The previous Bible study topic, "Unconditional" dealt with the unconditional character of God's love. This present topic explores the fact that our faith in God's love for us, our faith in his accomplished work on the cross of Calvary, is what qualifies us for eternal life.
"O Foolish Galatians"
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
First of all, just how much weight is there in called anyone, 'foolish'? In the Old Testament language, 'foolish' indicates one who does not know God, whether through complete ignorance, or through conscious decision to reject Him even He is acknowledged. The psalmist wrote, "The fool has said in his heart, 'there is no God,' " (Psalm 14:1).
Secondly, here is another indictment, "who hath bewitched you?!" 'Not obeying the truth' is rebellion, which, the Bible says,"is as the sin of witchcraft" (I Samuel 15:23). In this case, the Galatian believers are not behaving as if they believe the truth of Jesus' propitiatory, all-sufficient death and his liberating resurrection. To a man like Paul, who knows how to frame and support an argument, the wandering Galatians must be in the grip of something sinister. Hence, he describes them as bewitched, strong language indeed.
One of the daily scourges for the Apostles' generation was the counter-efforts of legalistic 'evangelists' who dogged the footsteps of Paul and his fellow-workers, and perverted the pure gospelhe had brought to the Gentile churches. These "Judaizers" Paul likened to "wolves" (Acts 20:29) ravaging the flock, in their zeal to shackle the Gentile Christians to the laws of the Old Covenant. The Galatians were just one example of a church body living the parable of the Sower. They had heard the gospel of Jesus the Christ, and believed, then the Judaizers had come in to snatch away their perfect liberty in Christ, with a list of requirements in addition to faith. Insofar as they bought into this, the new Christians were behaving like 'fools', people who did not know God. There cannot have been a more teeth-grinding sort of frustration for Paul, of all people. He had been converted by Christ himself, to life in Christ, out from religious slavery to the Law, which brought only death, enhancing constantly the separation between man and God.
Galatians 1:8-9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
I underlined that, because Paul thought it important enough to repeat. What Paul taught to the Gentiles was the same message he had taught to the Jews: Christ the Son of God, Christ crucified for our sins, Christ resurrected and coming again. The only qualification for salvation purchased through Christ's innocent blood, belief and trust - simply put, faith.
It is the nature of sinful man, it goes to the very root of pride as it entered in the Garden of Eden, to insist that "it just cannot be that simple." We want some credit to ourselves, and so we try in every way to sneak something in that we can claim: how many good deeds done today, how much money given this year, how clean is my house, are all my children's clothes pressed for Sunday. And I think Paul would tell us in today's parlance, "Really, all these things are wonderful insofar as they are done from your gratitude for and love for Christ. But all of these things counted up in trade or payment for what Christ offers you - they rate nothing. And whoever tells you differently, will be full of regret when facing Jesus."
"Performance - Not a Problem"
I Corinthians 1:26-30 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption...
I personally can and do identify with all of the 'performance issues' we like to take on ourselves daily, until we have a lifetime performance complex of sorts. I was accomplished and lauded for my schooldays and other childhood pursuits, and now that I am a wife and mother of six children, responsible for homeschooling and a large household, I deal with a hefty plateful. Many days are failing days in my own eyes. Some days I catch the devil's whisperings: "No wonder you feel unappreciated and unloved...look how you messed that up!"
But whether I have a tantrum child saying scathing things to me and wind up hurling them back, or you lose your job, or in whatever way we fail to perform, ...these are all things of the world.
Jesus declared, "I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) So nothing in or of this world can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus, not death or life, not angels or principalities, powers, things that happen or will happen, not height or depth or anything else." (Romans 8:38)
So we must remind ourselves and each other, that our performance is not a problem, not an obstacle to God's love or to His promises. Yes, we should do our best to obey, while understanding that this is NOT a TEST. The purpose in our obedience is to help us grow towards Him, not the other way around. Our failures can be worked together for good to us, if we take from them the perspective that because of unworthiness, we qualify for God's grace, and have received forgiveness.
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