Day 906: Spellbound - Galatians 3 vs 1 - 10

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2-3 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 (ending with) the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain - if indeed it was in vain? 5-6 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”?

7-8 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify (count righteous) 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. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Galatians 3:1-10 English Standard Version

The apostle Paul used an unusual word for what happened to the Christians he was writing to. He says that they had been 'bewitched'. The Greek word meant someone who'd been deceived by 'an evil eye'. Our English word 'fascinate' comes from that word Paul used, and means to control by the eye (like a snake), or keep someone spellbound. It’s like hypnotism. But what had Paul originally set before their eyes? (vs 1)

Paul had done what all faithful preachers should do. He had used words to graphically set what Jesus Christ had done on the cross before their eyes. I suspect he was never a monotonous preacher. The message of Christ and the cross should always be proclaimed passionately. What had it led to in the lives of the hearers? (vs 2-3)

They had received a new birth. It seems also that they had experienced what many believers in those early days experienced, namely, a visible moving of the Holy Spirit that resulted in miracles among them, as verses 5 and 6 indicate. Those were days of the apostles. The book called Hebrews tells us how God's salvation was “first announced by the Lord” – and then “confirmed by those who heard him. And God testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” (Hebrews 2:3-4)

But after a while it seems that some people, perhaps with powerful personalities, had dangled other teachings before the eyes of the Galatians and 'bewitched' them into believing they needed something more than Jesus, and what He accomplished on the cross, to make them perfect in God' sight. How does Paul respond to such teaching? (vs 5-6)

He pointed them to what the Old Testament said about Abraham – a man whom all devout Jews regarded as the 'father of all who have faith'. Paul refers to an incident in the Book of Genesis where God took Abram outside and said to him: “Look towards heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them - so shall your offspring be!” Abram (as he was called at that time) was growing older and had no sons yet. But we read: “He believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:5-6) Paul describes what happened there as “hearing with faith”. Believing God's promise results in being counted as righteous.

Abraham's response to the good news God promised him was just like believing the good news promised in the message of the gospel. (vs 7-8) That's why Paul didn't want them to now build the rest of their lives as if everything depended on their keeping the Law. Because if they didn't keep the Law to perfection, they would be condemned for not doing ALL that the Law required.

People can still be bewitched today. Smooth talking preachers have led multitudes into cults. Others have turned the gospel into a channel for prosperity. They dazzle audiences with all sorts of clever deceptions. But the common thread in all deceptive 'gospels' is that they take our eyes off Jesus and His perfectly finished work of the cross. They add rules which they insist we must follow if we want to be saved. But Paul says it is by hearing with faith, and believing God, that we are counted by Him as righteous in His sight. Because of Jesus.