4 reminders to focus on the wisdom of faith
I. Be Aware Of Foolishness and Deception That Draws One Away From Christ
Galatians 3:1 - You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
A. Consider the enticement of works
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Galatians 2:15-16 - We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
B. Foolishness sets aside the purpose and testimony of Christ’s crucifixion
Galatians 2:21 - I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
Acts 10:39-41 - We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 - For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
II. Remember That Salvation Is About Receiving the Spirit By Faith
Galatians 3:2 - This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
A. The Holy Spirit had to rescue and regenerate you
John 6:63 - It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
Titus 3:5-7 - He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
B. Reinforcing the foundation of your salvation testimony helps you move forward wisely
Romans 3:28 - For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Ephesians 1:13-14 - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
III. Wisdom Calls Us to Continue and Finish How We Start
Galatians 3:3 - Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
A. There is a fundamental difference and opposition between the Spirit and the flesh
John 3:5-6 - Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Romans 8:6-8 - For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
B. If the Spirit made you alive in Christ, the Spirit empowers you to live for Christ
Galatians 2:19-20 - For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 5:25-26 - If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
C. Confusing the gospel stunts your growth
Hebrews 5:12 - For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
Hebrews 6:1 - Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…
IV. Suffering and Miraculous Signs Point to Faith Rather Than the Law
Galatians 3:4-5 - Did you suffer so many things in vain–if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
A. Legalism robs suffering of purpose
1 Peter 1:6-7 - In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ…
B. The miraculous signs of the early church were evidence of the spirit and of faith
Hebrews 2:1-4 - For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
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