The sixty verses that make up Galatians 3 and 4 are some of the strongest writing that Paul ever penned. But, after all, he was in the middle of a fight! He was out to prove that salvation is by grace alone, and not by the works of the Law. His opponents had used every possible means to try to capture the churches of Galatia, and Paul was not going to fight them halfheartedly or let them win this important battle. Paul was no stranger to debates, and in these two chapters he certainly proves his abilities. His logic is indisputable.
Paul uses six different arguments to prove that God saves sinners through faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law. He begins with the personal argument (Gal. 3:1–5) in which he asks the Galatians to recall their personal experience with Christ when they were saved.
It was obvious that these people had experienced something in their lives when Paul had first visited them; but the Judaizers had come along and convinced them that their experience was not complete. They needed something else, and that “something else” was obedience to the Law of Moses. These false teachers had bewitched them and turned them into fools. In calling them “fools” Paul is not violating Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:22), because two different words are used and two different ideas are expressed. Foolish in Galatians 3:1 means “spiritually dull” (see Luke 24:25), while the word Jesus used carries the idea of “a godless person.”[1] Paul is declaring a fact; Jesus is warning against verbal abuse.
Paul reminds them that they had truly experienced a meeting with God. First, they saw God the Son (v. 1). Second, they received God the Holy Spirit (vv. 2-4). Third, they experienced miracles from God the Father (v. 5).
You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the 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 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? (NASB)
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- The Galatians were originally saved by faith, not law. Therefore, grace is superior to the law.
- The Holy Spirit enters the believer’s life because of grace and not the law. Sanctification is by the Spirit, not by the law.
- By turning to a works message, the Galatians were discounting the saving and sanctifying work that the Holy Spirit had exemplified in their lives.
CLOSER LOOK:
Verse 1: Paul’s tone was direct and severe as he criticized, “You foolish Galatians!” To embrace a doctrine which declared the death of Christ unnecessary was irrational (cf. 2:21). The word “foolish” does not indicate a lack of intelligence but a lack of wisdom. It would almost appear they had been “bewitched,”[2] meaning cast under some evil spell by an evil influence. For this they were, however, without excuse because the Savior had been clearly “publicly portrayed (proegraphē; literally, “to write for public reading” as with the posting of a public announcement)[3] as crucified” before them. Paul wonders whether something like an evil spell had prevented the Galatians from recalling the gospel of the crucified Christ, which had been clearly portrayed or preached to them. Paul had vividly and graphically proclaimed the crucified Christ to the Galatians; yet their eyes had been diverted from the Cross to the Law. They were without excuse. Paul uses a play on words—“before whose eyes”—to highlight their duplicity as contrasted with the truth he had carefully explained to them.[4]
In order to demonstrate convincingly that faith alone is God’s method of dealing, Paul asked four questions in verses 2-5. These questions concern the reception and work of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 2: Question 1) How did you receive the Holy Spirit? The rhetorical question (which is “did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”) pointed to the time of their conversions, when they received the Holy Spirit (cf. 4:6). Thus Paul did not question their salvation but challenged them to consider whether they were saved and received the Spirit by faith or on the basis of works. It was of course by faith, when they heard Paul preach the gospel. Also, Paul contrasts obedience to the law with faith. The “hearing of faith” is probably what Paul had in mind in Romans 10:17 when he said, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” It may also be closely related to Paul’s concept of obedience to the faith, since the Greek word for “hear” can also be translated “listen” or “obey” (Rom 1:5; 16:26).[5] As an essentially Gentile church they did not possess the Mosaic Law anyway.[6]
Verse 3: Question 2) How will you be sanctified? Presupposing the answer that the Galatians became Christians by faith, Paul asked if they were “so foolish” as to think they could begin the Christian life in one way (by faith) and move on to spiritual maturity in another (by works). Paul reminded the Galatians that their Christian life was “begun by the Spirit” by faith alone (v. 2; 2:16). This was what the Judaizers promoted (cf. 4:10; 5:2; 6:13), but the means of justification and sanctification were (and are) the same. There was no provision under the Law for the Holy Spirit to do a work of sanctification. The Galatian believers probably thought that keeping the old Law would aid them in their spiritual lives, but it would not. “Being perfected by the flesh” indicates that the Galatians were mistakenly trying to achieve perfection through their own efforts, especially through circumcision.
Verse 4: Question 3) Did you suffer in vain? The third question looked back on the persecution the apostles and new believers experienced in the region of Galatia. As Paul and Barnabas retraced their steps at the end of the first missionary journey, they warned the Galatian converts that they would suffer as Christians (Acts 14:21–22). Persecution for their faith evidently soon followed, and Paul reminded them that if they turned from grace to Law they would brand their former position in error and would then have suffered “so many things in vain” or for nothing. But the apostle was unwilling to believe that this was so.
The key to this section is in the word suffered (Gal. 3:4), which can be translated “experienced.” Paul asks, “Have you experienced so many things in vain?” The argument from Christian experience was a wise one with which to begin, because Paul had been with them when they had trusted Christ. Of course, to argue from experience can be dangerous, because experiences can be faked, and they can be misunderstood. Subjective experience must be balanced with objective evidence, because experiences can change, but truth never changes. Paul balances the subjective experience of the Galatian Christians with the objective teaching of the unchanging Word of God (Gal. 3:6–14).
Verse 5: Question 4) On what basis did God perform miracles? To be fair, there is some uncertainty about what Paul meant here by the working of miracles. That miracles (or works of power) were performed among the Galatians by divine power was recorded in the Book of Acts (14:3, 8–11). There was also the time he was resuscitated from near death after being stoned (Acts 14:19-20) that he could have had in mind. It was clear, furthermore, that these supernatural works were not the result of the “works of the Law” but from the hearing that leads to faith. The Galatians did not know the Law, and Paul’s message was that of justification by faith.
The “He” in this verse refers to the Father as the One who ministers the Spirit and “works miracles among” them. The same Holy Spirit who came into the believer at conversion continues to work in them and through them so that the whole body is built up (cf. Eph. 4:16; Col. 2:19). The Father continues to supply the Spirit in power and blessing, and this is done by faith and not by the works of the Law. The phrase “among you” can also be translated “within you.” These miracles would therefore include wonderful changes within the lives of the Christians, as well as signs and wonders within the church fellowship.
[1] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), n.p.
[2] Strong’s 940, BDAG – “to exert an evil influence through the eye.” The word for “bewitched” is a hapax legomenon, a word found nowhere else in the New Testament. Literally the word means “to give someone the evil eye, to cast a spell over, to fascinate in the original sense of holding someone spellbound by an irresistible power.”
[3] Donald K. Campbell, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 596.
[4] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 1521.
[5] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 1521.
[6] Donald K. Campbell, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 597.