The superiority of the Gospel – Live by faith (chap.3)
The Galatians were struggling with the basic doctrine. They were confused and thought that they can be made right before God based on what Jesus did for us and what we do for Him under the Law of Moses. Chapters 3 and 4 consist of 60 verses which are doctrinal in nature. We often find 3-important words. Faith mentioned 14-times, Law mentioned 19-times and promise mentioned 11-times.
Paul starts the epistle with his own experience in chap-1, then his confrontation with Apostle Peter when he made the mistake of insisting upon the circumcision. Now in chap 3 and 4, he gives strong doctrinal statement that we stand right before God only through the work of Jesus on the cross. The Law has no place in ones salvation.
Paul gives 5-arguments saying that justification is only by faith and it is sufficient for any person.
Learn from the life of Galatians: (3:1-5):
The Galatians seem to have fascinated by the magicians as magic was rampant in those days (Acts 8:9-11). They were performing magical illusions with the help of Satan’s powers and diverting the minds of the believers of Galatians.
- They have seen the crucified Jesus Christ: Paul says that Galatians were He reminds them that Christ was crucified before their very eyes only. We have studied in the bible, in the history, heard the witnesses that Jesus was crucified. The entire world bears the witness. Jesus said: blessed are those who have not seen and believed.
- They have received the Holy Spirit: They have further received the Holy Spirit and certainly not by observing the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ. Their changed lives continue to portray their Salvation experience which certainly did not come by observing Law but by trusting Jesus Christ. Now the Galatians seem to have backslidden and had decided to insist on keeping the Jewish Laws. The Galatians had suffered for their faith.
- They have suffered for the faith in Christ: The members of the church suffered for their faith in the hands of legalists. In (Acts 14) we see Paul was dragged in the streets and left him alone thinking he was dead. Surely the persecution which rose from Paul when he was Galatia must have extended to the congregation as well. That’s why Paul says after suffering so much in the hands of Judaizers, why you are going back to their legalism giving up the faith?
- They have seen many miracles in the church: Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the ministers in the Galatians’ church were doing wonderful works, works that could never be done through the Law. Everything in their personal experience pointed to one fact: salvation is by grace, not by law. For them to go back to the Law after all the Spirit had done for them was to act like fools!
We must understand that when God works in us, we grow spiritually and not by observing the Law. Now-a-days people try to get closer to God by following set of rules or doing some activities in the church or studying Bible, attending the church or meetings as a part of the routine Christian life. All these are nothing but following the Law.