‘Oh foolish Galatians. Who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was set forth as crucified among you? This only would I learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing (or ‘preaching') of faith? Are you so foolish. Having begun in the Spirit, are you now perfected in the flesh?'
Paul's powerful feelings come out in his opening words. Rarely does he speak so strongly. And yet there is a tenderness underlying his words. He comes like a hurt but tender father to his erring children (compare ‘brothers' - Galatians 3:15; ‘my little children' - Galatians 4:19; ‘with my own hand' - Galatians 6:11).
The Galatians are behaving like ‘the foolish' (anoetos), like those who have little intelligence, like those who do not recognise God for what He is (compare Psalms 14:1). The inhabitants of that part of the Roman world prided themselves on their depth of rational thought and understanding, but Paul chides them that they are demonstrating neither. They were not using their brains. Jesus Christ as crucified had been set forth before them and they had experienced the power of the Spirit of God to such an extent that miracles had been wrought among them (Galatians 3:5). What then did they think had brought this about? Was it their seeking to keep the Law that had brought it about, or was it through their hearing the Gospel of the grace of God which had resulted in faith and the work of the Spirit? Did they really think that by aping Judaism, rather than by putting their trust in the Spirit's working, they would be made perfect?
‘Foolish.' The word means ‘unintelligent, lacking in understanding'. They are behaving like those who have been put under a spell or bewitched.
‘Before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been set forth as crucified among you.' Jesus Christ was set forth as ‘the One Who has been, and is now, the One Who has been crucified'. They had heard the preaching of the cross which is the power of God to those who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:17). Indeed they had experienced it so vividly that it was almost as though they had seen it with their own eyes, for the Holy Spirit had brought it home to their own hearts. It had been ‘Set forth' (prographo - placarded publicly), portrayed publicly before them. And they had responded and had received the Holy Spirit, evidence that they were now justified (counted as righteous) in the sight of God. What then did they think had caused this?
‘Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith?' They had only to think about it. What had resulted in the coming of the Spirit in power to them. Was it when they responded in faith to the message of the crucified and risen Christ, and His justifying power? Or was it when they began to observe Jewish ritual and had begun to struggle to keep the Law? Were they so foolish as to think that they had a better chance of becoming perfect by struggling in the flesh to keep the Law and observe the ritual, than by the response of their own spirits to the Spirit's power?
Note that Paul is here thinking of their progress towards perfection, and knows that they are too. And never does he say that that is not important. He is simply pointing out that the best way to achieve it is by response to Jesus Christ and the Spirit, by looking to the indwelling Christ within, rather than by a hopeless struggle against the impossible odds of the Law. If I try to struggle to keep the Law I go back to my chains and my burdens. But if I allow Christ to live out His life through me by His Spirit I cannot help but succeed. For the man who perseveres is the one who has confidence in Christ crucified and knows that He is living within and through him by His Spirit.
‘The hearing of faith.' The word can mean ‘hearing' or ‘the thing heard'. Here then it can mean ‘the hearing that springs from faith', ‘the hearing that results in faith' or ‘the preaching that results in faith'. But the basic point is the same. The point is that it is the response of faith and not the doing of works that results in the work of the Spirit within. It is the result of the co-operation of man's spirit with God's Spirit in response to the gracious approach of God that enables us to live rightly.
Note that receiving the Spirit parallels being declared righteous by faith. The one goes with the other. One is not a later blessing than the other. This is positively demonstrated by the link with Abraham. The whole point about Abraham was not that he received the Spirit but that He was seen as righteous by God (Genesis 15:6). To be declared righteous was to have received the Spirit, and to have received the Spirit was to have been declared righteous. Christians who have been declared righteous are therefore people of the Spirit (see Galatians 3:14).
‘Having begun in the Spirit are you now perfected in the flesh.' The contrast between Spirit and flesh is typically Pauline. Elsewhere flesh is usually that which drags a man down into sin (Galatians 5:16-21). How ridiculous it is then to think that it will lead us to perfection. Thus here he is pointing out that the flesh can indeed cause religious activity, but that then it is just as sinful as everything else man is involved in, because it is not spiritual or Spirit inspired. It is of man, not of God. Having received the inflowing of the Spirit, they are now allowing the lusts of the body or of the mind to take over. Instead of looking only to God, they are seeking to gratify themselves and to gratify others.
‘Having begun in the Spirit'. The Holy Spirit had stirred their spirits and brought forth a spiritual response. They had looked to God and known His presence. They had been accepted as righteous in His sight. And now His work of perfecting them had begun. He was already working within them to will and do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Did they now think that by turning from Him and His working within them, to mere fleshly activity, to a dogged attempt to keep a set of rules and regulations and rituals, they could achieve this perfection? No! It is the Spirit who changes us from glory into glory, and it is as we behold the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18), not as we look within ourselves. We must therefore look to Him for His continual work of the Spirit within us (Philippians 2:13).