The Law and Faith in Christ
Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”
But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
This reminds me that it is not through my efforts that I can do anything. I often find myself striving in my own efforts focused on the outcome I think should happen, and always falling short, instead of relying on the Holy Spirit to do the work in me as I look to Jesus with praise and thanksgiving, in surrender to Him. I get so caught up on trying to be a “good christian” that I lose my intimate relationship with Jesus, because He wants me to know Him, to love Him and fix my eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. I also look at the outside too often when God looks at the heart. I cant live by the Spirit if I am alwaya looking and focusing on what I see. I need to just believe God and what He says. When I believe Him, I will live differently automatically, trusting Him instead of leaning on my own understanding.
That’s True Bryn,
Our five senses often betray us when it comes to believing in God …” The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the Flesh…” Something’s gotta give. I would challenge you to consider this verse: …”Phillipians 3:10 (NIV) I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…” A friend once told me that there is no resurrection without death…Paul speaks extensively about dying to our carnal deeds, our flesh….. something’s gotta give indeed…. 🙂