May 21, 2001
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June 17 Lesson
Whether folks know it or not--faith is logical
___Galatians 3:1-18
___1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
___6Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
___10All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." 11Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." 12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. 15Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. 17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
___By Don Guthrie
___"For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, no explanation is possible"--John LaFarge
___"The fool has said in his heart there is no God."--Psalm 14:1
___Most people don't know it, but faith is logical. Like non-faith, it rests on unprovable assumptions and then uses logic to discern truth. The bottom line is that Christians are allowed to think. In fact, we are never safe until we do.
___In Galatians 3, Paul is locked in a struggle for the spiritual health of the people he loves. Months after his departure, false teachers came to Galatia and convinced the believers that in addition to faith, the "works" of Jewish religion (circumcision, kosher food, Sabbath rest, etc.) were necessary for a full and fulfilling relationship with God.
___Paul's emotions are on edge. The long conflict and now the near loss of these friends in Galatia have made him angry. At times, he is blunt. Other times, he pleads and gently persuades. The one constant for Paul, however, is his logic.
___Paul has a brilliant mind. With a razor-sharp insight and years of study and reflection stored up for a moment like this, Paul writes the third chapter of this book for his unthinking friends. "You foolish (anoetos) Galatians," he says in verse 1 (using the Greek word for mindlessness or mental laziness). Paul's concern was not that the Galatians lacked intelligence, but rather that they failed to use the intelligence they had. Some Christians who "pay" tithes would be served if they also "paid" attention.
___Problems in the church often can be traced to charismatic individuals who convince people to follow without thinking. Note verse 1: "Who has bewitched you (put you under a spell)?"
___Do you know the word "mesmerized"? It comes from the story of Friedrich Anton Mesmer, who in 1776 led people of Europe astray by dramatic demonstrations of psychic power. He brainwashed them!
___The stories are common (even in our day) of believers who desert the purity of the gospel for a cult or a corrupted form of faith under the influence of a person such as this. Few things are more tragic. The only safeguard from false teaching is consistent, logical, biblical thinking. Paul's letter is an excellent example.
___Experience proves God is available through faith
___In verses 1-5, Paul reminds the Galatians of the preaching that led to their conversion. On his first visit, Paul preached Christ. Verse 1 says Christ was "publicly portrayed as crucified."
___Paul was a powerful preacher. Likely, the Galatians could still remember the vivid images he painted in their minds as he described and explained the crucifixion of Christ. They could hear the hammer on the nails. They could feel the darkness as Christ took sin upon himself and blotted it out by his sacrificial death. How completely God had satisfied the demands of righteousness. How fully he had healed the separation between humans and himself. As the Galatians listened, they believed and were converted.
___As a result of their faith, the Holy Spirit came to the Galatians in obvious and visible ways. New Testament believers often were blessed with sensory and sensational proof of the Holy Spirit's work. Verse 5 indicates the Galatians experienced miracles.
___Some modern Christians believe the "sign gifts" continue to the present day, as proof of the Spirit's presence. Paul, in later letters, indicates an expectation that some authenticating gifts, necessary in the early stages, would naturally fade away as the church grew more aware of the Spirit's unseen presence.
___Paul's main point, however, is that the Spirit came to the Galatians not as the result of observing Jewish legal requirements. The Holy Spirit came as a result of faith. Why would God bless them early on one basis and then later change his requirements? Their own experience proved God was available through faith.
___Reasoning from experience can be tricky. Perhaps Paul felt comfortable in doing so because he was present at the events described. As an eyewitness, he knew the Galatian experience was consistent with scriptural truth. Writing later in Romans, Paul says all men will be without excuse at the day of judgment. Believers and non-believers will all be able to point to experiences that proved the existence of God beyond a reasonable doubt, Romans 1:19-20.
___A common experience of grace (for believers and non-believers) is to stand beside an ocean or under a star-filled sky and to be shocked awake to the beauty and complexity of the created universe.
___Chevis Horne tells a delightful story of an atheist and his son who are walking one night under a beautiful sky. As they walk, the son turns to his father and says, "Dad, do you think God knows that we don't believe in him?" If we will pay attention to our experiences, they will lead us to God.
___The Bible proves God is available through faith
___If the Galatians can reason from their experiences, they also can reason from the Scripture. In a surprise move, Paul turned to the Old Testament (the home turf of his opponents) to prove that even Abraham knew God through faith.
___The ancient world had a deep respect for Judaism. Even those who were not believers appreciated the lofty monotheism and the high moral standards of the Jewish religion. As a result, Abraham (the father of the Jewish faith) was a person of almost universal respect. Likely, his reputation had been used by Judaizers to convince Christians to take up Jewish practices. It was a persuasive argument.
___Under careful and thoughtful Bible study, however, that logic fails. "Abraham," says Paul, "lived 430 years before any of the Jewish requirements were revealed in the law through Moses." When Abraham was reckoned as righteous (justified, verse 6), it was not by any religious deed or discipline; it was through faith.
___The story is as fascinating as it is familiar. An old man who had been promised a son, Abraham trusted God with all his heart and committed himself to the adventure of faith, and God was faithful. "So," says Paul, "Abraham's real sons are not those who practice the Jewish faith or try to make Christians keep its legal requirements. Abraham's real sons are those who join him in the adventure of trusting God, verse 7.
___Not only did Abraham believe God, he believed the gospel. In verse 8, Paul quotes Genesis 12:3. Abraham knew someday all the nations would be blessed in him! Not only his descendants, but the whole world would be included in the family. The Judaizers claimed Jews had a special relationship with God. Paul's insight was that even Abraham saw the day when the "family" would include people on the basis faith rather than physical descent.
___The Bible proves God is not available through law
___Paul's third point also is based in the Bible. Having portrayed the positive results of faith, he now warns against the negative results of works.
___Doesn't the Old Testament say people are cursed who do not abide by the law, verse 10? The key word is abide (meno, Greek--to continue or remain). The law's blessings only are offered to the adherents who keep it day after day without any interruption or failure.
___A perfect record is an impossibility for notoriously unreliable humans. I have good days and bad. Sometimes I'm strong and others I'm weak. It is not an excuse--it's the truth. Abiding in the law is an impossible standard.
___A second key is the word "all." No selectivity is allowed. Every law must be obeyed if it is to be the source of a right relationship with God. No fair trying to trade an outstanding attention to one law for a poor performance in another. Obedience is required in every category, every commandment.
___Our legal system operates in the same way. Suppose I never killed anyone (I haven't), but one day in a fit of rage I hit someone and take their life. It would be hard to plead innocence because it only happened one time. Suppose, as the illustration continues, that I do not murder, but I do rob banks. I still have difficulty claiming innocence. If law is the basis for my defense, I must do it perfectly and completely.
___Paul's logic is as simple as it is profound--unless you keep all the law all the time, you are under a curse.
___The logic of life--Christ
___All of this logic finally brings Paul to a wonderful conclusion: No one is justified by the law, verse 11. Only Christ can redeem us from the inevitable curse the law brings, verse 13.
___Further, even human courts refuse contracts that have been changed after they are signed. It is illegal. It is unethical, verse 15. Since God promised salvation to Abraham (and to all of us through him) before there ever was a law, the law which came later cannot change or amend the original covenant. Christ is still God's promise and faith is its fulfillment.
___In a later letter, Paul will write, "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God. God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believed," 1 Corinthians 1:21. The logic of life instructs all men to turn to Christ. It makes sense to be saved through faith.
For thought and discussion
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