Gal. 3:4-9 - Justified By Faith

4 Did you suffer so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain?
5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
6 Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.
8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU."
9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

3:4-9 - The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

Vs. 4 - “Suffer so many things” - A reference to persecution. The early church suffered persecution from the Jews (Paul had first hand experience at this - from both sides), from the Greeks and the Romans.
The Jews were incensed - the ‘Jesus problem’ had been eliminated! And yet, here were these people! Claiming Jesus as the resurrected Messiah! These upstarts coming into the synagogues, spouting off about salvation.
The Greeks and Romans were not quite as up in arms, but had trouble with the concept of a single God, or that salvation by faith was even a ‘thing’. These ‘Christians’ were upsetting the world! (See Acts 17:6)

Suffering disdain or persecution is becoming more common while living out our faith. Look at the news stories about the cake bakers/decorators in Oregon, or the florist in Seattle. A legal battle about another baker has made its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court! U.S. Senators are berating judicial appointees about their belief in Christ. Jesus warned us faithfulness to Him invited hatred from the world. (See: John 15:18)

Vs. 5 - “He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles” - The gifts of the HS were the immediate evidence that the new believers were saved in Christ. The power of the Spirit was the evidence needed (Acts 5:32; 8:17; 10:47; 15:8). It started with the Apostles in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:2-15); continued with miracles (Acts 8:13 and 19:11, in these instances: Peter and Paul).
In no instance did the new converts, whether Jews or Gentiles, have to do a work of the Law, or any other tasks. The message: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. (Acts 15:11; 16:31).

Note: The believers received the Holy Spirit and were saved when they in faith believed. The Holy Spirit did not fall upon them after they were baptized. After people noted they were filled with the Holy Spirit, (it was noticeable!) they would be baptized. It seems that the Apostles and evangelists preached Christ and the promise of the Holy Spirit - some new believers in Ephesus had accepted Christ but had never heard about the Holy Spirit. They were told, and were filled! (Acts 19:1-7).

“Hearing with faith?” - That question was completely answered! They KNOW it was faith, and not “deeds done in righteousness” (Tit. 3:5, 6)

Vs. 6 - “Even so” - Many versions start this sentence “Just as”. Verses 6 through 14 use Abraham as an example of being acceptable because of faith, and not works. The story of Abraham would be familiar to any Jew, but maybe not so much for Gentiles. The early churches were mostly converted Jews, with Gentiles being added to the mix. Paul is holding up Abraham as proof that salvation is by faith and not by following rules - whether Jewish Law or other religious practices.

“Abraham believed God... righteousness” - This quote is from Gen. 15:6. The story of Abraham starts in Genesis chapter 12. By the time we get to chapter 15, Abraham has traveled from Ur to Canaan as the Lord commanded. He has been to Egypt and back. Abraham asked God to give him an heir. God takes Abraham outside, telling to look at the sky. Abraham is promised descendants as numerous as the stars he can see in the night sky. After all Abraham has been through, he decides to believe the promise. What a fantastic promise! It would be easy to blow this off. But don’t!

Vs. 7 - “Therefore, be sure” - Paul says, “You can be confident that what I am about to say is true”. Paul has been forcefully admonishing the Galatians for “abandoning” the Holy Spirit, and exhorting them to return to faith in Christ - faith only. Those of us who place our life in Jesus’ hands by faith are the true descendants of the man who was righteous because of his faith in God. It is not by rote, ritual, obeying rules, or clinging to false religions. Faith in Christ, Christ alone saves.

“Sons of Abraham” - This is a term with which the Jews would be very familiar. (Matt. 3:9; Luk. 3:8; Jn. 8:39, 56; Rom. 4:16; Jam. 2:21). The Jews had an overweening pride in their heritage. They had much for which to be proud. God Almighty is their God. God Almighty saved them from Egypt, sustained them through the desert wanderings, and gave them a land of their own. He gave them king David and king Solomon.
Unfortunately, selective memory kicks in - big time. They conveniently ignore losing ten tribes to the Assyrians because of disobedience and rejecting God. They ‘forget’ the Babylonian captivity - for disobedience and rejection of warnings. The Jews were similar to golfers - we remember the good shots we hit, and the really good shots are the ones that bring us back to the game. The balls hit into the water, or the missed three-foot putts are conveniently ignored.

The Jews had become focused on their lineage from Abraham. We join them when we forget the reason Abraham became the ‘father’ - his faith. He believed God and was declared righteous! This does not mean Abraham never did anything wrong, or never sinned. His righteousness is based on his faith in God.

Vs. 8 - “Scripture, foreseeing that God” - This may be nitpicking, but the ‘scriptures’ did not ‘foresee’. God predicted (promised Abraham) all the world would be blessed. This is not like the prophet Isaiah, or Ezekiel telling the Israelites what God told them to say. Isaiah prophesied the Messiah would be a suffering servant. OK, got that off my chest.

On the other hand, the scripture was given to Israel. Reading the Scripture could lead a person to believe ‘All the nations would be blessed’. The term ‘nations’ is almost always in reference to Gentile peoples throughout the world. Gentiles would be ‘considered righteous’ in the same way as Abraham - by faith.

“Nations... blessed” - (See: Gen. 12:2-3; 22:18; 26:4) - So: The Scripture tells us that God told Abraham that the whole world would be saved. That is the gospel. For it is blessed to be saved.

Vs. 9 - “So then” - This could also say, “Therefore”. This is the statement: If Abraham was blessed by his faith, then we too are blessed by our faith.

“Those who are of faith” - Abraham was ‘reckoned’ as righteous because he believed God - because of his faith. (See: Gen. 15:6) Those of us who believe in (have faith in) Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are blessed - just as Abraham was blessed.

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Gal. 3:1-3 - Don’t Be Fools!

1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

3:1-3 - You Foolish Galatians

Vs. 1 - “Foolish Galatians” - This verse is a more emphatic exclamation of chapter 1:6 where Paul writes, “I am shocked.” (I paraphrased...) The word ‘foolish’ also means ‘unwise’ - which sounds a little wimpy. In the Old Testament the ‘fool’ is considered to be an arrogant person, someone who ‘despises’ knowledge’, or someone who knows the right thing to do but refuses.
The Christians in Galatia have been given the truth of the gospel, and they have begun rejecting the truth. This makes them ‘foolish’.
On the other hand... Paul may be expressing sorrow. “Oh, guys. What happened? I know you were given the crucified Christ. How did you let yourselves get tricked into following a false teaching?”

“Bewitched” - This has nothing to do with black magic, witches, warlocks, Harry Potter, and ‘he who will not be named”. When someone is drawn away by deception; when led down a wrong path by fascinating stories, or secret information, being tricked into believing the lie is ‘bewitched’. Paul realized they had been deceived, or led away by false teachers. Yet, he was shocked that they would so readily abandon the truth for supposedly secret knowledge.

“Portrayed as crucified” - They had the truth - Christ crucified for their sins. (1 Cor. 1:23, 2:2, 1 Pet. 3:18) They were clearly taught that they were saved by faith (Rom. 10:10, Eph. 2:8,9). There was no ‘secret knowledge’. Paul preached where ever he went. In fact the apostles all preached, even when they were instructed by the government to stop. “We must obey God, rather than men.” (Acts 5:29).
Sometimes we think of ‘portrayed’ as an actor playing a part. The actor is not the person he portrays. Or we can think of a portrait, which attempts to show what the person in the painting really is. We can say, “They look so lifelike!” Everything Paul tells them about Jesus is to show them who God is, and how much He loves you - He loves you so much He would die for you. (See Rom. 5:6-8)

Vs. 2 - “the only thing I want to find out” - Really? Paul had only one question? I suspect that who led them astray isn’t as important as the fact they allowed themselves to stray from the truth. The Galatians had strayed from the gospel preached by Paul. That gospel did not include “salvation by works”.

“Receive the Holy Spirit” - This is the bellwether. (See: Acts 2:38, 10:44, 45, 47; 15:8; 19:2) The Holy Spirit is the earnest down payment for the believer who accepts and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to those who believed. (John 14:16, 26) A Jesus in John 15:26 "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,”. Also, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7)
This was how the early church knew a person was saved. The new believer received the Holy Spirit, and demonstrated by behavior and testimony. Their lives were changed! The Spirit gives life. The Spirit changed their lives. (See: John 6:63, Rom 8:6, 8:11; 2 Cor 3:6)

I think the modern church has downplayed the place the Holy Spirit has in our Christian lives. I don’t know if this is because of our emphasis on ‘science’, of our separating ‘real’, physical world, from the ‘spiritual’ realm (insert ‘imaginary’ in place of ‘spiritual’). (An excellent treatment of this is “Total Truth” by Nancy Pearcey.) This cultural attitude is why some can’t understand why you would live your life in public based on your faith. In other words, the secular world wants your faith manifested only on Sunday morning inside a church.

In some ways the modern believer is slightly confused about the Holy Spirit. Have I received the Holy Spirit? How do I know I have received the Holy Spirit?

Vs. 3 - “So Foolish?” - Paul asks, “How unwise do you have to be?” Paul preached salvation by faith alone (Eph. 2:8,9). He also completely understood that the Holy Spirit was given to believers as proof they had been saved. He knew the only successful Christian life was in the power of the Holy Spirit. Works done in the flesh, no matter how seemingly righteous, can not bring salvation (Matt. 7:21-23, Tit. 3:5,6 ). Nor can these ‘works’ result in a Spirit Controlled life. Churches need to do a better job of teaching and disciplining believers so they can live controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. A good starting place is the “Four Spiritual Laws of being in the Power of the Holy Spirit” by Campus Crusade for Christ (a.k.a., “Cru”).

“Perfected by the flesh” - If Christians could be ‘perfected’ without the Holy Spirit, or Jesus, (you can’t have one without the other) then Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was wasted. The term ‘flesh’ has several connotations - none of them good. Flesh can be sinful living, ‘sex, drugs, rock-n-roll’, but it also can simply mean living and making decisions without any input from God.
Christians have works we are to do. But these do not save us. Our works are to be symptoms, or manifestations, of our salvation. (James - The whole letter, but especially verse 2:26 and 4:17)

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Gal. 2:20-21 - Christ Living in Me

20 - I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 - I do not set aside God's grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

Crucified with Christ - Christ living in Me

Vs. 20 - “I have been crucified with Christ” - Paul is not saying he was physically crucified (that much is obvious). Who, or what part of him was crucified? This not a silly question.

Jesus said, “You must be born again.” (John 3:7) Humans are body, soul and spirit. They are fully human when conceived, they were not alive, and now are. The body is temporal, and develops from conception, through birth, to adult-hood. We will receive new bodies when we are with God in heaven. Christ’s human body died on the cross. At resurrection He received a new body - He was born again. We will be like Him, when we see Him. (See: 1 John 3:1-3) We will be born again, just as was Jesus Christ the Lord.
The soul is eternal. (Sometimes the soul and the spirit seem to be synonymous in scriptures.) Our old nature (spirit) is replaced (born again) - it ‘was not’ and now ‘is’ with a new spirit which is in tune with God and Jesus. We will no longer be subject to the desires and passions of the old spirit (the “sin nature”) which leads us into sin. Just as our present physical bodies will be permanently replaced when we are in heaven, so will our old nature ‘die’ when we go to meet Jesus. Peter says this wonderfully, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18)

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” - This is wonderfully explained in the book “The Normal Christian Life”, by Watchman Nee. Christians too often operate on the premise that their Christian life can be done by perseverance plus a little boost from Jesus. Watchman emphasizes that it must ALL be Jesus. “Apart from Me, you can do nothing,” Jesus said. (See: John 15:5) Oh, you can do all kinds of things. These will be done in the power of the flesh. None of those will be done controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit and Jesus.

My most difficult task as a Christian is complete surrender to Jesus - letting Him live through and in me. My old nature always wants to take control. We sometimes take the information “I will give you a Helper,” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) to mean He has given us a ‘Boy Scout’ to help us across the street, or help us through a situation (Thinking, “I can do most of it, but need just a little ‘help’.) That is too arrogant. We over-estimate our abilities.

“the life I now live in the body” - our citizenship immediately changes from this world to Jesus’ kingdom. (See: Col. 1:13) However, we are not transported immediately to heaven. ( Which is a bummer!) So, we live on in this body in this world.

“because of the faithfulness of the Son of God” - We have this new spiritual life because of Christ. It is not because we are SO faithful to God. It is because Christ was obedient and faithful and found pleasing to God the Father. When Christ saying, “It is finished!”, on the cross that day was not accepting death, but indicating God’s justice was fulfilled, the debt was paid, finished, nothing else was owed to pay for sin. (That is my understanding of that statement.)

“who loved me and gave himself for me” - See: John 3:16; Phil. 2:5-11; Rom. 5:8; John 14:21, 23

Vs. 21 - “I do not set aside God's grace“ - Paul is emphasizing that any other path is NOT accepting the offering - God’s grace: salvation through faith in Christ. Do not turn your back on the grace offered. Do not convince yourself, “I can do this!” You cannot. God has offered the free gift of salvation, by His grace.

The NASB (see note 1) uses the word “nullify” in place of “set aside”. We see the word nullify used in political discussions. A state is said to have ‘nullified’ a law when it decides not to follow that law passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by the President. There is great debate as to whether this is legal. With respect to God’s laws, it is unwise to nullify His commands. We do so at our own peril.

If righteousness ... through the Law” - This is the first part of an “If - Then” statement. IF you and I could pull this off successfully, we could pile up enough brownie points to get into heaven. We would have a righteousness that would be acceptable to God, and would meet His standard of Holiness, and would render us perfect and without sin. If we could do that on our own, then ...

“Then Christ died for nothing.” - Second part of the “If - Then” - If we are successful through works, Christ’s sacrifice was unnecessary. As bad as that sounds, the logical end is worse - we don’t need Jesus, we don’t need God. This is a lie from Satan. This lie is found in almost every philosophy - we can become perfect by personal exertion. This means the whole Bible is a lie. This means God is as useful as Wonder Woman, Superman, or the Tick. He would be no more than a cartoon god in a cartoon land. May it never be!

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Note 1: NASB - New American Standard Bible