Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 3:2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

March 8th, 2010 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Paul isn’t going against Jesus’ words by calling someone a fool. In  the Sermon on the Mount the word ‘fool’ means a godless person. Here Paul uses a different Greek word meaning literally, ’spiritually dull.’ He is stating as fact that these Galatians had become spiritually dull. Paul’s preaching had publicly displayed the true gospel of Jesus Christ before the Galatians but something happened. He is surprised that they once saw so clearly that Jesus died on the cross for their sins but they now they had changed their position and were convinced they needed to also keep the law for salvation. We remember that this is a corrective letter written to challenge the error of legalism that the believers in Galatia had fallen into. This may sound strong to our ears but Paul saw himself is a pitched battle for the very lives of his spiritual children. He is out to prove that salvation is by grace alone and not earned by some good works of the law. He clearly argues that to add to or supplement the work of Jesus on the cross is to in fact overthrow it. There can only be one way of salvation, and that is by faith alone in what Jesus did for us on the cross. This is a timeless message that must be repeated over again to each new generation of believers. Singer/songwriter Keith Green said it with intense, sold-out passion to his generation. Keith lived a life in the spirit at ‘full tilt.’ As he was maturing in Christ, he went through several phases of pursuing holiness. After many frustrating attempts and still not ‘attaining’ he wrote about it this way in song. “Lord, the feelings are not the same, I guess I’m older, I guess I’ve changed, And now I wish it had been explained, that as you’re growing you must remember, that nothing lasts, except the grace of God, by which I stand, in Jesus. I know that I would surely fall away, except for the grace, by which I’m saved.” Amen and Amen.