Galatians 3:1–5 - Remember the Gospel

The end of Galatians ch. 2 expresses that union with Jesus Christ is enough. Through our union with Him, we’re secure with God, and those who are secure with God are secure, indeed – in this life and the next.

But doesn’t that sense of security escape us sometimes? We forget about it. That was the case with these Galatian believers. So Paul called them to remember.

Now, why do we forget? Scripture tells us that our problem is indwelling sin. For those who are born again, sin doesn’t reign over us. Romans 5:7-14 is clear on that. By God’s grace and power, we can live for Him. But the sinful nature is still within us. Sin still affects us. This is why God’s law cannot produce a righteous life in you. The gospel of God’s free grace must transform your desires so that you obey God.

The Galatians had been misled about the gospel. This made them troubled and they were confused about the nature of the Christian life. You see, the gospel is always central for the Christian. It must be our lens and our language.

We saw early in worship that not only our justification but also our adoption and sanctification are products of God’s free grace. Even sanctification – the process of our growth in Christlikeness – is a work of God. The Galatians were no longer relying on the power of the gospel for living. They had been distracted by these other things.

What distracts you from gospel living? What steals the peace of Christ from you? What steers you away from the wisdom that is in the Lord Jesus? What robs you of the power that is in Christ? And what do you chase, moving further and further from the wholeness that is in Jesus?

Probably not ceremonial purity like the Galatians, but there is always something. Something is ready to derail your hope in Christ. This is why in Galatians 3, God calls His people to continually remember two things.

Daily reflection on these realities is essential for the Christian life. In fact, a day without remembering these truths is sub-Christian – less than what God has for His people –
a life beneath what Jesus secured for us when He brought us into union with Himself. We must remember what we’ve heard and what we’ve seen of the gospel – both the proclamation of the gospel to us and the effects of the gospel upon us.

Now, notice in verse [1] that Paul calls them “foolish.” He uses this same word in Titus 3 to describe how we were before we were born again. He’s not suggesting that they are no longer saved, but their thinking and behavior resembles their pre-Christian life: trusting in other things, “rebuilding what they tore down,” to use Paul’s words from ch.2.

Those who don’t have Christ are deceived; they’re deluded. Or as he says here, bewitched.” The Judaizers were very convincing. They deceived many Galatians. Their arguments fooled those whose hearts and minds were not set on the gospel.

But Paul had not misled them when he proclaimed Christ to them. Real gospel preaching doesn’t mislead about justification or sanctification. The faithful proclamation of Christ stresses that both are the result of Christ in us. And Paul reminds them of that here, notice the rest of the verse, “It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.”

This doesn’t mean that they saw the actual death of Christ on the cross. Rather, Christ was set forth clearly for them, not through images, or paintings, or sculptures, movies, or re-enactments. It was through preaching.

In Romans 1, Paul says the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The good news of who Jesus is and what He accomplished is enough. This is what Paul preached in Galatia when many believed.

Faithful preaching is as good as actually seeing the death of Christ because it is the Holy Spirit who brings a sinner over from death to life and enables him or her to believe in Jesus. And the required response is faith.

Look at verse [2], Paul says, “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? This is a rhetorical question. Paul is making a point. They received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by an act of God’s free grace. In 2 Cor. 5, Paul says that in Christ God was reconciling sinners to Himself and not counting their sins against them! Can you believe that? It’s true.

First thing to remember each day – and throughout your day – is the proclamation of the gospel to you. Remember what you heard when you first believed. What you heard at that time was that you needed to trust in Christ, that He alone was enough to bring you to God. The moment you first believed was perhaps very long ago, but nothing that you have done since that time has added anything to what Jesus accomplished for you.

The Spirit of God brought you into unalterable union with Christ. And you only received the Spirit by hearing the gospel and trusting with faith. You then moved forward in the Christian life – but you never leave this behind. You never move past it, because you never move past who you are.

Yet because of the effects of indwelling sin, we forget who we are. We can be bewitched or fooled. Through all the means God has provided you: His Word, prayer, worship, your brothers and sisters in Christ – continually remember the gospel proclaimed to you.

Now look at this next part. Verse [3] “Are you so foolish?” Again, this is a rhetorical question. He’s asking, “Are you still the person you were before you were saved? Are you still that person whose mind was blinded by sin and by Satan?” Obviously he doesn’t believe that they are, because he addresses them as believers.

But he says, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” And this question introduces a subject we haven’t really explored yet. Having started your journey by faith, are you now continuing the journey by works? The gospel of free grace was the power for your salvation. So what’s the power of your continuation?

Is it your own efforts? Is that the power? In Philippians 1 Paul says “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” God started it by His power; He will continue and finish it by His power. In Colossians 2, Paul says, “as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” You received by faith, trusting in His righteousness and not your own.

Even as Paul talked about his own ministry of making disciples, he said,  “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” That is how you will speak and think about your own efforts to obey God and walk with Him when you have the gospel of free grace on the forefront of your mind. Anything you do for God is only the result of all God has done and is doing in you.

Last week we learned what Paul meant when he said, “through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” When Paul says, “through the law” he means that the law showed him that he fell short, and when he says, “I died to the law,” he means that he was freed from the law as his means of being justified when he trusted in Christ.

The law showed him that he couldn’t perfectly keep it, and showed him that he had been foolish in trying to justify himself with it. Then he was free from the law as his means of being made right with God.

And when he said, “so that I might live to God,” he means that Christ used the law to increase his understanding of how much he needed grace, and with the law no longer being his source of righteousness, he was then able to actually live righteously before God and bring Him glory.

With God’s grace fixed on our minds, He makes us able to offer Him true obedience. That is how God produces true righteousness in you and me! And not just at the start of our new life in Christ, but all the way to the end.

I understand that this view of grace has been twisted by some to suggest that how we live doesn’t matter. Paul knew this also. In Romans 6, after his great explanation of grace, he writes, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

Any of us could wreck our lives if we misunderstand grace in this way. We must still use all the means God has provided – reading His Word, praying, worship and serving with God’s people, growing along with other believers – doing all the things that growing disciples do – but not for the reasons that we would have done them before we were born again. Now, we do them to remember the truth and to know God and to be changed by Him.

The Christian life involves doing those things, and doing all the other activities of a human life, but with a different reason. Not for self glory, but for God’s glory. Not to earn from God, but because Christ earned for us.

And look at verse [4]. Paul bolsters his case for remembering. He says, “Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” This is worth noting. The word translated here as “suffering” could also be translated as “experienced.” The word can be used to refer to bad experiences, but also to good ones.

We know that there was Christian persecution in Galatia, and so it's likely that many hearing this letter endured mistreatment for following Christ. But that’s not all they experienced as Christians. See verse 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?” The Holy Spirit was doing a transforming work in every Christian there.

They progressively became more like Jesus in their thoughts, desires, and behavior. This was done by God’s Spirit supplied to them – by God’s power – God’s energy! In addition, they saw the supernatural works of God around them. People were healed. God provided for people. He changed their lives in various ways.

All of this activity has a profound effect on their faith. The message is simple and clear: you also need to continually remember the effects of the gospel upon you. You’ve not only heard the gospel, you’ve seen its effect, both in your own life and in the lives of others. But what was the value of all that, if now you’re just going to bear up under your own strength and try to get through this Christian life?

Notice Paul’s wording again. “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?” He parallels justification and sanctification. He compares receiving Christ as Savior and following Him as Lord. Both are by faith. Both are by God’s power. Both are by being in the powerful grip of God’s free grace.

And that’s how we know both are sure. People will fail you. You will fail you. But when it’s all God – all the way – you can have full assurance.

Haven’t we seen so much of God’s great work in us and among us? Yes we have, but we can forget. Let’s keep remembering together. As we do, God will cause us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, and we will grow in all the ways that God has ordained for us.

Renew your trust in Christ today. Renew your commitment to God’s ways. Or, if you never, put your faith in Jesus Christ today. He is enough to remove all your guilt and to secure you with God now and forever. Believe His gospel.

Please bow with me in prayer.