April 15, 2023

Galatians 3: 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? (NIV)

God does not save us because of what we’ve done.*

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul addressed the slippery slope that the church was heading down. They were buying into the premise that converts had to become Jews before they could become Christians. So, he asks them, did you receive the Spirit while you were observing the law, or when you believed the gospel?

We know the answer to Paul’s question in today's highlighted verse, and hopefully it was an “aha moment” for the Galatians. We may think we are safe from the dangers posed by the “Judaizers,” as these people were called, because we know better than to think we have to observe the law before we can become a Christian. But we have slippery slopes of our own.

Slippery slope number one: While we acknowledge that we are free from the restrictions of the law, most Christians are burdened by the fear that they will never be good enough. They work as if someone is keeping score and that the more points they have, the better their chances of getting to heaven. Bad news, folks. You aren’t good enough and your score will never be high enough to save yourself.

So slippery slope number two: Works can’t save us; faith alone saves us. This is true . . . but . . . “Hear” and “believe” are verbs. Action words. Our active participation is essential to our salvation. What about repentance? Can we be saved if we don’t repent? Is it not something we must do?

In his letter, James gives us comprehensive insight into the faith/works dilemma. In chapter two, verse 14, he poses two questions of his own: What good is it if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can such faith save him? In verse 17, he says that faith that is not accompanied by action is dead. In verse 18, he proclaims that he will show his faith by what he does. And in verse 26, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Do we know what James is talking about? “Are you so foolish?” Paul asks in the verse following our text, “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” We can’t be saved without faith and action, but they don’t actually save us. Jesus does. Only his scorecard has enough points to win in the contest against sin and death. 

His shed blood, death, and resurrection are the reasons I will be welcomed into Heaven one day.*