The questions of Grace: Are we saved by Grace or by works of the law? Galatians 3:1-14
Faith or Observance of the Law
3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
In the previous chapters, we have seen the problem: The Galatians had begun to fall from grace, believing the lie that you needed to be saved by the works of the law. The judaisers, Grace Killers, told them that they had to obey the Mosaic Law and be circumcised and practice other Jewish customs once they became Christians. Paul was stupefied, because he had clearly portrayed the crucifixion of Christ as sufficient for salvation. He was incredulous, saying here what more can I do? Obviously you had to have a spell cast on you to believe such a lie. Paul began to ask them four rhetorical questions.
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?
Paul was wondering if they had received the Spirit by being obedient to the law that they did not even possess when he first preached to them!! You see, as gentiles, they may have been aware of the Jews, but they did no abide by their law. They had received Christ on the basis of their belief in the sufficiency of His work on the cross. Their having the Spirit affirmed that Christ had accepted them and received them into the family.
How foolish we are today as well, that we somehow have to clean up our lives before we come to Christ, that somehow by our action that Christ will love us more or less than He already does. Some Christians still point to the works that they do and the time and money that they spend for God, and demand that those who call themselves believers must do the same or more to please Him. It is utter hogwash- God loves you not because of who you are and what you have done for Him- He loves you because of who He is- and because of who He is He sent His Son to die for you! There is nothing you can do but thankfully receive that free gift. ANSWER: We receive the Spirit by believing what we heard.
3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
Having answered the first question, Paul asks another- You have received the Spirit by believing, now are you trying to be sanctified (the goal- Christ likeness) by doing good works? He accuses them again of being fools. How can we gain Christ likeness by doing any works? We cannot even hope to save ourselves! It has already been proven by Paul according to the scriptures that we cannot be saved by observing the law. How are we to be sanctified by observing the law? We cannot be. Sanctification is a work of Grace by the Holy Spirit. We are made to look like Christ through His work, by allowing the exchange of my life for His (see Galatians 2:20) The Galatians probably believed that somehow by keeping the old law it would make them more spiritually mature. It would not.
And yet, how many times have we heard someone brag of his or her hours in the prayer closet, or the number of times he or she has read through the Bible? How many have heard the person speaking of fasting for spiritual health, only to wear it as some sort of badge of honor or pride? Now I have had seasons of prayer, and of fasting, and I do read, study, and meditate on my Bible, but I don’t want to brag about it or compare the time I spend in it to the time you spend in it, because in the long run, that statistic is between me and God. And I don’t read the Bible for you or anyone else, I read it to feed my soul, and to know the Lord better, and I pray to know His will and love Him more. When I fast, I don’t want anyone to know except me and God. These things will not bring me sanctification, but only being given over to the Spirits control. If I do these things in the Spirit to feed the Spirit within me, they will help grow me to maturity. If I do them in the flesh, it is a prideful act of religiosity only attempting to gain God’s favor (which I already have) O foolish Christians? When will we learn that God already loves us, and that we respond to that love by obedience- but even in that, we curry no more goodwill and favor from Him than we already have.
4 Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing?
This third question looks back at the persecution that these new believers had apparently already suffered for being Christians. What Paul is saying here is that they had suffered for nothing if, having believed themselves saved by grace through faith, were not actually saved when they were persecuted because they now believed in works. What a waste! But Paul says he does not believe it was for nothing. He knows, and is trying to teach them that they are saved by grace.
I do not believe that we suffer in America for being Christians-yet. We are still pretty free to be witnesses of God’s grace. Not to get off the subject at hand, which is grace, but we need to decide if what we believe is worth suffering or even dying for. If it isn’t, you might as well go back to your old lifestyle, and forget trying to be a believer. Because we are not saved by works (the good things we do for God), we are saved by Grace. And that grace is transformational-it changes you. Grace-filled, spirit filled Christian living is dangerous! As changed people, we want to and need to share Christ’s good news with others! And when you do this in the workplace, the marketplace, or any other public place, you will be persecuted in one form or another. Even worse, people within the church that are works-oriented will attack you and try to force that burden on you. Are you willing to suffer at the hands of other Christians for walking in grace? You will if you truly believe that we are saved by grace, because it is for the honor of the one who saved you by his grace.
5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
The fourth and last question makes it clear that The Galatians had experienced the indwelling Holy Spirit and had witnessed miracles in their midst. Paul was reminding them that both of these things that come as a result of faith in their midst before they had the law, and had turned to it. These things had obviously come by grace through faith.
You had better believe that we do the same thing today. Many denominations place rigorous demands on the new convert to live up to. These are more about our comfort than it is theirs. It has made me sad when I have seen people turned away from the church either by unwritten rules the church has or by rules that people have in their own mind. I’ll give you an example. I will go golfing many times, and recently I was paired with a guy at a local course. This guy felt very free with letting the curse words fly after a bad shot. We had begun some conversation, and it turned to the famous ‘what do you do’ question. I told him I was a pastor, and I might as well have told him I was the grim reaper with his reaction. His face went white and he got quiet, and he didn’t utter a peep. Now I am not against convicting by the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, but I don’t believe that I am the Holy Spirit. It is not my job to change people, it is His job. It is my job to enter into the God-given appointments to share. He apologized for his language to that point, recognizing that I probably didn’t appreciate it. I asked him the question that I hoped would deepen and broaden the conversation- ‘And why do you think that?’ He went into his upbringing, his observation and knowledge of church people in general, and a scant knowledge of the scriptures. I explained to him that Jesus loved him exactly where he was in his life, and that I had not taken offense. This allowed the conversation to continue for the rest of the day. You see, I don’t want to turn people away from Jesus because I am not comfortable with their current lifestyle! Jesus dealt with religious people, harlots, thieves, enemies, members of a pagan occupying force, children, sick people, and sinners of many different backgrounds. He was far more holy than you or I ever will hope to be, yet he hung out with those people. And where did he get the most criticism for this? From the religious establishment of the day! We need to ask ourselves serious questions regarding our church being a place of grace. I believe in many ways that we are, but in some ways we are not. Are we ready to welcome people like Jesus welcomed?
II. Examples from Scripture
6 Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”a 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.”b 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Paul now goes to the real heart of the matter for these judaizers. These who had claimed to be the ‘sons of Abraham’ had no idea what the source of Abraham’s righteousness was! Paul quotes scripture in Genesis 15:6 “6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” The source of Abraham’s righteousness was God’s grace, and it was given as Abraham believed on God’s ability to deliver what he promised! The act of adding to grace is an act of unbelief- unbelief that God can save us based on His grace alone. The true children of Abraham, Paul argues, are not those who take the law and try to use it to get justified and hang it over others’ heads. Justification is by God’s grace alone through faith. And this is all part of the good news prophesied to Abraham!
Genesis 12:3 (NIV)
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
The blessing came through Christ, and is received by faith by those who are the true children of Abraham.
What, then, does trusting in the law bring?
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.”c 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”d 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”e
Paul quotes the Old Testament to prove again that the law does not justify anybody. In fact, the opposite is true. Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26 and from Habakkuk 2:4:
Deuteronomy 27:26 (NIV)
26 “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Habakkuk 2:4 (NIV)
4 “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous will live by his faith—
You are under a curse if you rely upon the law to justify you. The law, by its nature, demands perfection. Any breaking of the law, even one command, brings the lawbreaker under the curse as quoted from Deuteronomy 27:26. Since everyone breaks the law at some point, we are all under the curse, for all have sinned (fallen short of the standard). This idea that one can gain divine acceptance by human effort is completely destroyed both by the curse and the fact that God’s righteousness can only come by faith. The law is not based on faith, Paul continues. The law is based on actions, and those who would live by the law must live by the law in its entirety. In other words, only perfect performance can ring about justification by the law. If we even fail in one point, we become guilty of all according to James 2:10:
10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it
This is why we as sinners must fully rely on God by faith in order to be justified.
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.”f 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.
There is hope for all who have broken the law and have fallen under the curse. In other words, there is hope for you and I! Christ redeemed us (bought us out of slavery to the law and to sin) Christ had the curse of the law transferred on to himself.
1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)
18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
He was made sin for us, and gave His life as a ransom payment for us
Mark 10:45 (NIV)
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
He took our punishment, and became a curse for us by being placed on the tree:
Deuteronomy 21:23 (NIV)
23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
When Christ was crucified, it was evidence that He had come under the curse of God. When he died, God had to turn His back on Him, because he was made sin for us. But this sin offering gave us redemption, if we would receive the gift of God by faith. This work of redemption has two purposes that Paul mentions here; He reminds us that the children of Abraham are children of faith, and that through Abraham all nations would be blessed. This blessing is justification, not by works of the law, but by belief. By Christ’s work, we could receive this blessing. Additionally by faith we receive the promised Holy Spirit.
None of these actions are earned by works. The only work that matters is the already finished work of Christ on the cross. Paul in this passage reminds us that it is pure insanity to return to works to gain the favor of God. He reminds us that we will not gain salvation nor sanctification by works, and that the indwelling Holy Spirit does not come by works. All these things, including membership in God’s family tree, comes by Grace through faith. So quit trying to earn it, instead, believe that God’s grace is sufficient and allow it to change you into what God wants you to be by living in it.
