Sermon Tone Analysis

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? 2 "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?” ()

Having recounted at length the dispute with Peter and his fellow Jews, Paul turns again to his readers.

‘O foolish Galatians!’ he cries, ‘Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth?’

(3:1).

There is a sound of thunder in his words.

The first five verses of consist of a series of five rhetorical questions.

A rhetorical question is a statement disguised as a question.

Paul is, in fact, making five important statements about the nature of genuine faith, which he contrasts with a trust in human nature and its works.

The rhetorical question format serves a second, but equally useful, purpose.

By using questions, the apostle invites his readers to think things out for themselves.

Paul is ever the teacher, even when (as here) he is beside himself with indignation.

So in chapters 1-2 Paul used his spiritual autobiography to prove that he was the real apostle of the one true gospel.

Now in chapters 3-4 he is going to explain the theology of that gospel, beginning with a rebuke.

1 "O foolish Galatians!

Who has bewitched you [cast a spell on you] that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly [publically] portrayed among you as crucified?”

()

Paul’s rebuke must have caused quite a stir when his letter was first read in Galatia: “O foolish Galatians!

Who has bewitched you?” ().

Paul was upset.

Although to this point his language has been forceful, it has not been quite so personal.

Paul is indignant!

And rightly so!

The Galatians were in danger of nullifying the grace of God.

The so-called Judaizers had come from Jerusalem to persuade them that works of the law were necessary for their justification.

But in that case, what was the point of the cross?

Why would someone else have to die for my sins if I could take care of them myself?

The logical implication of justification by works is that “Christ died for no purpose” (2:21).

21 "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain [for nothing]”” ()

When we think about that verse, his indignation becomes understandable.

That the Son of God in all His glory and blessings is rejected and His death is esteemed as nothing, what godly mind will not break out into indignation?

As far as Paul was able to tell, the Galatians were guilty of sheer spiritual stupidity.

In our modern English speaking ears it would come to us like this:

“O you dear idiots of Roselawn … surely you can’t be so idiotic!”

Wouldn’t that comes to us a bit harsh?

You could imagine sitting in that gathered group of people when that letter was read.

Paul was at a loss to know how people could believe such nonsense.

The Galatians were behaving so foolishly that the apostle suspected some kind of witchcraft.

“Who has bewitched you?” he demanded ().

The Greek term means “to give someone the evil eye, to cast a spell over, to fascinate in the original sense of holding someone spellbound by an irresistible power.”

It was as if a sorcerer had cast an evil spell on them, or as if a magician had them under his hypnotic influence.

Paul knew, of course, that the Galatians were not really enchanted.

They were under the influence of false teachers who wanted to add the law of Moses to faith in Jesus Christ to produce a “Jesus plus” gospel.

But the language he uses suggests that there was some kind of demonic influence at work.

One of the devil’s favorite stratagems is to distort the truth so that

people can no longer tell the difference between the one true gospel and all the false alternatives.

Let’s thing for a minute about DECEPTION VS.

TRUTH

We are admonished to

speak the truth in love (see &25),

walk in the light and have fellowship with one another (see ).

People living in conflict

believe lies,

walk in darkness, and

avoid intimate relationships with others.

Deception is the major strategy of the evil one, because he knows that truth sets us free.

If he accuses us, we would know it.

If he tempts us, we would know it.

However, if he deceives us, we wouldn’t know it.

We can be deceived by paying attention to deceiving spirits (see ),

"Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,” ()

by the philosophies of this fallen world, by believing false prophets and teachers (see )—and we can deceive ourselves as follows:

1. Hearing God’s Word but not doing it

"But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

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"So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.”

()

2. Saying we have no sin

"If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

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3. Thinking we are something when we aren’t

"For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

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4. Thinking we are wise in our own eyes

"Let no one deceive himself.

If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he can become wise.

"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness;” ()

5. Thinking we will not reap what we sow

"Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked.

For whatever a person sows he will also reap,” ()

6. Thinking the unrighteous will inherit the kingdom

"Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom?

Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males,” ()

7. Thinking you can associate with bad company and not be corrupted

"Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.””

()

Christ on Display...

In order to “break the spell” that they were under, the Galatians needed to look to the cross.

Paul follows his rebuke with a reminder:

“It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified” ().

The fact that Paul specifically mentions the eyes is intriguing, because the ancients generally thought that enchantment came through “the evil eye.”

Now that they were bewitched, the Galatians needed to fix their eyes back on the cross of Christ.

The Galatians had seen the cross before, when Paul came to them preaching the gospel.

The word “portrayed” comes from the world of advertising.

The Greeks used it to refer, for example, to the kind of public notice posted to show that a property was up for sale.

What the Galatians had seen, then, was a graphic public display of the crucified Christ.

Jesus Christ had been placarded before them, as if on a giant billboard or a large canvas.

This is the power of preaching.

It takes the mighty acts of God in history and displays them to minds and hearts in the present.

By the time Paul was finished preaching to them, the Galatians felt they had

seen the crucifixion with their own eyes,

watching the living body of Jesus nailed bloody to the cross.

When Paul and the other apostles preached the gospel, they began with the person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.

Jesus was and is true God and true man, one person in two natures, human as well as divine.

The apostles first identified Jesus as the God-man.

Because he was a man, he was able to enter into our situation and suffer for our sins.