You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 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? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Gal 3:1-3)Paul's on a roll. He calls them "foolish" and asks, "Who has bewitched you?" Not part of "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Paul is a fanatic ... for the gospel. The specific gospel he's on about is "a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus ... so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified" (Gal 2:16). Simple. Justified by faith apart from works. Any other gospel is "anathema" -- cursed. Any other behavior is "not in step with the truth of the gospel" (Gal 2:14). So Paul considers this gospel important enough to not worry about making friends here. He's more concerned with defending the gospel. Paul argues that salvation begins with the Spirit and ends with the Spirit (Gal 3:3).
Most religions in the world offer a "saved by works" scheme. We "wise" Christians see this "saved by faith" idea and grab it ... sort of. We still, like the Galatians, tend to slide back into a "works-based" arrangement. If we're really enlightened, we'll see salvation as "monergism" -- God's work alone -- but sanctification as "synergism" -- our working with God. Paul asks us, "Are you so foolish?" It's not our work or our power. It's His. We are perfected by the Spirit. It looks like we're part of it ... sure. But, in the end, if we can do nothing without Christ (John 15:5) -- we can do nothing good on our own -- then it really is His work in us. Which should encourage the feeble and weak.
4 comments:
It sounds like you're sliding into Determinism here. I think there is a precarious balance within sanctification. Yes, it is the Spirit working in is and through us, but we are also supposed to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We get the joy of doing good works by His power, and would not be able to do those good works without Him. But they are very real works, very real choices, that we are responsible for, and must strive to do, all while recognizing the Spirit working in us, renewing us, enabling us.
I am feeble and weak indeed, and therefore I’ve been unsuccessful achieving even an ounce of “works-based” righteousness. As you say, I am very much encouraged by the truth “that salvation begins with the Spirit and ends with the Spirit.” Thank you for this reminder that I am “His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10). It’s all His doing--and thank God for that!
I was thinking about this. Imagine someone who can't walk and wants to attend a street fair. He gets an electric wheelchair and goes. He drives it around the street fair and enjoys the day. It wasn't his power; it was the electric wheelchair. It wasn't his path. It was the street fair's layout. But he ... used the power and the path and ... participated.
I see Paul clearly contrasting “works of the law” with “faith in Christ” as the basis for our justification (Gal. 2:16, 3:5, etc.)--not to be confused with our sanctification, which is clearly by the Spirit working in us (Gal. 3:2-5). I think if we are not careful to keep these points of our spiritual state separate, we can become guilty of embracing that “‘works-based’ arrangement” Stan mentioned. Paul is reminding us that our imputed righteousness (which establishes our acceptance by God) is based 100% on our faith in Christ and 0% on works of the law--which is good news for the feeble and the weak.
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