Paul begins by chastising the Galatians for so readily acceding to the Judaizers. He points out that the gift of the Holy Spirit they received by faith, not by works. Those who seek salvation through the Law are obliged to keep the whole of it–or they fail totally. (Sort of like the idea that there's no such thing as being a little bit pregnant–lol). Paul says that God accepted Abraham and Sarah by their faith and made promises to them, and by extension, to all their descendants, which God would never break.
The law was added to indicate what wrong doing is, and was meant to last only till Jesus came. But now that Jesus has come, the law no longer controls us.
The Council at Jerusalem had created two separate spiritual paths when the leaders decided that Gentile believers would be excused from being circumcised or following most of the Jewish customs and rituals. As previously mentioned, the Council offered no such "excuse" to Jewish believers, however. They were still bound by their laws and traditions. Paul ends this section by pointing out that faith is the great equalizer.
Galatians 3:1-5
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 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? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing–if it really was for nothing? Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
"You foolish Galatians!" Can you tell that Paul is upset? The word foolish comes from the Greek anoetoi and refers to someone who doesn't think–who's thoughtless, unwise. You know, salvation is not something one can acquire second-hand. Week after week churches are filled with people who come, occupy pews for a while, half-listen to what is being offered, then go home feeling not much better than when they arrived. They showed up, were exposed to a banquet, but left feeling unsatisfied. Why?
If you want to have a healthy body you must chew your food slowly, to allow your body to "get your juices going." The same is true for a healthy spirit. When you are given a teaching you need to "chew on it a while" to see if you understand what you've been given, and how it fits into your life. You need to get your spiritual "juices" flowing.
Some teachers expect you to take every word they say as "gospel." Don't take anyone's word for anything, friends. Check out things for yourself. 1 John 4:1 tells us "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." For example, as you read these few words of commentary, stop from time to time and see how they apply to you.
When you take the time to do this, you allow the Holy Spirit to step in and "guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13) for your life. Remember that God does not save souls in pairs. We each must work out our own salvations with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit who speaks to us personally and individually at the level of our own understandings. Only the Holy Spirit understands our thought processes; consequently, ultimately, the only true teacher we have is the Holy Spirit who speaks to us each in our own unique language (Acts 2:11). The pagan world of the Gentiles had been filled with magicians, tricksters, soothsayers and others who attempted to win over the people with various "signs and wonders." (Acts 8:9 - 11). As there are even today, there were charlatans who offered potions and enchanting magic spells. Paul calls these to the minds of the Galatians by asking "Who has bewitched you?" The Greek word here is baskaino and means, to fascinate by false representations. Who has misled you? Who has deceived you? Paul is asking.
When Paul and Barnabas had first worked among the Galatians Paul must have shared with them his personal testimony. Of course, he would have told them the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. In addition they had performed their own wonders and miracles (Acts 14:3), to prove their message was true and was of God. Through powerful words and imagery they "brought" Christ's crucifixion to life. "Did you so soon forget?" he seemed to be asking. Out loud he asks a series of questions, beginning with "Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?" In other words, did the Spirit come to you because you followed the law, or because you listened to the gospel and believed what you were told? Remember the story of Pentecost (Acts 2)–how the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire touching each of the disciples? That was a very private moment, for the disciples only, so that they might know that a special event had occurred in their lives.
Remember what happened next? Immediately the apostles went outside and began to speak to the crowds. Individuals in the crowd heard them each in his or her own native language as the Holy Spirit had given the apostles the ability to do.
When we receive the Holy Spirit our lives are forever changed. This obviously had happened to the Galatians. In the time of Acts the changes were so evident to the public that when Simon the magician (Acts 8:18 & 19) saw the changes in the people he tried to buy the power from Peter and John. When you receive the Holy Spirit you know it–as did the Galatians. Since nearly all the Galatians had been Gentiles, the Spirit couldn't have come to them via the law--they didn't have the law. The Spirit came to them by faith.
Paul shakes his head: How can you be so foolish? When you received the Holy Spirit your life immediately changed (Acts 8:14-17; 10:44). You started on a new life path. Now that the Spirit's put you on the right path, do you think you're going to get the rest of the way to spiritual maturity on your own power? Didn't that spiritual experience mean anything to you that you so soon forgot it? It surely meant something!
Here we are in the twenty-first century. We've had the collective experience of two thousand years of Christianity. Yet even today, in pulpits around the world, too many preachers preach a hybrid Christianity–of salvation through faith alone, and (but) by adherence to the law. They teach that the "free gift" of salvation really is earned by following the "rules," by prayer and supplication, by guilt, suffering and sacrifice.
Why do you suppose that is? Does salvation by faith alone sound too easy? Does it sound scary? When Jesus said that really the only commandment was to obey the law of love–of God, neighbor and self–Jesus also said something to the effect of: It may sound easy, but don't be fooled. In most ways it's actually harder. It requires you to think about what you're doing and what God really requires of you.
The prophet, Micah said (6:8), "God has showed you, o people, what is good. And what does God require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Jesus, in the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, expounded on several commandments and laws and showed how the law of love requires even more than the words of the commandments indicate: the commandment not to murder extends to not even harboring anger at another without cause; the commandment not to commit adultery extends even to adultery in the heart; you are to love your enemies as well as your friends; you are not to take revenge; don't resist an evil person; do more than what is asked of you, even by your enemies.
So the requirement of Jesus' commandments–the law of love–requires more of people than the old law did. By the same token, when Jesus brought the law of love he established a separation between God's law and the rules, rituals, and requirements laid down by humans in God's name. God had given ten commandments, which humans, in God's name, expanded to over 600. Jesus brought them all down to size. The original word translated suffering is pentho and means to experience. Paul was saying, have you experienced the gifts of salvation and of the Holy Spirit only to cast them away as though they were nothing? Has my work among you been all for nothing? You have had the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit. You had the experience of God working miracles? Did that all happen because you were following the law, or because you believed what you heard? They had no law. Those experiences had to have come from faith alone.
LIFE APPLICATION
1. When you are studying or listening to a teaching, do you ever get a feeling of uneasiness or discord between what you are being given and what your "gut" tells you?
2. Ever think that feeling might be a nudge from the Holy Spirit calling you to "pay attention!"?
3. That uneasiness–that discord--means this is an area you need to work on. You should:
a. look into it further
b. Put it "on a shelf" for the time being, continue to grow, and come back to it later and see if it "fits" then make the (horrors!) changes you need to make in your life to bring it into harmony with your spirit.