Dwell in the Word: Galatians 3:1-9
Contemplate these questions as you dwell in Galatians 3:1-9:
1. What is the tone and urgency in Paul's words addressing the Galatians regarding their reliance on works versus faith, and how does he use Abraham's example to emphasize this point?
2. How does Paul challenge the Galatians' understanding of the role of works in salvation by contrasting it with the significance of faith, drawing parallels to Abraham's faith in God?
3. In what ways does Paul's emphasis on faith over works in salvation apply to contemporary beliefs about earning favor with God through personal efforts or adherence to religious practices?
Transcript:
It's easy for us to read this part of Galatians and pass over, I guess, for lack of a better word, the aggression with which Paul is coming after the church in Galatia here. It's easy for us to see the word foolish as maybe being silly or something, but there is a lot of impact behind these words. I heard a pastor once say, We have to hear this as Paul saying, You stupid Galatians, what are you doing? Who has bewitched you? Who has fooled you? There is a great, great concern that Paul has here, and he is really driving home his point. This idea is that Jesus was portrayed to you as crucified. This was not your work. It was his work that we were focusing on when we proclaimed the gospel to you. Did you receive the Holy Spirit because you checked the boxes of keeping the law? Did you obey a command or did you do a particular good work or a particular ritual and you received the Spirit? Or was it because you heard the Gospel and believed by faith? Which one was it you Galatians? Are you so foolish that you now think that the Spirit began this work in you, and now you're going to become holy by your work?
This wasn't about you to begin with, but now it's about you? Again, Paul is really driving home the point here, isn't he? He's letting them know that you're making this about you, but it's not about you. It's about what Christ has done for you. It's about what the Spirit has done in you to give you the gift of faith. He also says in verse 5, He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law. In other words, all the things that you have seen happen in your Christian community. Was this a thing that was triggered by your ritual adherence to some rules? Was it a good work you did? Did you do something nice to somebody and suddenly here come the miracles? Here comes the good works that God was doing among you? No, it came because you hurt the gospel by faith. We see Paul go here in verse 6 back to Abraham, just like he does in the Book of Romans. We'll get there at some point. We'll go through the Book of Romans just like we're going through Galatians now. Not sure why we haven't yet.
Maybe after we go back to the Old Testament after Galatians, we'll go to Romans. But anyway, we see here that Paul is bringing us to Abraham. Not only is this the right thing to do because Abraham is seen as the man of faith, and because that's the example we have in the Old Testament. But remember who was given the command of circumcision? Was it Abraham? If we are using him as the example of faith here, then would circumcision be necessary? Does Genesis say, And Abraham was circumcised and it was credited him as righteousness? Or does it say he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness? We know which one it says, right? That's Paul's point. It is faith, faith in Christ and His work on our behalf that saves us, that the Holy Spirit comes to us and gives us this gift to believe this that we are saved. Paul not only uses this to help us understand that circumcision isn't something that triggers salvation, but he goes even further to help us understand that the Gentiles are reached because of faith. Abraham was told this in advance. Notice what Paul does here.
He's foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, And you shall all the nations be blessed. Now, we don't really think about that. We think about that as, Hey, all the nations, a bunch of people. We see this as a number maybe to be achieved or an amazing accomplishment, perhaps. But the point of all nations here is an ethnic thing. It means all the people, not just the Jews, not just the Hebrew people. This is how faith comes to the people of God, that this is this faith that we have in Christ is multiplied not just to the Hebrew people, but to the Gentiles. We believe. We believe because God has come to us. It is not the works that we do. It's not what we have done, but what God in Christ has done for us and the gift of faith that we receive from the Spirit. We are blessed, Paul says, along with Abraham, just as he was the man of faith, the one who was circumcised, who received the command to be circumcised, exercised. That wasn't what made him righteous, it was faith.
He has believed God. Right along with the man of faith, the Hebrew of Hebrews, just like Paul was, we find that Abraham is defined by his faith, not his works. He's defined by his faith, not his circumcision. Paul doesn't want these people in Galatia to believe that somehow they're being perfected or that they're being saved by circumcision. Instead, he wants them to trust in the faith that they have in Christ alone. Now, for us, this is quite a bit different. We are not looking to circumcision for how we are perfected. We're looking to other works, right? We're looking to our own ability to keep the law or do a particular thing. What we need to do is we need to remember that we were not brought to faith by our works. We're not going to be perfected that way either. If we want to be holy, we need to continue to hear the word. We need to continue to trust the Spirit and live our lives in response to what God has done, not thinking that we can somehow earn God's favor, but instead trusting that we have God's favor because of what Christ has done for us.
So, may we trust in that alone and not think that our works are meriting anything for us, but may we trust in the work of Jesus that has merited righteousness for us. May we believe that by faith, just as Abraham did.
