father is to believe Jesus for salvation, John 6:40 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”” John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.””

The words Paul spoke mixed with faith became, “before their eyes” clear. Faith comes by hearing - Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

When Paul says, “Who bewitched you?” he did not expect an answer. he was only saying examine yourself, you might be under a spell. There are many voices saying many things today. Always be a Berean (Acts 17:11) and check the Scriptures to see if what you are hearing is truth.

Consider a young woman who once embraced grace fully but later started comparing herself to others. She thought if she dressed better and attended more church events, she’d be a ‘better’ Christian. Little did she know that faith isn’t about outdoing others or even ourselves—it’s about having a relationship with Christ. Sometimes, like her, we can unintentionally switch from grace to works without even realizing it. Remember, it’s about abiding in love, not performing!

2. Salvation vs Sanctification

Galatians 3:2–5 “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

The Rhetorical Questions on Faith and Experience

Paul poses a series of probing questions about the Galatians’ own spiritual experience:

1. Whether they received the Spirit through works/law or through hearing of faith. Paul reminds the Galatians that salvation came to them through his preaching of grace. They began the Christian life by believing in Jesus for Everlasting Life (John 3:16).

2. He questions whether they were born-again in the Spirit only to be perfected through fleshly effort. Since they had been saved by faith and justified. The question of Sanctification enters, do the just live by faith or works? Do Christians have an obligation to the Law of Moses for our sanctification, or is a life based on the finished work of Christ and grace? (Pp 2:12-13)

3. Paul questions whether their sufferings were meaningless if they’re now abandoning faith. Paul last spoke to the Galatians in Acts 14:21–22 reminding them that the grace message would be attacked, “And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.””

4. Does the church function in the Spirit and through the gifts by grace or works. He then asks whether God’s ongoing supply of the Spirit and miracles flows from law-works or faith-hearing (Ep 4:11-16).

Picture a person who received a shiny new car. They rode it joyfully until they decided they needed to wash and polish it every day to keep it in good standing. Eventually, it became a chore. Our spiritual journey can feel like that, too. At times, we begin to focus on doing all the right things, thinking they can keep our car—our faith—shiny and clean, forgetting that the joy comes from riding freely, not from merely maintaining appearances! - confess sins quickly and walk in the light, that’s what keeps us Shiny Christians!

3. Abraham Believed

Galatians 3:6–7 “just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”

The Abraham Precedent

Paul invokes Abraham as the decisive example, noting that Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness,” and concluding that only those of faith qualify as Abraham’s true sons. This shifts from personal experience to scriptural authority.

“just as Abraham” - he is our example of justification by faith. The prototypical believer. We as people of faith are not natural born sons of Abraham like the Jews, but Spirit born sons by faith.

4. The Blessed of the Covenant

Galatians 3:8 “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.””

The Gospel Foreshadowed

Scripture itself, Paul argues, anticipated God’s justification of Gentiles by faith when He promised Abraham that “in you all the nations shall be blessed.” This shows that faith-based inclusion of Gentiles was God’s plan from the beginning, not a later innovation.

Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””

Genesis 18:18 “since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?”

Genesis 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.””

Genesis 26:4 “And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;”

Genesis 28:14 “Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The fullness of Abrahamic Covenant is for all the earth.

Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”” Even the Exodus was not just about the Jews leaving Egypt, it contained a message to the entire earth. They will hear of the mighty works of God.

Romans 4:1–6 “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:” (Ps 32:1-2) This was the gospel God preached to Abraham, that any man could be justified by faith apart from works.

It is the same gospel that Paul preached to the Galatians. A gospel outside of the law.

It was a gospel the Judaizers did not recognize.

5. Abraham the Father of Faith

Galatians 3:9 “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

The Blessing Conclusion

Paul concludes that those operating from faith receive the same blessing as Abraham, the man of faith. This section ties together the preceding arguments into a unified statement about who inherits Abraham’s blessing.

Those who are of faith (this excludes by definition those who are of works) equals believers. They are “blessed with believing Abraham”. That is the process. When God promised that the earth would be blessed through Abraham He was looking forward to the time the Messiah (Abraham’s Seed) would initiate a church of believers. We are blessed “with” Abraham means we join him in the blessing of salvation by grace through faith. We are fellow saints.

Abraham was a friend of God before the giving of the law. The pattern: A called out man who had faith in His God, died to his old life. Who then followed Him.

David understood this blessing as the assurance of the kingdom - The Sure Mercies of David

Isaiah 55:3 speaks of God making “an everlasting covenant with you; The sure mercies of David,” and this phrase carries profound messianic significance in New Testament interpretation.

The “sure mercies of David” refer to the mercies irrevocably promised to David and his house, pointing to the great promise in 2 Samuel 7:8–16. The house of David would be the Messianic hope. The King, Throne, and House.

The New Testament explicitly connects this prophecy to Christ’s resurrection. Paul quotes Isaiah 55:3 in Acts 13:34, declaring that God “raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption” and stating, “I will give you the sure mercies of David.” The entire riches of the everlasting covenant; its varied grace and mercies are meant here, characterized as eternal to show they transcend temporal things and separate to holiness all who receive them, while being “sure” to denote the certainty with which they would be substantiated through David’s Seed.

Since an eternal kingdom was promised to David, the Ruler of this kingdom could not remain under the power of death, making Christ’s resurrection the vindication of these promises.

As Christians we partake the blessing associated with having faith in the Messiah, being justified, and joining in with Abraham into the assurance of eternal life.