Making Our Way to Calvary - Pt 2

 

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”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 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.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:1–9 ESV).

 

It is easy to be lulled into complacency when we think of the Cross of Christ. However, the Reformers, particularly Martin Luther, thought much differently. He viewed our reading today as a critical defense of justification by faith alone, highlighting that the Spirit is received through hearing the Gospel, not by works of the law. Luther argued that believers are justified through faith and that true spiritual life begins and continues by trusting in Christ’s finished work in His death on the cross. In his Lectures on Galatians (1535), he wrote:

 

“Therefore a man becomes a Christian, not by working but by listening. And so anyone who wants to exert himself toward righteousness must first exert himself in listening to the Gospel. Now when he has heard and accepted this, let him joyfully give thanks to God, and then let him exert himself in good works that are commanded in the Law; thus the Law and works will follow hearing with faith.”

 

The Christian faith has a central event that connects heaven and earth. That event is the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul says, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul understood the significance of the cross as being the main thing. The cross shows victory, forgiveness, power, and freedom. The Galatians had lost sight of the cross, so Paul reminded them “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.” He then asked, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?” (Galatians 3:1-2). The Galatians’ focus was on what they could do instead of what Christ had already done for them on the cross, and how the Holy Spirit could now guide them.

 

We must reassert our focus on what God has done on our behalf. The Gospel is of no effect if we are not both preaching it and listening to it. This is the only means of life!