Galatians has been called the emancipation proclamation of Christianity. In this letter Paul declares the freedom that believers have in Christ. In Galatians Paul is protesting against the corruption of the gospel of Christ. The essential truth of justification by faith rather than by the works of the law had been compromised by the legalists insistence that believers must keep the law in order to be in right standing before God. When Paul learned that this teaching had begun to penetrate the Galatian churches and that it had alienated them from their liberty in Christ, he wrote this impassioned epistle.
Thus the central theme that Paul illustrates with his various arguments is that justification comes by faith alone. Paul begins the epistle by establishing that divine revelation is the source of the gospel that he preaches. He then declares that both Jews and Gentiles are justified by faith rather than by keeping the law. Paul supports his argument by showing that the law is subordinate to the promise that was given to Abraham and that the law was only intended by God to be a temporary institution. Paul shows that since Christ has come, the law no longer restricts and governs Christians. Paul moves on to declare Christian freedom and to show that love rather than the law is to govern the life of the believer. Paul also exhorts the believer to walk by the Spirit thus producing the fruit of the Spirit rather than the works of the flesh.
The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has an important place in Paul’s argument to the Galatians. First, Paul points to the Galatians’ reception of the Spirit as proof of his message. The Judaizers’ message would not have had this "divine stamp of approval". That the Galatians have received the Spirit of God is proof that they are sons of God and is a promise of the full eschatological redemption.
II. Reception of the Spirit is proof of justification by faith
A. You Experienced the Spirit when you believed (3:1-5)
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
1. Both justification and the gift of the Spirit are received not out of legal works but through the means of faith: through one and the same act of faith. The gift of the Spirit and justification by faith are two sides of one coin
2. Out of vs. Through — law is a dry well from which blessings of Spirit cannot be drawn but faith is not the source rather the rope through which blessing of Spirit is carried
3. Holy Spirit is fully involved in bringing salvation: He convicts of sin, unveils the beauty of Christ, and draws you toward God.
2. They began their Christian career by the Spirit, can they now find it conceivable that the perfection of that career is to be sought on the lower plan of the flesh? The Spirit belongs to the foundation of the gospel. His reception does not mark a second and higher stage than justification; it is the confirmation of Christ’s redemptive work
3. In Galatians 3:5 Paul sums up the essence of his argument in the past four verses, "He who supplies the Spirit to you and performs mighty works among you, is it from the works of the law or from the hearing of faith." The fact that these are present participles implies that this divine activity still continues; it is not something which the Galatians experienced once-for-all when they believed the gospel.
B. Tradition of Blessings on faithful (3:14)
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
1. In Galatians 3:6-14, Paul continues to argue that the Galatians’ reception of the Spirit is proof that they have been justified by faith rather than works; however, he moves from arguing on the basis of their experience to arguing from Scripture.
2. Although the law makes a distinction between the people of Israel, to whom it was given, and the Gentiles, to whom it was not given, the promise to Abraham embraced the Gentiles within its scope; they were to have a share in the blessing promised to him. The blessing of Abraham comes on believing Gentiles through their receiving the promise of the Spirit through faith
C. Spiritual adoption: Legal State & Inheritance sealed by sonship (4:6-7)
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
1. In Galatians 4:5, Paul is continuing to argue that the Galatian believers’ reception of the Spirit is proof that they are in right standing with God. It carries the thought to a point beyond that reached by the former. We who receive the instatement as sons through Him (this was the purpose of Christ’s redeeming them).
2. "To prove that you are sons" -- the presence of the Spirit is a witness of their sonship. The purpose of the Son’s mission was to give the rights of sonship & to give the power to use the rights of sonship. God bestows on us not only the status of sons (through the sending of His Son), but also the character and knowledge of sons (through the sending of the Spirit).
3. The Spirit is here called the Spirit of God’s Son, crying "Abba Father!" The fact that Christians call God "Abba," using the same word as Jesus used, is a token that they are indwelt by the same Spirit that indwelt Christ. When we cry "Abba Father" it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. Jesus was unique in applying this designation to God.
4. Both here and in Romans 8:15, the verb used for the pronouncing of Abba is krazw, which suggests the spontaneous overflowing of "Abba" in any situation (not only of external compulsion but also of inward impulsion -- it might suggest a Spirit-inspired prophetic utterance).
5. In Galatians 4:7, Paul connects the reception of the Spirit and the adoption as sons with liberty. The importance of this verse is that here Paul ties pneumatology with the primary message of Galatians -- Christian liberty. The transition from leading-strings to liberty is crucial for development and can only be effectuated by the reception of the Spirit of God. Believers are now full grown sons of God; they have been given their freedom and the power to use it responsibly.
III. New Way of Living: “In the Spirit"
A. The Spirit as an eschatological hope (5:5)
For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
1. Paul has now effectively demonstrated that reception of the Spirit is proof that the Galatians were justified by faith and not by the works of the law. Paul now moves into another area. Paul’s discusses the role of the Spirit in relation to sanctification. Because the believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit he has entered into a new mode of existence; he must live "in the Spirit" and not "in the flesh" or "under the law".
2. In Galatians 5:5, Paul makes his first reference to the Christian hope. In contrast to the vain hope of righteousness by legal works, we who believe in Christ are enabled by the Spirit, through faith, to wait confidently for the hope of righteousness. This hope is fostered and kept alive by the indwelling Spirit of God. This highlights the theme of the Spirit’s ministry -- giving actuality here and now to the heritage of glory which awaits the believer in the eschaton.
B. Life in the Spirit excludes other modes of existence (5:16-18)
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
1. "In the flesh"/ "Under the law"
3. "Walk by the Spirit" means let your conduct be directed by the Spirit. The Galatians have already been reminded that they received the Spirit and that His presence was attested by mighty works. Paul now admonishes them to let His presence be attested with a lifestyle that is in keeping with the character of the Spirit.
4. The way of the Spirit is a way of freedom and love. The law of love has the same construction as the decalogue, but it is a different kind of law. No external force can compel one to love his neighbor; such love must be generated from within by the Spirit. This internalization of the principles of the law can only be done by the Spirit; the law is powerless when it comes to changing the inner being of man. The incapacity of the law had now given way to the power of the Spirit.
5. In Galatians 5:17, Paul gives the epitome of his antithesis between flesh and Spirit. If the believer yields to the flesh, he is enslaved by it; if he obeys the promptings of the Spirit, he is liberated and can make a positive and willing response to the command, "walk by the Spirit."
6. Paul has thus stated that life in the Spirit rules out any possibility of an existence in legalism or carnality. Existence under the law exposes one unprotected to the malignity of indwelling sin. There is no reason why those who have been delivered from spiritual bondage should freely choose to place themselves under law. With the coming of Christ and the completion of His redeeming work, the age of law has been superseded by the age of Spirit. For the Galatians to retreat from grace to law would be to exchange the freedom of the Spirit for the bondage of the "stoiceia". To be led by the Spirit is to have the power to overcome the desire of the flesh, to be increasingly conformed to the likeness of Christ, and to cease to be under the law. Legalists thought that the way to overcome the flesh was by the law. However, the law cannot protect against the desires of the flesh.
7. To be under grace is to be led by the Spirit. The grace of God is the gift of God; but the greatest gift is the Holy Spirit Himself. The grace of God cannot be adequately conceived in impersonal terms; it must be equated with the person of the Holy Spirit so that there is no higher gift than grace. Grace is God’s presence and His very Self. To experience grace of this order as a living reality is the effect of receiving the "Spirit of sonship". To be under the law is to be a slave but to be led by the Spirit is to be a freeborn son, to enjoy the glorious liberty of the children of God.
C. Existence in the Spirit is necessarily incarnated in a sanctified life (5:22-26)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
1. In Galatians 5:22-26 Paul lists nine graces (not an exhaustive list) which make up the fruit of the Spirit -- the lifestyle of those who are indwelt and energized by the Spirit. This, as well as Galatians 6:7-9, is an agricultural analogy of the sanctified life. Each believer has the fruit of the Spirit deposited in them at regeneration; however, these must be cultivated and the believer yields more and more to the work of the Spirit. The culmination of the process of cultivating the work of the Spirit in one’s life (called sowing to the Spirit in 6:8) is eternal life.
D. Agricultural analogy: existence in the Spirit produces eternal life (6:7-9)
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
