Gospel Prayer Ministry

📖 Passage

Galatians 3:1–9
Read Galatians 3:1–9 (NKJV)

🧠 Context & Background

After confronting Peter and clarifying justification by faith (2:11–21), Paul shifts from narrative defense to direct appeal. His tone is urgent and pastoral, calling the Galatians back to what they already know: the gospel of grace. He marshals two decisive lines of evidence—experience and Scripture—to show that salvation has always been by faith.

Experience (3:1–5):
Paul asks piercing questions: “Who has bewitched you?” The Galatians had visibly experienced Christ crucified through Paul’s preaching and had received the Holy Spirit. Was that by works of the Law or by hearing with faith? The answer is obvious. Every aspect of their Christian life—the Spirit’s indwelling, answered prayers, miracles in their midst—came through faith, not legal performance. To abandon faith for law is to deny their own history with God.
Scripture (3:6–9):
Paul anchors his argument in Abraham. Genesis 15:6 declares: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Abraham was not justified by circumcision or Mosaic law (which came centuries later), but by faith. Therefore, “those of faith” are the true children of Abraham. Paul presses further: the promise of blessing to “all nations” (Genesis 12:3) was nothing less than the gospel foretold—that God would justify Gentiles through faith.

Theological pivot: Paul is not rejecting obedience; he is rejecting legalism—the idea that Law-keeping is the ground of righteousness or the channel of the Spirit. The same faith that justifies also sanctifies. To turn back to the Law for identity or power is to trade the Spirit’s freedom for slavery.

This section marks a hinge in Galatians: Paul shows that both personal experience and the patriarchal promises converge on one truth—God’s people are marked not by Law, but by faith in Christ, the promised Seed of Abraham.

🌿 Key Themes

Spirit vs. Flesh — Christian life begins and continues by the Spirit through faith, not by human striving.
Hearing with Faith — The saving response to the gospel is trust, not ritual compliance.
Abrahamic Paradigm — Righteousness and blessing come by faith, making believers Abraham’s true family.
Scripture’s Foresight — The promise to Abraham already preached the gospel to the nations.

📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary

Galatians 3:1 — Bewitched?

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you…?”

Sharp rebuke: Their drift from grace is as if under a spell—a failure to keep Christ’s cross before their eyes.
Crucified Christ: The public portrayal of Christ crucified anchors both justification and sanctification.

Galatians 3:2–5 — Experience: Spirit by Faith

“Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Conversion & growth: The Spirit’s gift, ongoing supply, and miracles came through faith, not Torah performance.
Gospel logic: What began by the Spirit cannot be completed by the flesh.
Pastoral edge: Legal striving quenches joy and erodes assurance.

Galatians 3:6 — Abraham Believed

“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Foundational text: Genesis 15:6 grounds Paul’s doctrine: righteousness is credited, not earned.
Continuity: The way of salvation in Abraham’s day and in ours is One—by faith.

Galatians 3:7–9 — Sons & Blessing by Faith

“Know then that those of faith are the sons of Abraham… ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’”

True lineage: Faith, not circumcision, defines Abraham’s sons.
Mission in seed-form: The promise to Abraham anticipated the Gentile mission—the gospel to the nations.
Assurance: “Those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

🔍 Trusted Insight

“It is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merit. Therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ. Look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope.” — Charles Spurgeon

Spurgeon underscores what Paul teaches: it is not human performance or even the strength of faith that justifies, but Christ Himself.
Faith is simply the channel by which the believer receives Christ’s righteousness.
This echoes Abraham’s example—he was counted righteous not because of works, but because he believed God.

Summary: The ground of salvation is not the quality of our faith, but the sufficiency of Christ crucified. Faith rests not in itself but in Him.

🌎 Worldviews

Performance Worldview: Belief that acceptance with God (or others) depends on effort, ritual, or achievement. Paul rebukes the Galatians for drifting here: beginning by the Spirit but seeking perfection by the flesh (v.3).
Experiential Pragmatism: Some assume truth is confirmed only by what “works” (miracles, blessings). Paul reminds them their experience of the Spirit came not by works, but by hearing with faith (v.5).
Covenantal Worldview: Abraham’s story anchors the gospel. The promise came by faith before the Law, and therefore Gentiles who believe are Abraham’s true children (vv.6–9).
Gospel Worldview: True belonging is by faith in Christ alone. What defines God’s people is not badges or boundary markers but trust in the promise, fulfilled in Jesus, applied by the Spirit.

🧩 Review Questions

🔍 Definitions

Hearing with faith — The receptive trust that embraces Christ as He is offered in the gospel.
Works of the Law — Deeds commanded by Torah (ceremonial/ethical) treated as a basis for acceptance with God.
Counted (credited) righteous — God’s forensic declaration of righteousness imputed to the believer.
Sons of Abraham — Those who share Abraham’s faith, not merely his bloodline.
Blessing of Abraham — Justification and Spirit-life extended to all nations through Christ.

🙋 Application Questions

Where are you trying to finish in the flesh what began by the Spirit (habits, ministry, sanctification)? What would “hearing with faith” look like this week?
How does Abraham’s example steady your assurance when you feel underperforming or guilty?
What practices (Word, prayer, fellowship) keep Christ “publicly portrayed” before your eyes (3:1) so that faith stays central?
How can your church embody the nations-blessing trajectory of Abraham’s promise in outreach and hospitality?

🔤 Greek Keywords

anōētoi (ἀνόητοι) — Foolish; lacking spiritual sense (v. 1).
baskainō (βασκαίνω) — To bewitch; cast a spell / mislead (v. 1).
epichorēgeō (ἐπιχορηγέω) — To supply generously (the Spirit) (v. 5).
dunameis (δυνάμεις) — Powers/miracles; God’s works among the saints (v. 5).
logizetai (λογίζεται) — Counts/credits righteousness (v. 6).
pistis (πίστις) — Faith/trust as the instrument of justification (vv. 6–9).
euēngelisato (προευηγγελίσατο) — “Preached the gospel beforehand” (v. 8).

📚 Cross References

Genesis 15:6 — Abraham believed; righteousness credited.
Genesis 12:3 — “In you all the nations shall be blessed.”
Romans 4:1–5 — Abraham justified by faith, not works.
Acts 10:44–48 — The Spirit falls on Gentiles through hearing the word.
Galatians 3:14 — The blessing of Abraham and the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Romans 1:16–17 — The righteous shall live by faith.

📦 Next Study

Next Study → Galatians 3:10–14 – Redeemed from the Curse

Galatians 3:1–9 – Beginning by the Spirit, Continuing by Faith