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?
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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