Galatians 3:1-6
1 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?
In this passage Paul is confronting the Galatians about how they are reducing the Christian life to a set of rules. As he says in verse 3, "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?". This is a temptation that we also need to beware of. If we are on the road to recovery, it started with a touch from God. In the process of change, there are things we need to do. But we must beware of thinking that it is just a matter of following some rules and then we'll be okay. That is falling back into the trap of trying to behave or perform so God will accept us. But God's love is not based on our performance. Also, our human efforts are never good enough; it was our attempts to handle things by ourselves that got us in trouble in the first place. God wants our hearts, not just our behavior.
Heavenly Father, thank you for Your Spirit and the work you have begun in me. Help me to stay in relationship with You.
1 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?
In this passage Paul is confronting the Galatians about how they are reducing the Christian life to a set of rules. As he says in verse 3, "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?". This is a temptation that we also need to beware of. If we are on the road to recovery, it started with a touch from God. In the process of change, there are things we need to do. But we must beware of thinking that it is just a matter of following some rules and then we'll be okay. That is falling back into the trap of trying to behave or perform so God will accept us. But God's love is not based on our performance. Also, our human efforts are never good enough; it was our attempts to handle things by ourselves that got us in trouble in the first place. God wants our hearts, not just our behavior.
Heavenly Father, thank you for Your Spirit and the work you have begun in me. Help me to stay in relationship with You.