04/15/2007
Inro:
Illustration of focusing on something small/menial and missing something huge (I used scuba diving in a lake or pond, then the ocean, then going back to the pond)
Scuba diving in ocean vs in a rock quarry or lake / swimming pool
Ocean: full of life, visibility seems to go on forever, freedom (closest thing to human flight)
swimming pool: no life, just there for training,
I would have to be under some kind of spell to want to go back to scuba diving in the swimming pool after being in the ocean!
backdrop for passage, context of letter by Paul to the Galatians
False Teachers attempting to convince gentile believers in Galatia that they needed to become Jews in order to be real Christians. (circumcision)
National / ethnic pride: (Jews saw themselves as chosen / cream of crop)
Gal 3: 1-5 (NIV) 1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 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? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
Strong Language in v1
Foolish Galatians – Have you lost your minds? (stopped using them altogether)
Who has bewitched you? Put the evil eye on you.
(husbands-fishing reel / kids-candy)
The evil eye – are you under some kind of spell?
The false teaching like a fog of confusion, Galatians lost connection the reality of gospel.
Foolish Galatians, like a slap in the face to snap them out of their state of confusion, fogginess, haze
Once he has their attention, he makes a statement, then asks them basically 3 questions
Thats what I want to look at this morning: Paul’s statement and 3 questions
Like a searchlight that cuts through the fog, bring them back to solid ground
I. THE STATEMENT:
First in v1 – He makes a statement.
1... Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
He is drawing them back in time, to the point when they first heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.
For many of the Galatians, would be Paul and his assoc.
Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
Word used here would be like a poster or a billboard depicting the event
Or in todays terms to have the crucifixion broadcast on the jumbotron at the football stadium
He is saying you were confronted by Jesus on the cross –
Not just by men preaching a message, but through that proclaiming of the gospel
We are confronted by the Savoir Himself, hanging on the cross
He is bringing them back to a moment in their experience when the gospel was simple and pure, with Christ on the Cross in plain view.
He has brought the Galatians (and us along with them) to the foot of the cross, where we are confronted by the crucified Christ, with no choice but to see the ultimate price that was paid.
Confronted by the cross
Confronted by the blood
Confronted by our sin – thats why he is there
We find ourselves at the foot of the cross, broken
Because our sin put the savoir on the cross
We look up in to his face and we hear his words
“Forgive them Father, they do not know what they are doing”
then his final words from the cross “It is finished”
And we know
We know the price has been paid – by Jesus
We know the work has been done – by Jesus
We know that we have nothing more to offer – nothing to add – to the work of Jesus
We accept his gift
We trust Jesus for our salvation
We ask him humbly for the forgiveness that he already promised
We make our commitment to Jesus as our Lord
No more will I do it my way Jesus, It is not even me anymore Jesus
It is you – you live through me
That is where we find ourselves, at the foot of the cross, with Jesus clearly portrayed as crucified:
Paul has brought us here along with the Galatians reading his letter, and it is as much for us as it is for them.
And Paul asks us 3 questions
II. 3 QUESTIONS:
QUESTION ONE:
2 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?
It’s a simple question really, I just want to know one thing
Answer this one question
– How did you receive the Spirit of God - What led you to faith in Christ
- How were you saved?
When God reached into your life, and into your heart,
When he turned your life upside down,
When he turned you inside out,
When God remade you, and renewed you
When He made you a new creation
When the Holy Spirit entered your heart, when you received the Spirit of God
When you were re-born
When you receive the Spirit of God, it makes a difference in your life
And it is unmistakable
Because now you belong to Him – it makes a difference
Because you have died to yourself and now JESUS lives in you
That makes a difference
So here we are – at the foot of the cross
Jesus was clearly portrayed to you as crucified by the preaching of the gospel.
And the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, lives in you, you have received the Spirit of God
And how did that happen – because you followed some rules? (law)
HEARING OF FAITH
Or was it because you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ preached, and you believed what you heard? You received the gospel with the hearing of faith
Ro 17 (NIV) “17...faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
Why is it that 2 people can be sitting right next to each other, they both hear the same preaching of the gospel – one accepts the gospel and gains eternal life in Christ Jesus, and the other person doesn’t respond at all.
It goes in one ear and out the other.
Its the hearing of faith: Many times in scripture Jesus will say
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
He is saying, those of you who have the hearing of faith, listen up, because you need to hear this
What’s the difference, what about those who don’t respond?
Jesus talks about them in Matthew 13 when he is asked by his disciples why he spoke in parables:
Mt 13: 14-15 (NIV) 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "’You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
Have you heard the gospel with the hearing of faith?
That’s how God Saves you
That’s how you begin eternal life with Jesus
That’s how you receive the Spirit of God into your heart and into your life
Not by the law – but by hearing the gospel and believing
QUESTION TWO:
Now we have established how we were saved, how it began,
Now Paul asks his second question
3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
You were saved apart from the law through Faith in Christ, you received the Spirit of God
Now after beginning with the Spirit, are you now relying on your own efforts in keeping some law to reach your goal?
What is the goal here? –
Remember that we said we have a saying about salvation:
first we are saved, then we are being saved, and we will finally one day be saved when we are resurrected and glorified?
This is the middle part – after our initial salvation we are being saved continuously, protected by the power of God, and being perfected by the work of the Holy Spirit
We have a word for the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer - Sanctification
Its just a big word that means the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God is working in the heart of a believer, growing you up, making you more and more like Jesus
The goal is to have the abundant life that Jesus wants you to have as someone who belongs wholly and completely to Him.
So Paul is asking - How have you grown Spiritually?
How is it that God has changed your heart
How is it that God has changed your desires, your motivations,
How is it that God has changed how you
Think, act
What you say
What you do
How you see the world around you
How you see people, treat people
How you see yourself
How you live your life – you live it for Jesus, and he lives in you and through you
Has any of that come through some silly law?
Would God begin with your salvation apart from the law, through His spirit,
Only to switch methods and have you grow Spiritually any other way that through his Spirit?
Well, when you put it that way Paul, it looks kind of silly – EXACTLY
When a believer reflects on how the Holy Spirit has worked in his life, and you put that side by side with human effort, with following some rules, it clears up the picture
It was as if the Galatians were under some kind of spell, caught up in a fog of confusion by the false teachers, to where they would begin to fall for something that when you take a good hard look at it, becomes silly
One more question just to nail it down, leave no room for missing the point
QUESTION THREE:
4 Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
Word translated as suffered – gr form of word patho/pascho
Experiencing something that is felt very deeply – can be suffering or something positive
Most often is suffering, which is why it is translated that way here.
But either way, have you gone through all of this intensity in your life,
Confronted by Jesus on the cross – clearly portrayed as crucified,
You were broken by that experience, shattered by the reality that your sin placed the Savoir on the cross to die in agony
As you have worked out your salvation, being remade, born again as a new creature in Jesus, being conformed to His image
The suffering, the joy – was it all for nothing, was it unnecessary?
Remember what Paul said back in chapter 2 – If the grace of God is set aside, and righteousness can be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing
If the law can save you, then Christ died for nothing
What about the miracles God has performed among you?
Why does God work in his Mighty power in your lives
Moose on mountain road in Maine –
About to fall asleep driving mountain road.
closed my eyes and braced for impact
I believe that was a miracle of God.
(no trouble staying awake after that)
What about the answered prayers of the people in this church body.
People prayed back to health from the very brink of death, we have living miracles walking among us every week
What about the times God put food on your table when you didn’t know where your next meal would come from
What about the times God put clothes on your children’s backs and shoes on their feet when you didn’t know where your next dollar would come from.
I believe some of those times are miracles from God
What about the time when God pierced your heart with his truth
And you met Jesus Christ face to face.
That is a miracle from God.
Does God work these miracles in your life because you followed some silly rules?
Or is it because of the Grace of God
Because you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and YOU BELIEVED
