Faith And The Holy Spirit

Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh?

Galatians 3:2-3, HCSB

LIKE MANY GOOD TEACHERS, the apostle Paul often uses rhetorical questions to help his readers see obvious truths that seemingly aren’t so obvious anymore. A good example of this occurs in Galatians 3:2-3, where Paul asks the Galatians if they had received the Spirit because of their obedience to God’s law, or because they had heard the gospel and believed it. The answer, of course, is because they had heard the gospel and believed it.

Christianity is fundamentally about believing in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit develops this faith in us, and it’s our faith in Jesus that fuels our obedience. Additionally, faith in Jesus is opposed to our efforts in “the flesh” to please God. Paul also says that “the law is not based on faith” (Galatians 3:12, HCSB). So the Holy Spirit enables us to believe in Jesus, rather than rely on our own efforts to please God through our obedience—something we can never quite do.

Distinctions between faith and works, between the law and the gospel, and between the flesh and the Spirit may seem like theological nitpicking, but such distinctions are crucial. That’s why Paul spent so much time writing about them. The Christian life is a faith-driven, Spirit-inspired glorying in who Jesus is and what He has done. It is not about our trying to be good.

BOTTOM LINE

We began the Christian life by faith, and we continue to live the Christian life by faith.

Moment of Strength: Galatians 5:1