Galatians 3:2-5. 2Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith
The questions keep coming. Clearly, the Galatians know that they have received the Spirit, but what they are forgetting is how. How did God give his presence to them? By law-keeping or by hearing with faith? This is Paul’s first mention of the giving of the Spirit. It will also be his first mention of the “flesh.” These contrasts (Spirit and flesh, law and faith) will continue to dominate the rest of the letter.
The Galatians are losing touch with their experience in Christ. They have had an experience of the Spirit, an experience of living by faith, and yet now, will they choose to give up on that experience? They began by the Spirit, yet now they believe they can continue in the flesh? But the Christian’s primary experience must be one of faith, not works—of simple trust in God and his presence in us by the Son and the Spirit: “the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son (2:20).”
Let me ask you, “How do you think you became a Christian?” Did you complete a series of religious tasks and then a pastor declared you to be saved? No! You became a Christian “by hearing with faith.” You heard the gospel and believed it.
Now let me ask you a question that is just as important: “How are you growing as a Christian?” This is where your answer needs to be the same—“by hearing with faith.” By faith, you have received everything that God has to offer—his very own life inside of you by the Spirit of Christ. So, what is your next step? Working harder to get more? There is no more beyond union with Christ. Bargaining with God so as to be blessed? In Christ, you are as blessed as you’re ever going to be. Anxiously trying to avoid displeasing God? Would God give his Son’s life for and to someone he is displeased with? Think! Stop being foolish.
Before we end this reading, I want you to notice the word “supplies” (v. 5). This is the Greek word epichoregeo. The root word is “dance.” Epichoregeo means to give abundantly, joyfully, like throwing a dance party. Union with Christ is not a scrap of grace that empowers our law-keeping. It’s a party! A choreographed dance with God himself through life, enjoying the free gift of the Spirit in us. It is the eternal Trinitarian dance that we are now invited into as we choose to live by faith.
You: In what ways have you abandoned faith for works of the law?
You in Christ: How does union with Christ prove that we can’t earn our salvation?
Christ in you: How would dancing with Christ through life look different from the way you usually approach life?
Pray: Father, I’ve been a fool to think I can earn your presence. Let’s dance. Amen.
