In 2011 a Boeing 737 slammed into a hillside in northern Canada in killing 12 people. As the captain (pilot) was preparing for landing he inadvertently changed the mode on autopilot, adjusting the destination of the plane.

This caused a discrepancy between his plane’s destination and the destination calculated by GPS and the landing beacon sent out from the runway, which showed their approach angle to be off. During the approach the pilot had difficulty reconciling the discrepancy between the the readings. The co-pilot recognized the need to delay landing and at one point communicated this to the pilot 5 times in 20 seconds recommending that he abort the landing. The pilot responded that he would continue with the landing as planned. The co-pilot again made repeated comments about taking corrective action. And six seconds before the crash said, “I don’t like this.” 

After the crash the Canadian Transportation Safety Board noted that, “The first officer made many attempts to communicate his concerns and suggest a go-around. . .the suggestion was not sufficiently assertive at a time when escalation of communication was needed.” In a dire and life threatening situation the co-pilot was restrained and “respectful” of the the pilot. He was in a situation that called a course correction - for direct, assertive, and immediate action and he didn’t provide it.

As we turn to Galatians chapter 3 verses 1-9 today we see a similar situation. After initially hearing the gospel and being rooted in the truth of Paul’s teaching the Galatians have adjusted their course away from the foundational truths. Their heading is not consistent with the heading of the gospel 

Paul, like the co-pilot, has recognized their incorrect direction and realizes the severity of the situation. The Galatians have strayed from grace and are heading toward legalism by way of the teaching of the Judaizers. Paul sees the disaster that will result from abandoning grace 

Unlike our co-pilot in Canada though, we’re seeing Paul respond strongly and directly to the Galatians - Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you into the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel."

And today he’s going to ratchet up his intensity in dealing with the Galatians errors. He’s not going to make the same mistake of giving a passive response. As a principle, as the danger of a situation increases, the appropriate response to that situation becomes more assertive, more strong, more unbending. And Paul demonstrates that here for us - Paul’s tone is instructive both in its severity and call for a response - the same characteristics that the Canadian co-pilot needed in order to get a course correction. And today that’s the title of the message - Corrective Action Now! 

Recall that Paul is addressing the arguments of the opposition - the Judiazers, who were arguing that salvation was dependent upon obedience to the Mosaic law. And Paul opened the book with a defense of his authority. And then presented his thesis in 2:15-16.

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 

This is the beacon, the airport signal, the GPS signal - the way which the Galatians should orient their belief and behavior 

In today’s text, Paul is going to reorient the Galatians using 6 rebuking, rhetorical questions to reveal the Galatians errors in thinking and move them back toward the “original gospel” that he brought to them when he ministered to them. The questions that Paul will ask are will draw from Galatians experience (verses 1-5)- their own experience learning from Paul and in Christ and in the Spirit. And each question addresses an issue that demonstrates that the 

Galatians cannot embrace the law and faith at the same time 

After these questions Paul is going to continue his argument from from scripture itself in the person of Abraham (verses 6-9) 

6 Questions 

Question 1 (verse 1): O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 

Paul begins strongly - O foolish Galatians. Already we see assertiveness and strength of conviction from Paul, Foolish here means lack of understanding, mindless. Paul is direct - he’s not mincing his words. He’s basically saying, “You stupid Galatians!” He’s not saying this because the Galatians are incapable of understanding, but rather that they don’t really understand the consequences of the beliefs they are embracing. They lack foresight - discernment. That's quite an attention-grabber! 

Who has bewitched you? Bewitched means “Holding someone spellbound by irresistible power.” Paul doesn’t actually think that a spell has been cast on the Galatians, but the only explanation he can come up with for the Galatians straying so far from justification by faith is that they have had a spell cast on them. The mindless foolishness is so profound that he’s saying, “there’s really no way to explain why you’re embracing these things.” And why is it difficult for Paul to understand why they have strayed from grace? Because “It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified” 

Now, the Galatians were not literally present for the crucifixion. They heard the gospel from Paul. Paul was the one who displayed Christ crucified to the Galatians by his teaching, demonstrating that Jesus fulfills the promises made in the OT - see 3:8. And in this way Paul publicly portrayed Christ as crucified. And that’s really the meaning of the words in this verse -  “Portray publicly” as in vividly demonstrate the gospel in a clear and memorable way - much like a large billboard. Large effective billboards are unforgettable. And the message Paul left with the Galatians was distinct and unforgettable - he’s recalling for them the large billboard of the gospel he presented to them initially. He’s reminding them of that. Hey, remember what I said - remember the effect it had on you? Remember how it changed your lives? 

Which leads him to his next question. . . 

Question 2 (verse 2): Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Not only did Paul present the gospel, display the gospel, like a large memorable billboard, but the Galatians embraced that message. They embraced the message of 2:15. In 2:15 he states, “a person is not justified through works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” And Paul presses into this here, he’s personalizing his question. Did YOU receive the Spirit by works of the law? Galatians, did you do ANYTHING of your own to receive the Spirit? 

“A person” is not justified through works,” but you, Galatians, are you special, are you different? Is there something about you I didn’t know as I saw you embrace the gospel of Christ through faith? Of course not! In fact, the question itself is rather ridiculous - the Galatians were gentiles, not Jews. They had no relationship to the law. They weren’t bound to the law. They didn’t adhere to the law. So it was actually impossible for them to adhere to a law they didn’t have. They received the spirit apart from the law before the Judaizers were came to them. And now they are embracing the law? Their own experience of salvation is a witness to the fact that the law is unequipped to save  And instead, as they themselves know, “by hearing with faith” was the way in which they received the Spirit  “Receive the Spirit” 

To receive something is not to take something by force, or by effort. A birthday gift is received by the recipient. Which is a contrast to taking something. Receiving is almost entirely passive. So Paul’s question and the Galatians experience are testimonies to the fact the Spirit cannot be “taken” or “earned.” Additionally, the reception of the Spirit is the defining characteristic of a believer 

Romans 8:14 addresses this directly.

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." 

And Romans 8:9 says the same thing in the opposite way.

"Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." 

So, who is a Chrisitian? The one who has the Spirit of God within him or her. And how did the Galatians, and Paul and we ourselves get this Spirit? We received it through hearing with faith.

Point 1

YOU! received the Spirit through faith

And what about those who don’t know, or haven’t received the Spirit? ● Well, they do not belong to Christ - they are not his. YOU are not his. BUT the offer is here today. Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life and died for your sin ● He was resurrected, demonstrating his power over death. And offers eternal life through faith, or belief in Him. No work required, no resume submission required, no degree or accomplishments needed.

Your sin and mistakes and shortcomings can be forgiven. There’s no work required - that work has already been done for you. So if you’re a believer, don’t forget this. Keep it on the front of your thoughts and mind. That’s Paul’s message for the Galatians and our reminder today. Stir up the received Spirit within you. And if you’re not a believer, why not today? Like the Galatians, receive the Spirit by faith. By belief in Jesus’ completed work for us.

Question 3 (verse 3a): Are you so foolish? 

Paul returns to the incomprehensibility of the Galatians position ■ Or as J. B. Phillips puts it, “Oh you dear idiots of Galatia … surely you cannot be so idiotic.” Paul is leaning into the foolish language even harder.

He’s emphasizing again their lack of spiritual discernment. He’s coming back to the idea of the foolishness of leaving grace. They can’t dismiss or neglect the severity of the correction here. Paul is shaming them. And he’s doing this to get their attention - THIS IS SERIOUS! This is scripture.This is the inspired word of God. God’s message for the Galatians. Being scripture we can reasonably conclude that Paul is not sinning in his language and technique. And we need to learn from this. And we can learn both how to give correction and how to receive correction 

Giving correction in this tone should obviously be done rarely and carefully. Paul is running the risk that his message will be rejected. And that’s really his point. If you’re so offended by my delivery that you reject the message, you’ve missed what I’m doing here. Paul is providing a very clear fork in the road - a decision must be made to heed or reject what he’s saying. Nobody can say. “Well, let’s think about this for awhile.”  And this is instructive as to when we should use this tool of communication. In only the most important, severe, situations to an appropriate audience - like the co-pilot as his plane is crashing. If your plane is going to crash, you can get animated. And if the people you love and care for are heading for destruction of any type, you can speak strongly. We know we really only get to use the big guns like this a couple or a few times. So as a rule we use restraint 

How to be teachable, how to receive correction. And how to be humble in messages like this. There’s two kinds of shame - healthy shame and bad shame. Bad or toxic shame is condemning - it’s a message about your intrinsic value - and must be rejected because they are untrue 

Example: “You’re not worth anything.” “Nobody will ever love you.” This isn’t what Paul is doing here - recall he called the Galatians brothers in 1:11. And healthy shame is corrective - it’s intended to modify your behavior to make you behave and believe better. It aids in making us behave like the people we’re around 

Consider Paul and his use of healthy shame in 1 Corinthians 15:34 

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. 

Paul is using shame here too. He says, “Wake up.” “We are not a people who learn character lessons from unbelievers. We are not a people who purposefully continue to sin. It’s shameful to do that.” And in Galatians he’s saying, “we are not a people who rely on works for our salvation. We’re not a people who embrace the Spirit through faith and then turn to the mosaic law to “complete our faith.” It’s likewise shameful and mindless to do that.”

Be teachable in light of healthy shame, process healthy shame ● And when you’re feeling shame, be discerning about how you deal with it. Reject the bad and process healthy shame. This is the process of correction and rebuke and growth. And the Galatians need to respond to this as well. 

Paul says, “are you so foolish that . . .” 

Question 4 (verse 3b): After having begun in the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh? 

Moving on Paul asks his next question. Notice that he assumes an answer to question 2. “Begun in the Spirit” - they all know that the Galatians received the spirit through faith. This is justification, or salvation. This is moving from unbeliever to believer. Or as we said above, from not having the Spirit to having the Spirit. And now he’s asking, after receiving the Spirit are you relying on your own effort to grow in the faith, to become more like Christ, to become “perfected.” This process of “being perfected” is growing in our relationship with God through becoming more like him. And Paul is asking, does our growth in our faith come through our own efforts, “the flesh,” or does it come the same way that salvation does, through faith? 

To the Galatians, it would mean doing the things the Judaizers are insisting upon, like circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic law. The Judiazers were saying that belief in Jesus might be important but not enough. They saw the Spirit as a preliminary initiation into the Christian faith. In order to complete incorporation in the faith, one needed a physical sign to be part of the people of Israel - circumcision, and so your efforts, your work, your contribution is required both for finishing salvation and also for continuing in that salvation in growth.

 Let’s consider the idea that our growth in Christ is through faith. It’s a tougher one to reconcile than salvation through faith. Romans says that before we believe in Christ we are “dead in our sins.” And it’s easy to understand that a dead person is completely helpless, unable to come to life or do anything for themselves. And by extension, the salvation that we receive by faith therefore cannot be through our own efforts.

But sanctification is a little different. When we become believers we are encouraged to “do things.” These may include being baptized, reading our Bible, using our spiritual gifts in service and good deeds, we’re encouraged to pray and give and be nice and not wear shorts that are too short and possibly many many other things. And some of these things are good. And some of them contribute to our Christian growth. For all of my kids when they get old enough to read I take them out for lunch and teach them how to do a quiet time. And hopefully they develop an appreciation for the Bible and how it changes our lives as we learn it and obey it and understand who God is.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 comments on sanctification in this way:

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness."

Here Paul says that the will of God is our sanctification, and then proceeds with a to-do list for such attainment. A to-do list for holiness. And so, back to Paul’s question, are these efforts, these spiritual disciplines or adhering to rules, perfecting us? The question is rhetorical, so, obviously, no. We are not perfected by the flesh. So how do we understand verses like those in 1 Thessalonians? Let’s continue with 1 Thessalonians.

"Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you."

And here is the idea that can bring these seemingly contrasting ideas together - the Holy Spirit. This verse emphasizes the importance of honoring, “not disregarding” God, and then gives us the key by which we can live up to the instructions given previously. And this key is is the Holy Spirit. This is how he equips us to accomplish his instructions and the method by which he changes us. As Galatians 2:20 said, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. This is in the form of the Holy Spirit

Without the Spirit we are just as dead as we were before we came to Christ. And so we aren’t intended to live any longer in the flesh but in the Spirit. And we do this by learning what it means to “abide” in Him - through faith. We learn what it means not to continue on in the flesh but to yield to the Spirit and depend on the Spirit and work in concert with the Spirit. And because we’re stuck still living in the flesh, it might be difficult to tell if we’re growing because of the Spirit within us or because of our faithful efforts to do so. And that summarizes a walk of faith with the spirit - a dependence and cooperation with the Spirit - utterly dependant on him for growth. Later in Galatians this subject is approached again 

Galatians 5:25: If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit 

So what might this look like? To “keep in step with the Spirit?” Our own spirit should be aware and sensitive to the Spirit within us. We should seek to magnify the Spirit within us and minimize the flesh we also live with.

Let me put it this way: My grandpa loved cars. And he always kept his cars clean and washed them by hand. And as a very young child I would wash the car with him. And he taught me what doing a quality job entailed. Which was detailed. He took his time, enjoying the process. And toward the end of the job we would be drying the car with towels and he would open the door and say, “Tom, this is the most important part of the job. You must dry the inside of the doors. Don’t do half of the job.” And now today when I wash my cars I think of him when I get to the end of the job. And I know the “right way” to finish it. And I have a choice to dry the inside of the doors or not. And I usually do. This is my grandpa “inside me” continuing to influence me 40 years after the initial lesson. I’m doing the job and in some ways my grandpa is getting the job done the way he taught it. The message of washing the car and his voice and attitude live on inside me as I’m engaging in that activity. I know what he would have thought and how he would have responded to a job well done or not well done 

And I know each of us has those kinds of “voices” that reside in us. And I think the Holy Spirit acts in a similar way, but also very differently. The Spirit is alive and active and interactive and his influence goes far beyond the narrowness of washing a car. He is inside of us, teaching and ministering to us in our own Spirits and through the Word. And if we “abide” and respond to him we begin to learn what He is like. And as we spend time in the Word and other believers and go through our day we have a sense of what he thinks about issues and how we should respond in light of that. And if we keep in step with him, we dry inside of the doors, because we know he would dry the inside of the doors. 

In this way the Spirit does the prompting, the growing, the changing. He gives us nudges, he gives us feelings, and thoughts. And we need to practice to be able to recognize his voice and let HIM change us. And in this way we walk in faith even after we're saved. And we see that YOU! Continue in the spirit in faith. And any efforts that are purely our own don’t actually change us. They are waste of effort, done in vain. Which for the Galatians means listening to the Judaizers - getting circumcised, following the law of Moses 

This won’t change them or grow them. And they had experienced the Spirit of God in their salvation and their initial walking in the Spirit only to forsake living in faith in exchange for the legalism offered by the Judaizers. 

And so Paul asks. . . 

Question 5 (Verse 4): Did you suffer so many things in vain?

This verse is a difficult verse to understand properly. It hinges on the Greek word here translated “suffer.” Most instances of this word in the NT are translated in the unfavorable sense of “experience suffering,” referring to persecution. The Revised Standard version says it differently, “Did you experience so many things in vain? - if it really is in vain?” 

The options for understanding what this verse means are the following: Did you suffer persecution for nothing? OR, Have you had such remarkable experiences of the Spirit for nothing? Galatians doesn’t really address persecution and the second interpretation seems to fit better contextually so I would suggest the second. And if that’s the true intent of the verse these last two questions could read something like this: After experiencing the Spirit bring you to faith and sustain you in your early time as a believer, have you exchanged the working of the Spirit through faith in your life for a works based sanctification prescribed by the Judiazers? Did you experience life in the Spirit and all that he taught you for nothing? 

Are you exchanging the blessings of the Spirit for empty works and rituals without power? WHY? WHY? WHY? Which leads us to the final question: 

Question 6 (verse 5 and 6): 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?

Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness? 

Finally, question 6. It has two parts. Let’s work through the first now.

The first part of the question can be simplified as, “Does God work through obedience to the law or by faith?” After all, only God supplies the spirit or perform miracles. Does he do this because of our belief in Him or because we DO something that earns it? This is a summary question of the previous 5 questions. And Paul has answered this question in his previous questions by appealing to the Galatians experiences in the faith 

He’s summarizing his 6 rhetorical questions by saying: YOU know God works through faith. So let’s revisit the 6 questions with Paul's implied answers first before moving on to see how the example of Abraham demonstrates that God works by faith. 

Let’s see again how Paul is loudly calling for a course correction: 

■ Question 1: Who has bewitched you? Nobody - you’re being really foolish. 

■ Question 2: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? We receive the Spirit by faith.

■ Question 3: Are you so foolish? Yes, yes they are.

■ Question 4: After having begun in the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh? No, salvation comes through faith and we continue on in faith.

■ Question 5: Did you experience the Spirit in vain? Only if we give up walking in faith and turn to empty works.

■ Question 6: Does God work through obedience to the law or by faith? By faith.

 3 Observations Abraham

Last year we taught through James and one of the things we learned was that Martin Luther thought James was an “epistle of straw.” Well, for all the Luther lovers in the audience I’m pleased to let you know that Luther commented this about Galatians: “If they took my advice, they would print only the books containing doctrine, like Galatians.” And we’re been studying some doctrine in Galatians and now we’re going to dive further into doctrine. We’re done with Paul’s questions to the Galatians which addressed the arguments of the Judiazers through the Galatians' own personal experience.

And now we’re going to move into a scriptural argument in response to the Judaizers. Let’s read verses 5-9.

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”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 

Paul is going to argue against the Judiazers using the person of Abraham. And he’s addressing the same topic he has been - does God move, does he give the Spirit and call hearts to himself and work miracles and provide comfort and growth and joy because of something that the Galatians have done or on his own accord, through faith? Can we “earn” God’s working in our lives through the keeping of the law or other legalistic guidelines? 

So why does he use Abraham as the scriptural example to support his argument here? The Judaizers hold Abraham in the highest regard. In rabbinic writings, Abraham is often affectionately called “a bag of myrrh,” for “just as myrrh is the most excellent of spices, so Abraham was the chief of all righteous men” (Cant. Rab. 1.13). 

Richard N. Longenecker, Galatians, vol. 41, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1990), 110. 

Paul is going to use the Judaizers most respected character, Abraham, to undermine the Juadiazers arguments. Let’s look with Paul at Abraham with 3 observations about these verses ○ Observation #1: God counted Abraham righteous through faith

Galatians 3:6 Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” 

Paul’s question is: Does God work through faith or through works of the law? To show that God works through hearing with faith he points to Abraham. To support his argument through Abraham, his example must demonstrate that God moved through hearing with faith rather than human effort. In Genesis 15 God comes to Abraham and says, “Fear not, I am your shield. I will bless you.” 

Abram responds, “Ok. But I don’t have an heir. I’m childless.” Abram wants an heir. God says, “I’ll give you an heir. And not only that, I’ll give you more heirs than there are stars in the sky.” And then Genesis says this, as quoted in Galatians, “And he believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness.” God made a promise to Abram and Abram fully believed in God’s promise to him.  And God counted Abraham righteous because he believed 

What did this look like? What was Abraham thinking and approaching this in his mind that made him be considered righteous? Romans 4:20-22 tells us more about Abram’s mindset here:

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 

Abraham’s mindset: He was not deterred by thoughts or the temptation of unbelief. Even before the promise came to pass he strengthened his faith and praised God. He stood firm in his conviction that God would do what he said. With this demonstration of faith God counted him righteous.

The Abrahamic covenant of circumcision was not in place yet so this declaration of righteousness was not related to circumcision, or works. His righteousness was declared apart from works. God counted Abraham righteous through faith. As we consider our own walk of faith we can be aided by following Abraham’s example: 

● Reject temptation to doubt. 

● Praise God throughout.

● Stand firm.

Observation #2: God considers a “son of Abraham”

As someone who hears the promises of God and believes in them 

Galatians 3:7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 

“Father Abraham” - Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord.

Ryken’s take on the Judaizer’s version, “Father Abraham had many sons, And many sons had Father Abraham; And I am one of them, but you are not, So let’s all get together for a little procedure we like to call circumcision.”Both Paul’s arguments and the Judaizer’s arguments to the Galatians center around Abraham - specifically, who and how to become a “son of Abraham.” The Judaizers claimed that in order to become a “son of Abraham,” one had to be circumcised according to the Abrahamic covenant.  But Paul is asserting that it is “those of faith who are sons.” That it is not those of physical descent who are sons of Abraham, but those of spiritual descent - those who share in “hearing by faith” 

If Abraham was counted righteous through faith, the same can be said of anyone who believes in the promises of God. The mechanism by which God counts a person righteous must be consistent throughout time. And if we can show that this applied to Abraham, we can embrace that God works the same way today. In this way the old sunday school song is true - just as Abraham believed God’s promises and was counted righteous, so we too believe in God’s fulfilled promises in Jesus and are counted righteous - apart from works.

Romans 4 is really the best commentary on this idea so let’s read:

Romans 4:16, “(Righteousness) depends on faith in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring - not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” Abraham is the father of us all in the sense that we share his faith - the belief in the promise of God. “Righteousness depends on faith.” In this way we’re dependant on grace as we “share the faith of Abraham.” Abraham is noted and praised throughout the NT not for getting circumcised, but for his belief in God. And we’re instructed to follow him in his belief and are therefore considered his “offspring.” 

Observation #3: God always intended to provide a way for the Gentiles to be justified through faith 

Galatians 3:8-9 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of  faith."

Here we see the conclusion of Paul’s line of thought. Follow it with me here. The original question from verse 6 was: 

Does God work through works of the law or by hearing with faith? Abraham believed God and was counted righteous Those like Abraham, who believe God and stand on his promises are also justified through faith. These are the “sons of Abraham.” And God always intended it this way, even to the extent that he justifies Gentiles, Galatians, by faith, as God told Abraham.

This would be the capstone of Paul’s argument. Not only do you not need to be born a Jew - you don’t have to become one either. God provided a way for Gentiles apart from the customs and law of the Jews and this was God’s plan all along. In verses 6-9, Paul is quoting Genesis 12:3. In Genesis 12 God calls Abram out from his people to “go.” 

“Go” to a land he doesn’t know. A strange land away from his people and his family. And God says that he will bless Abram. But not just Abraham, but all the families of the earth: 

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 

This is quite a remarkable story of faith of Abram. But what we learn in Galatians is just as remarkable. The meaning of the phrase “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” But we see here in Galatians commentary on this promise that clarifies it in a remarkable way. In Genesis when God tells Abraham that through Abraham all the nations shall be blessed, he means that the all the nations of the earth would have access to salvation through faith - that’s the “gospel” or good news. He was telling Abraham the gospel beforehand - remarkable! 

Conclusion: God has always (from the time of Abraham to now) declared a person righteous based only on their belief in His word, not through any law or ritual or tradition. Abraham as an example of righteousness through faith as a theme from the beginning strengthens the Galatians in resisting the arguments of Judiazers 

Conclusion 

So tonight we see the passion of Paul - aggressively calling the Galatians to return to grace, To correct their course from a heading of legalism leading to disaster. To a grace based faith leading to resting in the finished work of Christ. Through 6 questions and 3 observations. And we can learn from the tone of Paul, the examples of experience and the person of Abraham to strengthen our own understanding of God’s plan of salvation and growth in Christ. And ensure that our own course it pointed to grace, to Jesus, and faith in Him.