Clothed With Christ Series

I remember the first suit I ever bought for myself.

It was 1988, and I was working at Men’s Wearhouse—so I had access to the good stuff, not Hart, Shafner, and Marx, but high quality suits. I picked out a charcoal gray, double-breasted suit with chalk line pinstripes. Sharp. Classic. It was a $300 suit—top shelf for the time. But with my employee discount, I got it for $180. That would be about $500 today.

It wasn’t cheap. But it mattered.

I remember slipping it on and looking in the mirror... and I didn’t see a boy anymore.

I saw a man.

There was something about that suit—the way it fit, the weight of the fabric, the feel of the fabric on my shoulders—that made me stand a little straighter. It didn’t just change how I looked—it changed how I felt. It gave me a sense of who I was becoming.

Side note—and I say this with love—if you’re a guy and you don’t own a good suit yet… go get one. Don’t wait for a funeral or a wedding to realize you need it. Every man should have at least one. Okay—soapbox over.

Here’s the point: clothes don’t just cover us. Sometimes, they shape us. They tell us—and others—something about who we are.

That’s exactly what Paul is getting at in Galatians 3.

He writes to a group of believers who were slipping back into old habits—trying to earn what God had already given.

They were reaching for rituals, rules, identity markers… instead of resting in grace.

So Paul says something bold:

“You’ve been clothed with Christ.”

Not just inspired by Him. Not just forgiven.

Clothed. Covered in His righteousness.

Wrapped in His identity.

Marked as His own.

And then he asks them a question that still speaks today:

“Who told you that you weren’t already enough in Christ?”

Maybe you’ve heard that voice too.

So today, we open this letter—not just for the Galatians… but for us.

3 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 the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?[a] 4 Have you experienced[b] so much in vain—if it really was in vain?5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[c]

7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 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.”[d] 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Children of God

23 Before the coming of this faith,[a] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. "This is the Word of the Lord,"

"Thanks be to God"

Part I: Bewitched and Forgetful

Paul doesn’t ease into this section of the letter.

He doesn’t say, “Hey friends, let’s talk.”

No—he says, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?”

It’s strong language. But it’s not angry—it’s urgent.

Paul sees what’s happening. These believers, who had begun with the freedom of grace, are slipping back into performance.

They’re trying to earn what God has already given.

So Paul asks them, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?”

In other words: “How did this begin for you?”

Was it your rule-keeping that brought the Spirit into your life? Or was it your simple, childlike trust in Jesus?

Let me tell you a story that might help.

About two years ago, someone gave me one of the most generous gifts I’ve ever received—box seats to a Falcons game.

And not just for me. For my dad and my sons too. Four generations of us, together.