You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?
The Galatians are relying on works of the law. They have fallen back on keeping a code and doing a set of rules to make it to eternal life. Paul goes straight at the problem here, and calls them fools! They were taught that it is by faith, and faith comes through hearing, not doing. (Now yes faith without works is dead, but works don’t save us, faith does.)
Just as Abraham heard the promise that he would be the father of many nations and he believed! And that was reckoned to him as righteousness. He was given faith and made righteous for what he believed not what he did! Grace comes to us in the Old Testament!
But how many of us want to say that this has to be done, or we can’t do that that way, because that’s not right. That is setting up a code, a law by which we must be saved. If we say anything has to be done a certain way then we are creating a code and not living by faith. God will not be put in a box to be controlled by us.
You fool! Who bewitched you? Did you receive the Spirit by doing works of the law or by believing what you’ve heard?
Remember that our faith comes through hearing and believing the promise to be true. We can not earn our salvation, as it is a gift of Grace through Jesus Christ!
Wonderful brother who came and died so that I might have a relationship with our father, you alone give me grace, and the faith through which I join you and daddy in this loving relationship. Help me to remember that gift and to allow it to work in and through me so others will see it also. Amen.
aSacredRebel 