Believe

Galatians 3:1–14 NIV84

1 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 observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? 6 Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The 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 have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man 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 tree.” 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.

1. You could not and did not earn your salvation

Foolish Galatians

Lack of wisdom not mental incompetence

Doing what the law requires is not enough

When you failed to obey one law you miss all laws

2. The purpose of the law

The law reveals our troubles

Our troubles should lead us to Christ

The law only reveals the wrong it can’t redeem the wrong doer

The law demands a payment for penalty

The law is not from faith

The law is not from faith

The law is not our supervisor anymore

3. Doing what the law says or trusting Christ

Too often we place more emphasis on what we do instead of what we believe

What we believe will help us live a righteous life

Trusting Jesus demands that we trust God’s Word

God’s Word demands that we obey our authorities

We obey our authorities until those authorities go against God’s Word

4. We are justified by faith

We are not justified by what we do

Abraham and Sarah were impatient and used their skills to produce what God promised

Faith is waiting on God to fulfill His promise

We are children of Abraham if we believe like Abraham believed

We are not justified by what we do

Man made or God made—you choose

Man made or God made—you choose

5. There is power in what you believe

Miracles are the result of what you hear and believe

Observing the law will never produce miracles

The promise of God needs to be believed

If you don’t believe, you won’t receive

If you want a miracle, you must believe in miracles

We are redeemed from the curse of the law—Jesus hung on a tree for us

We are redeemed in order that we receive the blessing promised to Abraham

We receive the promise because we believe that the One who promised is Faithful