THE AUDITORIUM SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS
MARCH 13TH, 2005
BREAKING THE SPELL
INTRODUCTION - The dedication that many have today
towards the world is almost robotic. People mindlessly live day in and day out
for reasons they cannot explain.
I. The
Apostle Paul makes two personal accusations:
A. He calls them foolish (verses 1 and 3).
- foolish means “no
understanding, thought or perception.”
1. The Lord Jesus called two of His disciples
“fools” in Luke 24:25 because they did not know what they should have
known.
2. The only cure for spiritual foolishness is
Biblical understanding.
3. It’s NOT WRONG to be ignorant because of
natural immaturity.
4. It IS WRONG, spiritually speaking, to be
purposely immature and willfully ignorant of God’s Word.
-
This is what Paul is referring to when he calls the Galatians foolish.
B. He accuses them of being bewitched (1).
- bewitched means to be under
a spell, or hypnotized.
1. “Who” had done this terrible thing, was a
question Paul wanted answered.
2. This false teacher stands accursed (1:9).
3. The logical candidate would be some false
teacher or preacher who had risen to influence in Paul’s absence (see II
Timothy 4:3-4).
C. Paul reminds the Galatian Christians that
they HAD a clear understanding of the Gospel when they were saved (1).
1. Christ was “evidently set forth, crucified
among you.”
- “evidently set forth” was a
term dealing with public announcements written on walls for all to see.
2. In other words, when Paul originally
preached the Gospel to them, and they were saved, they saw the finished work of
Christ so clearly in their minds that it was as though they were eye witnesses
of he crucifixion themselves.
D. So the Apostle Paul has established two
main problems in the Galatian churches:
1. They are willfully immature, which has
caused them to be gullible to false doctrines.
2. They are under the spell of some teacher
or preacher who has used their immaturity to cast a spell (a net of influence)
over them.
II. Paul
attempts to shake the Galatians by asking FOUR probing questions:
A. How did you receive the Spirit of God ?
(3:2)
- Was it by keeping the Law or
Faith in Christ?
1. If the false teachers were right then the
Galatians did not receive the Holy Spirit when they trusted Christ, because
they weren’t keeping the Law at the time.
2. Without the Holy Spirit, no man is saved (Romans
8:9).
3. By placing themselves under the Law, the
Galatians were denying that they were saved to begin with.
B. How will you be made perfect (or
spiritually mature) ? (3:3)
1. Of course, their answer to Paul would be: “We
are made mature by the Holy Spirit.”
2. In other words (verse 3), if you must keep
the Law to stay saved, then you must keep the Law to get saved to begin with.
3. The Galatians were being taught that
salvation by faith was the start in a right direction, but keeping the Law
finished what was started.
C. Why have you suffered persecution? (4)
1. The Galatian Christians had paid a
physical price for their faith.
2. Have you been suffering for your own
works, or for your faith in the Work of Christ?
D. What about miracles and answers to prayer? (5)
1. Were the miracles a result of “the works
of the Law, or by the hearing of faith?”
2. Miracles are by nature acts of God and are
the results of our faith in God.
Conclusion - The Christian life is a walk of faith from
beginning to end. Paul is building up to the most famous statement in the Word
of God: “The Just shall live by Faith.” (3:11)