Galatians 3:3-5 Since You Received the Spirit through Faith, Continue in Faith

Galatians 3:3-5 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 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?

It is irrational (foolish) to conceive that the Law is a more perfect way than the Spirit; that the Law is a step up from the way of the Spirit. Yet this is the mistake that the Galatians were making. They were stepping back under the Law, though they had begun in the Spirit. For those of you who are computer savvy, they have stepped down from Windows XP to a DOS based operating system (sorry, that was the illustration that came to mind). They were attempting to keep the Law in their flesh—their sinful flesh, rather than walking by the Spirit.

The Galatians knew they had begun their Christian walk by faith, not by keeping the Law. With these two ways in conflict, Paul is making it clear to them that they must choose one or the other. They must either walk by faith in Christ or they must seek to uphold the Law. It is the same way with you, brothers and sisters. If you are a child of God then you started by faith in Christ. You must continue in faith. Do not seek to step back under the Law. Do not be deceived by those who will seek to make you follow a certain system (a lifestyle/ministry, not a doctrinal system, for proper doctrine is essential). You have been justified by faith and so continue in faith—do not attempt to be justified by keeping the Law/religious piety.

As you walk with Christ, you face all sorts of hardships and victories along the way. Through these, God shows Himself to be faithful and merciful to you. It may be good to write these times down in a journal. Take note of these times, for in your times of trouble you may be required to bring them to memory. I know that when I am low spiritually I need to remember God’s faithfulness and providence toward me individually, and through Christ toward mankind. Paul, here in Galatians, seeks to draw forth the remembrances of God’s goodness through the lifetime of faith experienced by the Galatian believers. By bringing God’s acts of faithfulness, especially His works of miracles among the Galatians and the indwelling of the Spirit, Paul hopes to make clear to the Galatians that the life of faith is the only way that God honors.

The Spirit is given by “hearing with faith.” Those who have believed “were sealed in [Christ] with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Spirit is our pledge from God of our final inheritance and our Comforter now, that we may know God and enjoy Him. Since we have received the Spirit by faith, not by keeping the Law, let us continue in faith, by the grace of God and the help of the Spirit, so that we may continue to know and worship God.