How long can a piece of food be on the ground before its too dirty to eat? How many of us have dropped a fry or an apple slice or a jelly bean and said, “5 second rule!” Have you ever heard of the 3 day rule? Yeah there’s someone here, I won’t name names, who followed the 3 day rule. Years ago, on a Wednesday I was here working at the church, and this person came in and needed to do something. Underneath one of the tables was a half eaten M&M cookie, probably dropped by one of the kids at the potluck we had at church 3 days earlier. Not only did this person have NO hesitation, but there was a sense of compassion they had for the cookie that it had been left there, uneaten. As they snatched it off the very carpeted floor you’re walking on today they said, “Oh, that’s still good!” – and gulped it down. I stared in genuine admiration. I honestly didn’t know you could do that. I had been living with such a limited outlook my entire life.
But then my perspective was shattered in the opposite direction. A couple months ago one of my children told me there is no such thing as a 5 second rule. I said well that’s because its not a 5 second rule, its a 3 day rule! She said, “No, there is no rule. The rule is that any food that hits the ground is immediately dirty. We did an experiment in our myth-busters class and found the five second rule is false.” I refuse to believe it to this very day.
You know what other myth needs to be busted? That following the Law can make us clean.
Our sermon title is: FAITH FROM FIRST TO LAST. Today we enter chapter 3. For the first two chapters Paul has been building to this point about faith being from first to last. He addressed the Galatians in 1:6 for a moment, and then went on to explain things for 2 chapters. But now he turns his attention back to the Galatians directly and he is very sharp and very critical. They needed to listen to him. How could they not listen to him? He just explained in the previous chapter how he, Paul, rebuked the Apostle Peter! If Paul did that with the Apostle Peter then they had better listen up!
Lets study four headings: 1) Foolishly Bewitched, 2) Christ Crucified, 3) Receiving the Spirit, 4) Starting Right But Ending Wrong.
FOOLISHLY BEWITCHED (1a)
Paul comes on strong in his rebuke and tells them they are foolish and being bewitched. Look at verse 1….
Paul is not gentle. He is intense and sharp with them. Did you catch the language and the tone? “Foolish Galatians!” “Who has bewitched you?” “I would like to learn just one thing from you…”
Paul’s strong-toned rebuke tells you how serious their error was. It tells you they are responsible for letting themselves be led astray. He’s holding them accountable for letting themselves be taken in by false teachers. This is the idea of bewitched – being so captivated by these false teachers it was like they were under a spell. Not literally, but figuratively, since their thinking had been so thoroughly led astray.
There are times when sharp rebukes are necessary. Some people make the mistake of thinking that everything needs sharp rebuking. They’re a hammer treating everything like a nail. But then there are others who make the mistake of never pulling out the hammer when a nail is in front of them. Everything is “love,” everything is “coddle.” The only treatment for every situation it seems is to handle everything and everyone with kid gloves.
Paul makes neither error. He gently admonishes when the situation calls for it – such as the women in Philippians 4 and when he writes to Philemon. But he also sternly rebukes when the situation calls for it – like when he asks the Corinthians if they want him to show up with a “rod of discipline.” And here in Galatians Paul has a nail in front of him and needs to be strong rather than soft. Why? Because the most core and essential truth of Christianity was being undermined: Christ was crucified for our sins and we are justified by faith in Him. That message – that Paul so clearly presented to them – was in danger. It wasn’t some marginal doctrine or some 2nd and 3rd tier belief in Christianity. It was not some disputable matter where Christians have freedom to disagree and still own each other in love. It was THE definitive Christian teaching that was being compromised.
And it was the fault of the Galatian believers. Yes there were false teachers who were in their midst (1:7; 5:7-12; 6:12), and yes those teachers were going to be punished for their false teachings. BUT – the Galatians had the responsibility to hold on to the teaching Paul gave them which meant they were required to recognize and ignore those false teachers who came in contradicting the true Gospel they received. Like Jesus said, “He who has been given much, much will be required of him. The servant who knows his masters will and does not get ready of does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.”
APPLICATION: Do not be bewitched. Hold tight to the truth of God’s Word
CHRIST CRUCIFIED (1b)
The next point is that Christ was crucified. Look at verse 1 again, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.”
In other words, they had no excuse for being confused and led astray. Paul had made the Gospel so clear to them that there was no excuse for being misled by false teachers. Paul presented Jesus Christ so clearly to them that they were accountable for what they now knew so clearly.
Paul emphasizes the crucifixion of Christ. This is important. The crucifixion of Jesus succeeds where the law fails: the law cannot cleanse a man of his sin, but the cross of Jesus Christ can. This is why Paul emphasizes the cross here: it relates to the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers. Jesus Christ crucified is the basis of our forgiveness and justification. His death on the cross is the basis for our true cleansing of sin, and washing away all true defilement. THUS, no Jew should have regarded any Gentile brother in Christ as unclean and one who must be kept separate from. THUS Peter should NOT have separated himself from Gentile Christians in Antioch as we saw in the previous chapter. Why am I clean? Why am I purified? Why am I righteous? Why am I justified? Why do I have eternal life? BECAUSE Jesus Christ was crucified and died and was raised up to life again. That’s why!
The message of the crucifixion of Jesus is the power of preaching. Paul told the Corinthians, “We preach Christ crucified – a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” Then he informed them, “I resolved to know nothing else when I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him CRUCIFIED!” The cross is the wisdom of God that is rejected by the world’s wisdom (1 Cor 1); YET what the world reviles Paul rejoices in, as he says in Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast in anything except the CROSS of our Lord Jesus Christ…” There is only one thing that I want to boast about and only one thing I should boast about: the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. I do not boast in the law, but every day and forever I will boast in the cross!
APPLICATION: Keep the cross of Jesus Christ clearly in front of you. Always, always, always keep the cross of Jesus clearly in front of you.
RECEIVING THE SPIRIT (2, 5)
We have seen 2 of the 3 Persons of the Trinity so far: the Father and the Son. Now we come to the 3rd Person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit. Here Paul emphasizes the receiving of the Holy Spirit – and this is huge. Look at verse 2 and verse 5, “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?” (then read verse 5)
You can tell Paul is upset with them – he has a very stern tone with them, “I would like to learn just one thing…” We’ve read your letters Paul, it’s never just ‘one’ thing when it comes to you!” 😀 But this is THE proof to them of his teaching – they did not receive the Spirit of God through following the law. Notice he is treating them as those who do in fact have the Holy Spirit and his question is highlighting just exactly how they received Him. Not by the law! Instead it was by believing what they heard. They heard the Gospel of Jesus crucified for their sins and that he was resurrected so that they could be justified with God – and they believed. And WHEN they believed they were given the Holy Spirit.
Some camps in Christianity have faulty views on this topic. One camp says that after you believe you don’t really have ALL the Holy Spirit and you have to seek after Him. That’s false. Paul says they received the Holy Spirit when they believed, instantly in that moment they got ALL of Him dwelling inside of them. Another camp says that a Christian gets the Holy Spirit before they get saved – before they believe. The teaching is that God has to give you the Holy Spirit first so that you can then believe. That is faulty as well. Paul explains here – and everywhere – that what causes someone to receive the Holy Spirit is faith.
Which brings us back to Galatians 3 and Paul’s point: the Galatian Christians had the Holy Spirit living inside of them and this was divine proof that they were cleansed and accepted by God. Both Jews and Gentiles. This was being realized by Jews early on in Acts 10-11. But it was officially acknowledged in Acts 15:8-9, where Peter explains this point to the whole assembly of Church leaders….READ
APPLICATION: You do not need to seek the Holy Spirit and get more of Him. If you belong to Christ you have all of Him and you have had all of Him since you first had faith. Instead of seeking to get more of Him, the Bible says you need to seek to walk in step with Him and be led by Him – as chapter 5 will explain.
APPLICATION: If you are a Christian then you need to see how significant it is that you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. This is utterly unheard of in all of human history before Christ. The Spirit of God is a gift (Acts 1, 2), and a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance with Christ (Eph 1). With the Spirit inside you He is the mark that you are a son of God (Rom 8) and it means you are now a temple in which the Spirit dwells (1 Cor 3).
APPLICATION to the APPLICATION: Understanding all of that will profoundly impact how you treat your body. You will not give yourself over to sexual lust and impurity (1 Cor 6, 1 Thess 4), you will not let your body be a slave to sin (Rom 6), you will not mistreat your body. It is to be stewarded, and revered. Think about how unbelievers walk into a church and feel like they’re going to be struck by lightning because they are in a “house” of God. We are our very selves houses of God! Ephesians 2:22 says, “You too are being built together to become a holy dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Revere the house of God.
Paul points the Galatians to the very Spirit of God living inside of them. In doing so he forces them to answer the question of how they got the Holy Spirit inside of them. As they answer the question that it was by faith in the crucified Jesus they would find the very answer refutes the error they were getting involved in. Answering that “one question” Paul asked would rebuke them for their error of turning back to the law to “finish” their faith. Which leads to our final point….
STARTING RIGHT, BUT ENDING WRONG (3-4)
The last point we’ll draw out is “Starting right, but ending wrong.” Look at verses 3-4 with me…
They began with the Spirit, but they were trying to finish by means of the flesh. This will make everything to have been for nothing. Let’s look at each of these 3 points
First, beginning with the Spirit. It means beginning with faith in the crucified Christ. Paul says they received the Spirit by believing what they heard. So getting started with the Spirit refers to that first moment they heard and believed and then received the Spirit. Their new life in Christ began then. The beginning of the Spirit living inside of them was when they began to believe in Christ crucified. So it is everywhere since, including right here with us at EFC: we began with the Spirit when we began to believe the Gospel.
Second, we see Paul warn them about finishing with the flesh. He criticizes them for turning away from what they started with – the Spirit and faith – and instead now turning to the flesh – which means following the law. What does the flesh mean? What does “finish” mean?
In this context the “flesh” means to do something by human ability and strength alone – without God’s help or enabling power. Paul is referring to the attempt to live righteous apart from God’s Spirit. What does that mean? It means they were turning away from living by faith in Christ and instead turning back to walking in and relying on the Law. Following the Law is not done by faith, not done by the Spirit, and not done in Christ – it is only done in the flesh.
APPLICATION: The Law is not the road to Christian sanctification and growth. The Law is not the road to “finishing” or “completing” our faith. The Christian life is lived the same way it began: by faith. It is by faith from beginning to end. We came alive when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God was given to us. We live that new life now not following the Law, but in the power and leading of the Spirit.
People make the mistake of thinking that once you become a Christian you now follow the Law by the empowering of the Holy Spirit. This is another way of “starting with the Spirit only to try and finish by means of the flesh.” This is so wrong. Everything in the NT contradicts this. A righteous life is lived not by following the law but by walking in the Spirit. Turn to Galatians 5 with me.
- Verse 13 says they were called to be free – which means free from the law. The entire argument is to show them they are to leave the law behind. Following the law is actually stated to be living in the flesh. There is no such thing as living in the Spirit and following the law.
- THEN Paul goes on from verse 14 through 26 to describe all the moral godly living they should live out and the godless living they should avoid. None of it is the result of following the law. Instead, this is all the description of what it looks like to live in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit of God. Everything in chapter 5 about how a Christian life is supposed to look comes from following the Spirit – not the law.
APPLICATION: Finish with faith. Start with faith, live by faith, and finish with faith. From beginning to end the whole Christian life is by faith – not by law. We don’t become Christians through the law, we don’t live as Christians by the law, and we don’t reach Christian completion by the law. Faith, faith, faith – as our sermon is titled today: it is FAITH FROM FIRST TO LAST
Third, everything for nothing. Paul says everything that has happened with them for God will have been in vain – it will have amounted to nothing. He expresses this same worry in 4:11, “I fear for you, that I have somehow wasted my efforts on you.” All he had done with them and for them will have been pointless and worthless – that was his worry. And Paul did a lot – he spilled literal blood since he was stoned and left for dead in Galatia. He was hunted in Galatian with plots to kill him. All of his teaching, all of his risking his life, it was in danger of being for nothing if they turned away from Christ to follow the law.
APPLICATION: Finish strong! We need to make everyday we live looking forward to the finish line and living to get there finishing strong. First Thessalonians 1:9-10 tell us, “Some people need to stop dwelling on the past and start focusing on the future that is ours in Christ. Others need to stop living for today and start living to have a strong finish with Christ. Still, others need to stop worrying about tomorrow and start concentrating on finishing strong in Christ. Finish strong!
SILENT REFLECTION