Galatians 3: Part 1

Galatians 3:

1 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?

Paul makes a point that we can become foolish and bewitched. There are witches out there trying to convince us not to obey the truth but obey another gospel. In my book I call the other gospel,  "The Cursed Gospel."

I have always maintained that salvation is a free gift of God. There are no conditions in keeping the free gift. A free gift is that, a free gift. There is no confusion in me that would make me believe otherwise.

Many have perverted the truth in order to teach a lie. This lie can damn your soul to hell. The main lie is that we can help ourselves in our salvation. By our so-called works of righteousness we can make or maintain our salvation.

The free gift of God is not just an empty package with a nice little ribbon on top. The free gift consists of free righteousness,

"Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference" Romans 3:22.

"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" 1 Corinthians 1:30.

The free gift gives forgiveness of all of our sins,

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" Colossians 1:14.

The gift brings us into the family of God,

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named" Ephesians 3:14-15.

  

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2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Think about it for a moment. Was it some work you did that gave you the Spirit? Or was it by your ears and heart alone? Did you do twenty push-ups to obtain the Spirit or did you obtain the spirit by grasping hold of something taught to you by the Spirit of God?

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1.

The good news of Jesus Christ is received by faith. It is accepting God's record concerning His Son,

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" 1 John 5:7.

"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son" 1 John 5:10.

Salvation is simple for simple minded people. When we hear the gospel of Jesus Christ: How He died for our sins, was buried for three days, and then raised again from the grave; it is not that hard to respond to. The Spirit of God had already prepared our hearts to help us respond by faith. Our response is out of our need as to what God offers us. We irresistibly placed our trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and were born again.

There Is a Fountain | William Cowper

There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in His day;

And there have I, though vile as he,

Washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood

Shall never lose its pow’r,

Till all the ransomed church of God

Are safe, to sin no more.

E’er since by faith I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die.

When this poor, lisping, stamm’ring tongue

Lies silent in the grave,

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save.

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3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

The foolish don't know much. They keep wondering if they are saved by grace or maybe a mixture of the two? When we trusted in Christ we were born from above. The Spirit now dwells within the Christian along with the new spiritual man that was created within us.

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" Ephesians 1:13.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" 2 Corinthians 5:17.

 Many today teach that we are made perfect by the flesh. Hear a few of them,

"If they (Christians) do deliberately keep on sinning, they have only a judgment of damnation to look forward to."

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21)."

"The Galatians letter is written to the churches in Galatia – presumably to Christians. It would appear Paul wrote this to warn new believers that they could not live in sin and expect to inherit the kingdom of God. Is there any guarantee that someone who has confessed faith will not fall away and live in those sins Paul recounted? Of course not! Most of us are familiar with people who had been strong in the faith but fell away from the faith and into sin."

Examine yourselves. Are you perfect? Sure you may not be a drunkard or into witchcraft but what about all your other sins? We must be careful that we don't ignore the little sins that easily besets us on a daily basis.

"Little foxes, that spoil the vines" Song of Solomon 2:15.

I can guarantee you that if you belonged to most churches that believed in keeping works for salvation, you would soon fall away. Why? When a church preaches on sin and does not give the remedy which is Christ you will lose all hope. The disciples said it well when they asked this question about salvation,

"Who then can be saved?" Matthew 19:25.

If the most humanly righteous man cannot be saved then who can?

Sooner or later you also would be so convicted and condemned of sin to such a degree that you would not be able to remain a Christian. You would raise your arms up in distress and say, "NO ONE CAN BE SAVED. It is impossible." You would soon fall away. You would stop trying to keep your salvation and end all your religion. 

You see sin is everywhere, especially in our flesh. When we start examining ourselves for sin it will appear to have no end. We would see and rightfully so, levels and levels of corrupting sin that always abides and dwells in our flesh waiting to manifest itself. That is why the Bible says we should trust in Christ alone for our salvation and consider our body now to be dead unto sin.

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" Romans 6:11.

4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

The Christian life is in vain if we are not trusting in Christ alone for our salvation. Everything we do for God will become useless if we are not in the true Vine. We will have no true results in our lives. Everything will be done for nothing if we are not trusting in Him.

There are not two ways of salvation. There is only one way. I chose Christ and His atoning blood. What about you? Are you trusting only in Jesus?

Only Trust Him

Music: John H. Stockton

1.         Come, every soul by sin oppressed,

there's mercy with the Lord;

and he will surely give you rest,

by trusting in his Word.

Refrain:

Only trust him, only trust him,

only trust him now.

He will save you, he will save you,

he will save you now.

2.         For Jesus shed his precious blood

rich blessings to bestow;

plunge now into the crimson flood

that washes bright as snow.

(Refrain)

3.         Yes, Jesus is the truth the way

that leads you into rest;

believe in him without delay,

and you are fully blest.

(Refrain)

4.         Come then and join this holy band,

and on to glory go,

to dwell in that celestial land

where joys immortal flow.

(Refrain)

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Sinners' Prayer: Lord be merciful to me a sinner.

I believe in Jesus. He died so I could live. Forgive my sins and take me to Heaven when I die. In Jesus name I pray. AMEN.

TO BE CONTINUED...