Through the first two chapters of Galatians Pa= ul exposed external forces acting upon the Galatians. He exposed religion and its works,= and brought us back to focus on Christ as the truth of the gospel to rescue us = and be our life. In Chapter 3 and beyond, Paul begins to speak of the flesh versus the Spirit. Regarding the flesh, he now direct= ly exposes the Galatians. <= /o:p>

3:1 O f= oolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been openly portrayed crucified?

He addresses “foolish Galatians,” = not “dear brothers.” = They have the Galatian nature in the flesh.&nbs= p; Paul turns from the external influence of those distracting and enslaving them, to the Galatians themselves. They received an open portr= ayal of Jesus Christ crucified through Paul’s proclaiming Christ as the gospel. They believed.= How could they be so foolis= h to turn their eyes from such a captivating view of Christ?

Paul asks, “Who has bewitched you?” But he seems to t= ruly ask “how could you be fooled?= You saw and received Christ and His work, the true gospel. Why return to works in flesh after viewing something so real and powerful?”

3:2 Thi= s only I wish to learn from you, Did you receive the spirit by works of law or by = the hearing of faith?

Paul’s intends to reestablish the Galatians’ gaze on Christ. “Galatians, forget about all other issues. Have you lost your senses? Consider your experience. How did you receive the Spirit? You saw Christ crucified. You received the ‘hearing of faith.’ When you believed, you received the Spirit. Do you remember this?”

Israel never received t= he Spirit despite 1500 years of works of law.= What futility! Christ = came, died and rose to be the life giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). How foolish and futile to now go b= ack to law. It was superseded by fai= th in Christ. Through faith we are justified. By the hearing of = faith we received the Spirit so that we might participate in God’s promised blessing and live Christ (Gal. 2:20, Phil. 2:21).

3:3 Are= you so foolish? Having begun by t= he Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (= Rom. 8:= 8). It is foolish to think the flesh c= an perfect us through works of law. Substituting our works for the operation of the Spirit is offensive = and insulting to God. It nullifie= s the grace of God and accounts Christ’s death as meaningless.

Here is the key point of these versus. We continue as we began - receivin= g the Spirit through faith. We must= go on to maturity, to be full-grown in Christ (Col. 1:28). We are transformed into the Lord&#= 8217;s image for His glory by the continual receiving of the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18).=

We will make account to the Lord regarding wha= t we have done with what He invested into us (Matt. 25:19, 2 Cor. 5:10). Taking the way of our own works is lawless and will be judged (Matt. 7:22-23). Through the Spirit, we practically= apply what we have seen, heard, believed and received concerning Christ. In this way the Sprit operates thr= ough faith to practically and specifically apply what we have seen and heard in = our dealing with God, others and ourselves.

Conclusion

We must realize that this book was written for= our benefit. If we are wise and n= ot foolish, we will hear it. It = is not only applicable to the Galatians or for our criticism of other believers. It is the most applicable to those= who have seen and heard the most concerning Christ. When we accept that this word appl= ies to us, we can benefit from the “hearing of faith.” This allows us to go on to be perf= ected, living in faith, gazing on Jesus, receiving and applying the Spirit daily in all our circumstances and living.