Sunday, September 23, 2012
SPIRIT OR FLESH?
Gal. 3:1-14
Tim
Williams is 60 years old. He professed
his faith in Christ when he was 13, was baptized, and has been a part of a
local church ever since. Tim and his
wife Julie have been married for 40 years.
Their marriage hasn’t been perfect, but they wouldn’t trade it. Tim has worked hard all of his life, but he
has always given a signification percentage of his earnings to the Lord’s
work. Down through the years, Tim has
served in the church, prayed for missions, and learned more and more of God’s
Word. In the midst of all of it, he and
Julie have raised three children and are now blessed with eight
grandchildren. That pretty well sums up
his life.
So what
would you say about Tim? Would you call
him a fine Christian? I sense that some
of you want still more information about Tim.
Could there be sinful things in his life that I’m not telling you
about? No, not really. Nevertheless, you are right to desire more
information before deciding what you think about Tim. If there was one question we could ask, it
might be, “Why has Tim done the things he has done?”
That brings
up another question: Is it possible for
a person to live the life Tim has lived without being a fine Christian? Yes, it is.
Down through the centuries there have been men and women who have lived
exemplary lives with respect to morality and humanitarianism apart from the
power of Christ. How did they do
it? They did it by applying themselves
and relying upon their own strength.
If a man
professes that he has been saved by the blood of Christ and then lives the rest
of his life by his own strength and resources, what can we say about him? We might say that he is missing out on the
blessing of the Christian life. We might
say that he is deceived. Some might say,
“What’s wrong with that? After all we
know that we are saved by grace through faith, but after that God has laid out
good words for us to do. What’s wrong
with doing them?” Would anyone say that
such a man is under a curse? Would such
a statement be too strong? Perhaps it
depends on what we mean by “curse.”
Let me
pause now. This morning I am attempting
to do something which I am not capable of doing. Yes, I have bit off more than I can
chew. So why am I attempting it? Because it is vital that we think about these
crucial issues of eternal significance.
In looking at these issues, I am facing two great dangers. On the one hand, I fear that I will cause
some believers to doubt their salvation, and that is a serious thing. On the other hand, I fear that I will not
speak boldly enough to those who have a form of religion but who do not have
the Spirit of God. I confess to you
ahead of time that I am not up to the task.
If the Spirit of God does not work in me, I will certainly fall off on
one side or the other. So this morning I
can do nothing else but trust the Spirit of God to do more than I could ever
think about doing.
Pray
Let’s read Gal.
3:1-14...
O foolish
Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before
whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I
want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or
by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now
being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you
suffered so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain? 5 Therefore He
who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by
the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?-- 6 just as
Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness." 7 Therefore
know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the
Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached
the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be
blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing
Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all
things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." 11 But that no
one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just
shall live by faith." 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them
shall live by them." 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having
become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on
a tree"), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in
Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
So we have here a rather lengthy
passage right out of the middle of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. This is a fascinating letter. I encourage you to read all of it this
week. Because it is fairly short, you
can read it in a few minutes. But as you
read it, realize that this little letter is very important and has a strong
message for us today. Lord willing, you
will catch enough of its flavor this morning to whet your appetite for the rest
of the letter. Rather than setting forth
the context now, we will just dive in and examine the context as we go.
I. The Flesh Cannot Bring to Completion What the
Spirit Began
Let’s read
again 3:1-5…
O foolish
Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before
whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I
want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or
by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now
being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you
suffered so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain? 5 Therefore He
who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by
the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
In verse 1
Paul pictures his readers as being foolish for departing from the truth,
especially the truth that Christ was crucified on their behalf. He then immediately begins to speak about the
Spirit. He has not changed directions,
for he is talking about the Spirit of Christ.
After Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended back to heaven, He
then sent His Holy Spirit to live within every man or woman who trusts Him.
In verse 2
Paul gets more specific about their foolishness by asking them a simple
question: “Did you receive the Spirit by
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”
I might ask you the same question this morning. Think back.
Did you receive the Spirit by obedience to the law or by believing what
you heard about Christ? The question is
so elementary, I don’t need to wait for your answer, nor did Paul need to wait
for theirs. In Acts 2:38 Peter told his
hearers to repent for the forgiveness of sins and they would receive the gift
of the Spirit. You can’t earn that which
is a gift. They simply trusted the promise
of God. Most of us would say, “I have
experienced that forgiveness and have received the Spirit.”
Verse 3
confirms that they were aware that they had received the Spirit as a result of
trusting what they heard. “Are you so
foolish to believe that once you began in the Spirit, but now you can be made
perfect by the flesh?” In verse 2 he
speaks of the beginning of the Christian life (receiving the Spirit); in verse
3 he focuses on the completion of the Christian life (being made perfect). Concerning how these are accomplished, Paul
speaks of the same things in these two verses, but he uses different
terms. In verse 2 it is works and faith;
in verse 3 it is Spirit and flesh.
Throughout the letter to the Galatians, Paul links works with flesh,
just as he connects faith with Spirit. Works
and flesh are the opposite of faith and Spirit.
He accuses them of being foolish for thinking they can begin by doing
one thing and then finish by doing the exact opposite. That is utter foolishness. In verse 5 Paul addresses what has happened
after conversion. “He who supplies you
with the Spirit and works miracles among you, does He do it by your works or as
you trust what you hear?”
If there is
any question whatsoever concerning the right answer to his questions, it is
removed by the words of verses 6-7,
“just as Abraham ‘believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ 7 Therefore know that only those
who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”
The key is faith, as seen in Gen. 15:6 by God’s affirmation of Abraham’s
faith.
So what is this thing
about being sons of Abraham, children of Abraham? In the first place, I am not Jewish. And besides, who cares about being a child of
Abraham? We must understand something of
the background of Paul’s argument in Galatians.
Back in 1:6-9 Paul makes a very strong statement:
I marvel
that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of
Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want
to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have
preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have
said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you
than what you have received, let him be accursed.
Who were these who wanted to twist the good news of
Christ? Though the word is not found in
scripture, they are often referred to as the Judaizers. In short, they were professing Jewish
Christians from Jerusalem who claimed that it was a good thing to trust in
Christ, that wasn’t enough. Though a
person began by trusting Christ, he must then be circumcised, keep the dietary
laws, and obey other rules that would put him or keep him in right standing
with God. After Paul left the area of
the Galatian churches, the Judaizers came in and did all they could to
undermine the teaching of Paul. In order
to do that, they had to destroy the credibility of Paul, and that is exactly
what they attempted, questioning the authority of this man who was not one of
the original apostles. In that context,
Paul used their scriptures as a reminder that Abraham was justified by faith,
and they are his true sons who also live by faith.
So are you
a child of Abraham? If you are living by
faith, you are indeed a son of Abraham.
As in Romans 4 and Romans 9, Paul teaches that this sonship is not
dependent upon physical descent. In
other words, you don’t have to be a Jew to be a son of Abraham, and conversely,
every physical Jew is not a genuine son of Abraham. The key to everything is faith.
So what
does all that have to do with us? God
promised Abraham great blessings, did He not?
Let’s read it in Gen. 12:1-3…
Now the Lord had said to Abram:
"Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house,
To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you
a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a
blessing. 3 I will bless
those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the
families of the earth shall be blessed."
In chapter 18, speaking to one of the heavenly visitors to
Abraham, the Lord said: “Shall I hide
from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in
him?” (Gen. 18:17-18). Note
now that instead of “families,” it is “nations,” or “Gentiles.” We as Gentiles are blessed in Abraham, when
we come to Abraham’s seed, who is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ
(see Gal. 3:16). So faith is the door to ultimate blessing, a
relationship with the Lord Jesus. That
is what Paul says here in Gal. 3:9, “And so those who are of faith are blessed
with believing Abraham.”
II. Dependence upon the Flesh Brings Us Under a
Curse
Let’s
review quickly. Life with Christ begins
when the Spirit supernaturally connects with Jesus. That reception of the Spirit is not due to
what we can do, but we simply believe the truth we hear from God (the
gospel). It is absolutely foolish to
begin by trusting the work of the Spirit and then think we can bring God’s
salvation to completion by our own effort. Paul uses the term “flesh” here to speak of
our own efforts, who we are apart from Christ.
Since we came to Christ through
faith, is it not foolish to think that we can continue in Christ by turning to
our own resources?
The great
Old Testament example of faith is the great Jewish father Abraham. He believed God, and it was counted to him as
righteousness (Gen. 15:6). By the way,
in Romans 4 Paul elaborates on this truth, putting great emphasis on the fact
that Abraham believed and was justified before he was circumcised, proving that
he was not justified by works. As the
key for Abraham was faith, so it is for the Galatians and for us. As we trust God, we demonstrate that even we
Gentiles are children of Abraham. As
Abraham was justified with God through faith, so are we Gentiles. And as we live by faith, we are blessed with
Abraham, who believed God.
That brings
us to verse 10. As we read this verse,
we must put it in the context of what we have just seen in the first 9
verses. “For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all
things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’" Paul speaks of those who
“are of the works of the law.” That is,
those who rely upon the works of the law.
Now you can take that in a couple of different ways. Paul could be saying that if a person bases
his hope on doing the deeds that the law requires, then he is under a curse,
because he can never do them perfectly.
However, every time Paul uses this phrase “works of the law” it is in a
negative context (seven occurrences -- Rom. 9:32; Gal. 2:16; 3:2,5,10). Paul may be saying something more like
this: “The one who relies upon his own
effort to make himself right with God is under the curse, because it is written
that the person who treats the law as list of rules and neglects the weightier
matters is under a curse.” If Paul
intends it in this sense, then he would be getting his cue from Jesus, who
condemned the Pharisees for outwardly keeping the rules, while neglecting the
weightier matters such as judgment, mercy, and faith.
What
is absolutely clear is this -- the person who relies upon himself and his own
resources to earn favor with God is under a curse. This is a very serious verdict. We see it clearly when we look at conversion
and justification. Before we come to
Christ, we have no other resources than our own. If we have made any effort at all to gain
God’s favor, it is by our own efforts.
But praise God that He opened to the gospel to our eyes and as we heard,
faith was stirred in our hearts. We gave
up on our own efforts and trusted what Jesus did through His death and
resurrection. That is, through the
hearing of faith we received the Spirit.
We were justified, declared right in God’s sight through faith. Certainly we were under the curse before we
came to Christ. Indeed, we were under
the wrath of God, in danger of standing before the judgment with no Savior to
plead our cause. We know this.
Now
please hear me. When Paul talks about
those who rely on their own efforts being under a curse, of whom is he speaking? Immediately we want to say, “Non-Christians,
those who have not put their faith in Christ.”
But we must see this in context.
Go back to verse 3, “Are you so foolish?
Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the
flesh?” Notice that Paul is speaking to
those who can look back to their conversion.
In the larger context of the letter, he is speaking to the professing
Christians of the churches in Galatia (see Gal. 1:2). His argument here in chapter 3 has nothing to
do with coming to initial faith in Christ.
All of his readers already made that claim. Rather, he is talking to the Galatians about
how they were living in the present. He
is not condemning those who rely upon the Lord to be justified initially before
God, but he is warning those who are in danger of forsaking faith and reliance
upon the Spirit for a form of legalism that trusts in self-effort. The Judaizers did not urge people to renounce
their pro-fession; they tempted them to add to their faith certain rules that
would assure them of ultimate salvation.
So put
verse 10 in the immediate context of verses 6-9, which focus on the blessings
that are ours when we live by faith, even as Abraham did. Being “of the works of the law” is exactly
opposite of Abraham’s example. And being
under the curse is in direct opposition to be being blessed with believing
Abraham. Instead of being blessed with
the same justification that Abraham received, those who are of the works of the
law are under the curse of destruction and hell.
This is
where many of us have a hard time shedding some of the baggage that has
hindered us. We want to say, “But if I
once put my trust in Christ, that means that I am bound for heaven and have no
reason to fear any destruction. Doesn’t
the Word say that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ?” Yes, that is exactly what the Word says, but
the question is, “Who is in Christ?”
That question is answered far better by the kind of life we are living
than by the outward profession of years ago.
Let me come
straight to the point. For many of us,
we were either taught or we caught the kind of thinking that says this: “Yes, we were saved through faith, but once
we are saved, it is important that we get busy and do the works that God has
laid out for us to do. Doesn’t Eph. 2:10
say that we were created in Christ for good works, which God has before
ordained that we should walk in them?”
Yes, that’s what the Word says, but the question is: “How do we walk in them? How do we accomplish these good works that
the Lord has planned for us?” Too often
we have the idea: “We trust in Christ
for salvation, but we must work for our sanctification. That is, we must work to get closer to God
and be used in His service.”
Can we see
that the scriptures do not teach this concept.
Paul tells us that such thinking is foolish, because it believes that we
begin through faith but then bring our salvation to completion through
works. It teaches that the Spirit gives
us life in the beginning, but now God expects us to take hold and use our own
strength to grow in Christ. Not only
does Paul say this kind of thinking is foolish, but he called down a curse upon
those who taught it (back to 1:6-9).
Nowhere is the Judaizing heresy rebuked more bluntly than in Col.
2:6-7, “As you
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and
established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” How did we receive Christ? Through faith. How do we now walk in Him, live in Him, grow
in Him? Through faith. That is exactly what Paul is saying here in
Galatians 3, but he is doing it in the context of refuting the dangerous false
teaching of the Judaizers.
Please do
not misunderstand. I am not saying, nor
is Paul saying, that we can lose our salvation, if we begin to rely upon our
own works rather than trusting God’s promises.
But we are in great danger of understanding our security in Christ in
such a way that we can totally disregard or re-interpret clear passages like
this one. Someone will come along and
say, “Well, we certainly shouldn’t forsake faith for self-effort, but it’s not
as serious as you make it out to be. It
might mean losing some rewards, but it certainly doesn’t mean that we won’t go
to heaven.” Brothers and sisters, we
must take our cues from the words of scripture, not from popular theology. No, we won’t lose our salvation, but the way
we live is an indicator of whether nor not our “salvation” is genuine.
So I am not
saying we can lose true salvation, nor am I saying that living by faith is a
life of doing little or nothing. The
same Paul who wrote to the Galatians also wrote to the Corinthians and said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace
toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not
I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (I Cor. 15:10). When we trust the Lord to work in us
through His Spirit, the result will be good works done by His power and for His
glory. But we will know that it is not I
who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life which I live is by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20). We can never take credit for what we know is
His work.
III. The Blessing Is Summed Up in the Gift of the
Spirit
Praise God
that when we are not relying upon our own works, we are not under a curse. Rather, a life of faith is blessed, just as
Abraham was blessed. That blessing
begins with justification, but it is summed up in the gift of the Spirit. Let’s read again Gal. 3:13-14, “Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is
everyone who hangs on a tree’), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the
Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith.” Do you see it? To receive the blessing of Abraham is to
receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Abraham did not have the Spirit in the same
way that New Testament believers have Him, but his faith looked forward to that
great promise. Praise God that we who
are in Christ have indeed received the promise of the Spirit.
Please notice two things about the
promise of the Spirit. First of all, it
comes through Christ, who has redeemed us from the curse of the law. The law itself is not a curse, but the curse
is on those who try to live up to its standard in their own strength. Praise God that the law makes it clear that
our own efforts can never reach God. But
Christ redeemed us from that curse by becoming a curse for us, fulfilling the
words of Dt. 21:23, which states that a man who is hanged is cursed by
God. Don’t take those words lightly --
Jesus was cursed by God His Father. How
could that be? Because He became sin for
us, and the curse of God is upon sin.
Brothers and sisters, that is the grace of God.
But notice that not only does the
promise of the Spirit come through Christ, but we receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith. It is God who
imparts the Spirit to us, but we must never divorce the coming of the Spirit
from faith. Where the Spirit is present,
there is faith. Where there is genuine
saving faith, the Spirit is there. Don’t
restrict this truth to our initial conversion, because that is not where Paul’s
emphasis lies. The Spirit who gave us
life now lives in us to conform us to the image of God’s Son. This is what life is all about. Yes, it is a life of love, joy, and peace.
Conclusion
In this
letter Paul is warning the Galatians not to be sucked in by the subtle but
false teaching of the Judaizers. These
false teachers were convinced that believing in Jesus was good, but it wasn’t
enough to bring full salvation. In
addition to believing in Jesus, they believed and taught that one was obligated
to follow certain laws. The one law that
summed them all up was circumcision.
So what was
wrong with a man being circumcised?
After all, that is what God had required of all Jewish males. But now that God had sent His Son, that which
was pictured by circumcision had been fulfilled. Through believing in the Christ who died and
rose, the Christian has been circumcised in heart. The heart of stone has been replaced by a
heart of flesh, and the Spirit has come.
Understand that the circumcision legislated by the Judaizers was not for
health reasons; it was a work that a man must do in order to be right with
God. To be circumcised was to take upon
one’s self the obligation of fulfilling the law. It was to try to bring salvation to
completion by one’s own effort. Paul
sums it all up in Gal. 5:1-5…
Stand fast therefore in the liberty
by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of
bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul,
say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify
again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the
whole law. 4 You have become
estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen
from grace. 5 For we through
the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Paul
clearly says that Christ is of no advantage to the one who resorts to a life of
law rather than a life of faith. While
the NKJV says of those who are trying to be justified by their own efforts that
they are estranged from Christ, other translations say they are cut off from
Christ, severed from Christ, alienated from Christ. Such people have fallen from grace. That is, they demonstrate that they have not
truly received the grace of God in Christ.
Now please
hear me. This is what is so difficult
for us. Does this mean that if you
struggle with living by faith rather than trusting your own strength that you
are not a Christian? NO. Understand that if you are fighting this
battle, you are in good company. Every
Christian is engaged in this battle. The
Galatians were fighting the same battle; that is why Paul was urging them to
reject the false teaching of the Judaizers.
But why
does Paul speak in such absolute terms?
Why does he say that Christ will mean nothing to them, if they add to
justication through faith a life of works?
Because that is the truth. It is
by speaking this truth in such strong terms that Paul hopes to persuade these
vulnerable Galatians to turn away from the false teachers and cling to the
truth of the gospel. This is the same
tension we find in I John 3:7, “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous,
just as He (Jesus) is righteous.” Or
what about Matthew 25, where Jesus commends those who feed the hungry and
clothe the naked, while condemning those who don’t? “Then He (Jesus) will answer them, saying,
Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did no do it to one of the least of
these, you did not do it to Me. And
these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life” (Matt .25:45-46). These
passages are strong, and praise God they are.
If they were not, we would be able to just shrug them off, as we attempt
to do anyway. But when Paul says that
Christ will give no advantage to the one who adds good works to faith as a
means of being right with God, our attention is aroused.
Where we
are with Christ is largely demonstrated by how we respond to these strong
teachings. If we shrug our shoulders and
say, “I know I’m going to heaven; I’m not concerned about these things,” then
there is great reason for concern. On
the other hand, if the Spirit speaks to our tender hearts and we long to trust
in Christ alone and rely upon His Spirit in faith, then we can receive great
assurance from our Lord.
So I ask
you this morning: Where are you? Do you see the danger of trying to complete
God’s work by your own effort? Why do
you read the Bible? Do you read it
because you long to know God’s ways? Or
is to relieve the guilt that comes if you don’t read it? Why do you pray? Do you pray in order to fellowship with your
loving Father? Or do you pray out of a
sense of obligation? Do you come to
church services because it’s the right thing to do? Or because you like the social aspect? Or do you delight in gathering with His
people for the purpose of honoring Him through worship? We have been looking at giving on Sunday
evening. Do you give your money to God
because you know you should? Or because
of the joy of laying up treasures in heaven?
It is the difference between living a life of faith by the power of the
Spirit, and working in your own strength to try to earn God’s favor.
Let’s go back to our friend Tim. The life he is living may be a great example
of faith. On the other hand, Tim could
be marshaling his own strength and checking all the boxes. We can’t know for sure, because we are looking
at the outside from a distance, but the Lord knows, because He looks on the
heart. Yes, our Lord knows the “why”
behind everything we are doing. We knows
who we really are. For those who long to
live this Spirit-empowered life of faith, there is great comfort in the fact
that our Father knows us. Though we
fail, we continue to rejoice in Him who is our Father, thanking Him that He
patiently continues to mold our lives.
For those who find themselves shouldering the heavy load of religious
performance, know that God sees through it all, and He still loves you. If you are rendering Him outward service but
fear that your heart is far from Him, don’t turn away from Him. Fall at the feet of Him who said, “Come to
me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt.
11:28). But understand that
being satisfied with a life of self-effort, even in doing good things, is an
extremely dangerous place to be.
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