Galatians 3:1-6 ESV
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by 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? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 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 counted to him as righteousness”?
Jesus Christ Crucified
Why was Jesus Christ crucified (put to death) on that cross?
Well, the reason evil men did that is because they hated Jesus and what he
stood for and the things that he said and did. And they were jealous of him and
feared their own positions of power and influence over the people were being
threatened by his temporary popularity among the people, because of all the
miracles that he performed. And they hated him because he claimed to be God.
But that is not the only or the primary reason Jesus was crucified
on that cross. It was in God’s plan that Jesus Christ, God the Son (the Son of
God) should die for us on that cross so that we might die with him to sin and
live to him and to his righteousness. For in his death he who knew no sin
became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. And he died
for our sins so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave
his life up for us and who was raised from the dead.
So, when we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-given
faith in him we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised
with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness. Our old self is crucified with him in order that
the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so what we would no longer be
enslaved to sin but to God and to his righteousness. So we are to no longer let
sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions, for sin must not
be our master.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom
6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Tit
2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44;
2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13]
Perfected by the Flesh?
What is the flesh? It is the human body, the human nature,
of human origin. Generally it is in reference to actions done apart from faith
in God, independent of God, of ourselves, of our own choosing, which are
displeasing to the Lord. They are actions that originate from self and are
empowered by self and not by God. And to walk according to the flesh will land
us in hell, not in heaven, for we are to walk according to the Spirit.
Now, in this passage in Galatians 3 the reference is to
those who are trying to gain salvation from sin via works done in the flesh
which are not of God but of their own doing. They were works required of God
under the Old Covenant that are no longer required under the New Covenant. They
are liturgical, ceremonial, purification, sacrificial and dietary laws and
restrictions of the Old Covenant which are not required of believers in Jesus
Christ.
But there is a broader lesson to be learned here other than
just that we should not try to earn our salvation via trying to keep the Old
Covenant ceremonial and liturgical laws. And that is that we are not to try to
be saved via making it up ourselves, doing it our way, according to our own
flesh. For we are saved by God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus
Christ, which is not of our own doing, but that which originates with and comes
from God.
What is Faith?
So, what is faith? Faith is divine persuasion. So what does
God persuade us to do? He persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and
of our sinfulness and of our need to repent of (turn away from) our sins to
follow Jesus in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). How do I know this?
By reading the whole of the New Testament where it teaches us what it means to
have faith in Jesus Christ, which is evidenced by what we do.
But do you realize that we have many people today within the
gatherings of what is called “church” here in America, while claiming that they
have faith and that they are not trying to be saved by works, who are still
trying to be saved by the flesh and not by the Spirit? For they are following a
man-made gospel which does not teach dying with Christ to sin and living to God
and to his righteousness, which the Scriptures require for salvation from sin.
And, no, this is not works salvation. It is the only
salvation message that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught. If you are
not being taught that you must die to sin, not just once but daily, and that
you must follow the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands as part of saving
faith, then you are not being taught the true gospel but one created in the
minds of men in their deceitful scheming who are leading many people astray.
And they are leading them to believe in a gospel message
which does not put sin to death but which allows sin to continue to reign in
our mortal bodies, and which does not require obedience to our Lord but which
allows its adherents to keep on in disobedience to Jesus Christ. And so they
pacify them in their sins and they tell them lies that make them feel good about
themselves in their sins but they are sending them to hell on the promise of
heaven when they die.
So, we need to be made aware of what the Scriptures teach
regarding our salvation and the faith that saves, for Jesus said that if anyone
would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to
sin and to self), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of
living in sin and for self we will lose them for eternity. But if we die with
Christ to sin, for the sake of Jesus, we will have eternal life in him.
So, please be aware of the fact that if you continue in
deliberate and habitual sin after making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ,
and if you do not turn away from your sinful practices to follow Jesus in
obedience, you will not have eternal life with God no matter what faith you
profess in Jesus Christ. For Jesus said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord,
Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one DOING the will of God.
Have
Thine Own Way, Lord
Words
by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907
Music
by George C. Stebbins, 1907
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just
now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
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