Galatians 3:1-6
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by 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? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
1. Questioning Faith in Jesus
Q1: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?
A1: Fact - Christ was crucified for us
Q2: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by faith or works?
A2: We receive the Holy Spirit by placing our faith in Jesus.
• Law says, “Do and live!”
• Grace says, “Believe and live!”
Q3: Are you so foolish?
A3: Apparently some are…
Q4: Do Christians get saved through faith and grow through works?
A4: The Holy Spirit is needed for Salvation and Sanctification
Q5: Have you suffered in vain?
A5: Jesus is worth suffering for.
Q6: Are Miracles from God or your efforts?
A6: Miracles are directly from the living God.
2. An Example of Faith in Jesus
Galatians 3:6-9
just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
• Abraham placed his faith directly in God
Genesis 12:1-3
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
• Abraham understood that God would bless all people through him
Galatians 3:10-14
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
3. Freedom through Faith in Jesus
Deuteronomy 27:26
Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Habakkuk 2:4
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
• Jesus took our Curse
• Jesus gave us his Blessing