Sermon: Jesus Christ, Publicly Portrayed as Crucified Galatians 3:1-9
Truth Taught-The Galatians were justified by faith, the same way Abraham was
Introduction
When Paul preached the Gospel of free grace the Holy Spirit who had set him apart for this exact ministry followed through and when people heard that Jesus would forgive their sins God worked and they believed.
Here’s the example of the power Paul saw when God moved in his midst…
1 Thessalonians 1:4–8 (ESV)
4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
This was a similar event that the Galatians had experienced and one in which they were going to turn away from. God sent His chosen Apostle to the rescue and these Judaizers would be overthrown and His people liberated through Paul’s ongoing ministry.
Please Stand
Galatians 3:1–9 (ESV)
3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 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.
1. Paul’s Preaching was a Portrait of Christ Crucified (3:1)
3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Through the Apostle’s preaching, he had painted a master portrait of Jesus’ death on the cross. He had preached to them all aspects of the crucifixion and what it all meant to all who believed. He taught them of the perfect life Jesus lived free from sin and how He was completely obedient to the Father. He taught that Jesus went to the cross of His own accord and voluntarily gave His life away to save sinners. He taught them about the tomb and the resurrection. As He preached truth to them, it seemed that they were responding and believing. Paul painted a masterpiece of Jesus Christ, crucified.
Then as the Gospel was beginning to take hold Satan too was at work. He brought in false teachers. These Judaizers were graffiti artists. They were painting their obscenities all over this masterpiece of the Gospel of grace. They were seeking to paint over the truth and ruin the work Paul had accomplished in their midst.
He tells the Galatian Christians that it’s like they were under some sort of witch’s spell. They were being seduced by false teaching so quickly that Paul was literally exasperated and confused by their quickly turning to a different Gospel.
1 Timothy 4:1 (ESV)
4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
Within these Galatian Churches, there were, no doubt, true believers who were not turning away from the faith. But it seems the big picture is that the Churches were being turned as they were falling for this witch’s incantation.
The natural man will always drift off into myths and superstitions. We see this today as being very prevalent. Everyone believes something. Most have been taken in by myths and fantasies rather than the simple truth of God. Lost people often times seek for more so they can get the glory rather than accepting the simple truth of the Gospel.
Paul’s preaching was straight forward, simple and to the point. William Perkins wrote about the Apostle and said this, There was nothing obscure about his preaching. He went on to say it was simple and the simpler the better. In other words, most everyone could understand what Paul told them. It made sense but it was not fluff. No smoke and mirrors where Paul was concerned.
Deceitful spirits and demonic teaching will always find a way to entice people and lure them away from truth. We are in the latter times now and we can see that there are so many deceitful spirits and demons at work leading people away from the truth. It was like that in Paul’s day as well.
2. The Gospel Confirmed by Experience: Beginning, Progressing and Suffering by Faith Alone (3:2-5)
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 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—
Here we have a few fastmoving questions Paul asks. We could summarize his questions with one. Did you receive the Spirit by observing the Law, or by believing the truth you heard? The obvious answer is that they received the Holy Spirit by faith and by believing what they heard.
Paul wanted them to think with him and to travel back in time to when they were first hearing the Word of God and seeing God work in their midst. The Galatians received the Holy Spirit without any assistance from the Mosaic Law. They did not receive the Spirit through circumcision, Sabbath keeping, dietary food laws or any other Jewish tradition. The Galatians had received the Holy Spirit when they believed what Paul preached, namely, Christ crucified.
We must remember that these Galatians were Gentiles. They had never observed the Mosaic Law, ever. They did not obey it when they were saved, so Paul’s argument is why would they think they would be required to obey Jewish Law and traditions now, in order to remain a Christian?
He appeals to their experience. We too often can right off experience. Experience minus theology will always lead to Gospel distortion and a false spirituality but we must keep all things in balance and also remember that theology without experience leads to dead orthodoxy. I know people who can answer a few Bible questions correctly but have no spiritual life within them.
Paul here is asking them about their source of spiritual life. Did they receive life by observing the Law or by faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Only someone with wrong thinking…foolish thinking could ever come to the conclusion that their spiritual life begins by faith but then is carried out by works. His argument is that it is all a work of the Spirit through faith from start to finish.
How about your experiencing of suffering for Christ?
4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
Like all first century believers, there was persecution on some level. They suffered for their faith in Christ. This is for us an odd form of reasoning. For Paul, suffering was a mark of being a true believer and being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. For us, we may often think that suffering is an indicator that God is far away and not close.
Romans 8:12–17 (ESV)
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Why do we think suffering is something that Christians are to be exempt from? The Bible in many places tells us that it is suffering for Christ’s sake that is a mark of the believer.
The point is that they received the Holy Spirit by faith and He manifested Himself through their changed lives and their suffering for Christ.
3. The Case Study: Was Abraham Justified by Faith or by Works of the Law? (3:6-9)
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 begins verse 6 by stating clearly that even Abraham was considered to be righteous before God because he believed God not through the Law of Moses. The point being…
Genesis 15:1–6 (ESV)
15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Remember, to be justified before God is to be counted righteous by God. So, Abraham was justified by faith, he believed God.
Paul’s Abraham case study is brilliant and brief. Who did all the Jews revere more than any other man? Abraham. So, Paul takes their hero and says okay let’s look at Abraham. Genesis 15 tells us he was not justified by works but by faith.
Another good reason to use Abraham as his case study was that it was impossible for Abraham to use the Mosaic Law as a means of justification because there was no Mosaic Law given yet. That didn’t happen for centuries. So, Abraham had to be justified without Law keeping seeing as the was no Mosaic Law to keep.
Prior to the Mosaic Law some may say there was a Law for Abraham to keep. They are correct. However, these acts of obedience that mark Abraham as a man of faith also take place after God had already declared him to be righteous. Abraham was circumcised in Genesis 17 but declared righteous in Genesis 15. He was going to sacrifice his son Isaac as an act of obedience, but that took place in Genesis 22, Abraham was declared righteous in Genesis 15. So, even those arguments fall flat. The Apostle uses him as an example because he was justified by faith and it was evident because God declared it to be so.
John 8:56–58 (ESV)
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
When God told Abraham about the coming Messiah, Abraham rejoiced. He praised God and believed. He trusted God, believed everything God told him and he rejoiced.
So, we could rightly say the Gospel was preached to Abraham. It was a Gospel of grace through faith. He heard it believed it and rejoiced…no works involved.
So then, who are the sons of Abraham? Who are his rightful heirs? Who are the offspring of the Covenant?
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
The nations and families that God promised to bless through Abraham are those people who have faith in Jesus like Abraham did. Salvation is the same in both Old and New Testament. What is key is not whether someone can trace their Jewish lineage back to Abraham or not but do they share his same faith?
The Gentile Galatians who share Abraham’s faith are more Jewish than the Jews who were seeking to distort the Gospel by their false teaching which included works. Beloved, if you share Abraham’s faith you are a son or daughter of Abraham and you are more Jewish that a man who practices Judaism today and does not believe Jesus.
Paul teaches this same thing in Romans 4. Jesus even taught it in John 8…
Abraham believed God and all who believe God are Abraham’s spiritual children. He is the prototype of the Gentile Christians. The only difference between us and Abraham is he trusted all God said and looked forward to Christ and we trust all God has told us in His Word and we look back to Christ. Abraham’s sons of faith are a matter of grace not race.
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.
Conclusion
I pray we too would completely trust Christ alone for our justification. No works, human deeds or merits can add to Jesus Christ’s finish work on the cross. Trust Christ alone and be saved from all your sin and be accepted by God.
No more, my God, I boast no more
Of all the duties I have done;
I quit the hopes I held before,
To trust the merits of thy Son
(Isaac Watts)
Lord’s Supper
Benediction
2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (ESV)
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Resources Used:
Galatians by Peter Barnes
Galatians by Timothy George
Galatians: A Theological Interpretation by A. Blake White
