There was a well-known French scientist by the name of Louis Pasteur. I was somewhere around the mid 1800s. He was teaching on the law of biogenesis. The law of biogenesis states that living organisms can only arise from pre-existing living organisms rather than spontaneously forming from non-living matter. Now to demonstrate this law, this truth, Mr. Pasteur held up a flask that had been completely sterilized and sealed and he said to his audience, It is devoid of life. I can keep it for a hundred years and it will still be devoid of life. I can beg and plead with it to produce a life form, even the humblest life form, but it remains unmoved by my pleas. There is no life without antecedent life. Only life can beget life. Now that seems like a fairly basic truth, makes a lot of sense when you stop and think about it. Life cannot come from non-life. Life can only come from life. Before Pasteur learned this truth and taught it, people thought that rotting meat spontaneously produced flies. Never saw exactly where flies came from. They knew it where there's rotting carcass, there's flies seem to be coming from it. So they just assumed that rotting meat produced flies. Well, I have been bugged by many buzzing flies the past couple of weeks as I've been trying to find somewhere warm out of the cold. Where did those flies come from? Well, we now know They come from other flies. Flies come from flies. We won't get into all the gross details of before they're flies and whatnot, but I did not look into the ways that evolutionists try to get around that law in their theories, but I'm sure they think they have some. Where life came from, if life cannot come from non-life. I know I have heard aliens presented as a possibility before. We don't know how life came, so maybe it's aliens. I don't know. And I guess if you're just making things up anyway, you might as well make it entertaining, right? If you're going to tell stories, make it a good story. Sure. Yeah, go with aliens. That'll work. Well, this law of biogenics, biogenesis, biogenesis, that's the one. It has a spiritual counterpart. We can find an example of it in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 6, when Jesus says to Nicodemus, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. According to what Jesus says there in John 3, flesh only begets more flesh. A person may try as hard as is humanly possible in the flesh, and they cannot produce spiritual life within themselves. The flesh cannot work or perform in some way, in any way, that will give a person spiritual life and a right standing before God. That is the problem. with any works-based salvation, which is the problem with every religion that is not true Christianity. Every religion that does not believe or teach a gospel of grace, that salvation and spiritual life is completely undeserved and unearned and unattainable, but can only be received through faith in Jesus Christ. Any religion or belief that relies on the works of the flesh will only be producing more flesh, not spiritual life. That's the problem that we see in the Bible of what Judaism became. God gave the law to the people of Israel. It was a good law. But they turned it into, it's the works of the flesh. If I try hard enough and do these things, cross these things off of my list, I'll have spiritual life. I'll be okay with God. Their efforts in the flesh, they thought, was earning their acceptance with God. It's the problem that we see in all of the opponents of the gospel of grace that Paul preached, like the Judaizers. The problem that they were causing among the churches of Galatia, as we've been studying through the book of Galatians, because of their false teaching, emphasizing the works of the flesh. If you try, You do these things, you do them in the right way, somehow that's going to get you spiritual life and will commend you to God through the works of the flesh. So in Paul's letter to the Galatians, Paul started out by defending his apostolic credentials. Then he explained and defended the origin of the gospel. Where did Paul get this gospel from? It wasn't from man. It came to him directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul has explained how he's defended that gospel already against Judaizers who opposed him and opposed that gospel in Antioch and in Jerusalem. He's defended that gospel of grace surprisingly against Peter and Barnabas. along with all the other Jews in the church at Antioch, when they were getting off into the weeds of error, being led astray by that same kind of thinking, the works of the flesh, following a path of legalism. Now in chapter three, Paul goes after the Galatians. Now remember, this is a severe letter because the gospel was being attacked and the gospel was at stake. Paul cared enough about the gospel, he cared enough about these people who had professed to believe the gospel, that he could not let that go by without saying what needed to be said. And so in verses 1 through 5 of chapter 3, Paul asks a series of questions. These questions are a challenge to these people in the churches of Galatia to think about where they really are, what they really believe. And he uses some pretty strong language to get their attention, to show them how serious this is. In verse one, Galatians chapter three, Paul says, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? Now that may or may not sound harsh, If that sounds harsh in calling them foolish Galatians, what Paul had in mind here was maybe a little harsher than it may sound to us. There's one translation, it's not a real common one, I come across it every once in a while, but that translation begins verse one like this. Oh, you dear idiot Galatians, Now that sounds harsh, but that's probably the sense that Paul is going for here. Now, it's a word of caution. Before anyone thinks this gives them justification for calling their siblings names like this, some children might be leaning over to their parents right now saying, Mom, you said we weren't supposed to say that word. Well, this was not Paul. just giving an insult because he was mad at them and he thought it would make him feel better. This was not Paul trying to tear them down to make himself look better. This was not because the Galatians broke Paul's toy or wouldn't stay out of his room. This wasn't about Paul being offended. This was about them potentially throwing away the gospel and potentially misleading others through this false teaching. Misleading people into thinking they're going to heaven when they're actually on their way to hell. This is serious. This had eternal consequences. Paul wants to get their attention. He wants to force them to ask themselves this question. Have you stopped using your brains? You foolish Galatians. Are you not thinking any longer? That's the kind of idea that Paul is getting at here. How could you be so dumb? Because what they were doing, this path they were following, it didn't make any sense. It was illogical. They need to stop and think. Paul goes on in verse 1, he's still getting their attention. Who has bewitched you? The way they were going, it was so nonsensical that Paul was maybe asking sarcastically, has somebody cast a spell on you? Is there witchcraft going on here? Have you been hypnotized? Because it sure doesn't seem like something you would go into thinking clearly, rationally. There's the idea of deception in Paul's question of who has bewitched you, who has tricked you into following this path of nonsense. And then the second half of verse one is why there is no solid logic in the things that they are getting into. Because this is what is true of them. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. phrase there, publicly portrayed. It has the idea of something like advertising or placard publicly, like putting up sale bills or signs. Paul came to the cities of Galatia, he's saying, I didn't whisper about Jesus crucified. He proclaimed it boldly. He proclaimed it publicly and as clearly as it could be proclaimed. It's like he was walking around these cities of Galatia wearing sandwich boards to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, or putting up billboards proclaiming Christ. The cross, the way of salvation, was so clearly set before them that they have no excuse for the turn that they have taken. before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. You know this. You know this is true. So in verse two, he puts the matter plainly before them. He forces them, pick a side. You've got to come to some conclusions about this issue. He says, verse two, this is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the spirit by the work of the law or by hearing with faith? Which is it? There are other things involved that will come out in some of the other questions in the following verses, but this is what it really comes down to. How were you saved? How did you receive the Spirit? Notice that Paul is addressing the Galatians like they are saved. That is his assumption still to this point. But they have also been deceived. And that can happen to Christians. The true Christians can be deceived. And this is why we need to stay vigilant. We need to stay in God's Word. We need to be sure about what we believe because Christians can be deceived. We could be deceived. If they stay on this path they're on and end up rejecting the gospel of grace then apparently they weren't saved. But at this point, there's hope, and Paul's not just writing them off. They've made professions, there's been some evidence. Christians, you've been deceived. So, he's asking, when you were saved, when you received the Holy Spirit, how did that happen? Was it by the works of the law or by hearing the gospel and putting your faith in Jesus Christ? It's one or the other, it can't be both, and there's no middle ground. It's either by the works of the law or by hearing the gospel and putting your faith in Jesus Christ. Which was it? Now something to keep in mind here, our experiences are not the determiner of truth. Paul is telling them, okay, think about what you experienced here. He's wanting them to analyze their experience. Experience is not the determiner of truth. What we experience is not nearly as trustworthy as the written Word of God. As an example, the Mormon Church, people who believe in Mormonism, they claim that they know what they believe is true because they have the burning in the bosom. They've got a feeling about it. So they know it's true. They've experienced this. But the truth is, they can have heartburn all day, every day of their lives. That does not change the fact that what they teach and believe does not align with God's Word. And it is therefore wrong. Their experience, what they think they've experienced, does not change the truth of God's Word. That is the standard. But we do have experiences, and we should judge our experiences rightly, judge them by God's Word. Here, Paul is wanting them to judge their experience. He wants them to think about what they've experienced. Think about their testimony. When they receive the Holy Spirit, And they need to realize, as they think about their own testimonies, the direction the Judaizers are trying to take them does not align with their experience. Experientially, I have assurance in my salvation, partly because I've seen evidence of ways the Spirit has worked in me. That is not as authoritative as what I see in God's Word, but it is something I've experienced. We can see evidence of salvation in each other and in other believers. You have that experience, see it. For these Galatians that Paul was writing to, there very well may have been something a little extra about their experience. You see it in different places in the book of Acts. It was apparently the case with the Corinthians. In the very early church, sometimes the coming of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by signs. Things like speaking in tongues are some of the examples we see in Acts and Corinthians. There may have been some other things also. We'll look at some of that when we get to verse 5. But it seems like when they received the Spirit, they knew. And sometimes people just know, when you got saved, you know, because things changed. Some have had that experience. For these people in Galatia, they knew. So how did it happen? When they received the Holy Spirit, how did it happen? Now the Jews among them, they were professing believers. There were some, not a lot, but there were some. They were circumcised as infants. They did not eat things that they were not supposed to eat according to the law. They did the ritual cleansings and stuff they were supposed to do according to the law. Did they receive the Spirit then or when they heard and believed the gospel of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? It should have been obvious. The Gentiles who were not circumcised, and who did eat food that was unlawful to eat. Even while that was the case, when they heard the gospel of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and believed in Him and received the Spirit, shouldn't that tell you something? They did not get saved by the works of the law. Just think about it. Did they become spiritually alive by the works of the law? through deeds done in the flesh, or did they become spiritually alive by grace through faith in Christ? One or the other. It can't be both. There's no middle ground. The right answer should be obvious. Does spiritual life come from Christ, who is the originator of life, or from your works in the flesh? The answer should be obvious. In verse 3, what about your sanctification? As a follower of Christ, how does sanctification happen? How do you grow in your relationship with Christ? Verse 3, are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Notice that Paul is so confident that they know the right answer to the question in verse 2. He answers it for them. He's not waiting for an answer. He knows they know. Having begun by the Spirit, you know that's how you got started as a Christian. It was by the Spirit. It wasn't by your works. Obviously, their spiritual lives as Christians began by the Spirit, not by the works of the law. That being the obvious case, could you be so foolish To think, continuing as a Christian, growing as a Christian, walking through life as a Christian, are you now being perfected by the flesh? As you think about the right answer to that question, consider what Paul wrote to the Philippians. Philippians chapter 2, verse 12. So then, my beloved, Just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Remember the question he asks in Galatians, are you being perfected by the flesh? He tells the Philippians, chapter two, verse 12, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. It sounds like, based on that verse, the right answer would be, according to Paul, Once you're saved by Christ, then it's up to us. Then we are perfected by the flesh. It's our job. Try as hard as we can to grow as Christians. It might sound like that if you stop in verse 12. You've got to go on to verse 13, Philippians 2. For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." So, according to that, we begin by the Spirit, and we continue by the Spirit. You see the same thing in Titus 2, verses 11 and 12. It says, "...for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. Paul says there that the same grace that is effective to save us, the grace that is effective to change us from condemned spiritually dead sinners into spiritually alive glorified saints that same grace is effective to sanctify us so that practically, experientially in life, we change, we grow in our likeness to Christ. It's by grace. Now, the way that God has decreed for that to work is that we do have something to do. We are to be diligent in our study of God's word. We're to be diligent in being taught God's word. We're to be diligent in reading and meditating on God's word. We're to get to know and understand God through his word. We're to be diligent in prayer, the application of God's word to our lives. So as Christians, we are given work that we are to do But as we do those things, it is God who is working in us and changing us and not ourselves. Hebrews 4.12 tells us the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. God's word is very powerful. It is effective. God does his work through his word. He does His work through the Holy Spirit that is in us, and applies His word to us, and He changes us through His word. So, even as we work as Christians, we're diligent as Christians, we're not being perfected by the flesh. We're still working toward perfection through the work of the Spirit in us. In verse 4, Paul has a question for them about their suffering. Did you suffer so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain? We've looked some various times since we've started in Galatians at the historical record of Paul's time in that region of Galatia covered in Acts chapter 13 and 14. We've seen as we've looked at some of those passages there in Acts that the Jews who lived in those cities generally did not respond well to Paul's preaching of the gospel of grace. Generally, they didn't respond well to salvation being in Christ alone, apart from the works of the law. There were a few Jews in those cities who believed in that gospel. The ones who didn't, you see there in Acts 13, 14, They made life very difficult for Paul. They also managed to stir up the Gentiles who didn't believe the gospel. Stirred them up to be against Paul. We saw there in Acts that at one point they nearly killed Paul. They thought they had killed him. They stoned him. Thought he was dead. That happened at least once that we know of in Galatia. Now those chapters and acts don't say anything specifically about those who did believe the gospel that Paul preached also suffering for their faith. But it makes a lot of sense that they probably did. So though it doesn't say specifically they probably did, Paul did say to them, as he was on his way back through the cities. You remember Paul kind of made a loop. He went through those cities of Galatia. We got to, I think it was Derby. He turned around and went back through same cities, encouraging the churches, encouraging those who had professed faith in Christ, appointed elders for the churches. And he said this to them in Acts 14, verse 22, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. And so I think these people who received this letter in the churches of Galatia had experienced already some tribulation because of their faith. And that's probably what Paul is referring to here. You have suffered. I suffered. We suffered. Some of them may have lost family and friends because of this. They may have lost jobs and homes. There may have been some physical violence against them as there was against Paul. Now that suffering happened because of the gospel of grace. They suffered because they believed in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. And they weren't trusting in the works of the law. But even through that suffering, you've endured so much so far, Paul is saying. And you remain faithful in Christ. Was it worth it? Was there a reason for that? Now because of what they're hearing from the Judaizers, was that suffering all a waste? Was it a mistake? Could they have just kept the law, appeased the Jews who were there and then lived in peace and happiness this whole time? Was the endurance they had, the patience and the suffering, their strength and faith because of the suffering, is it all a waste? Should have been obvious. There's a reason we've suffered. It's because of the truth of the gospel, of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse five, 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? If you would, turn your Bible to Acts 14, just real quick. Acts chapter 14. I'm going to start reading verse 8. Acts 14 verse 8. This was during that time that Paul was in this region of Galatia and at a specific city of Lystra. At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet. lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked. Remember that detail. He had never walked. This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well, said with a loud voice, stand upright on your feet. And he leapt up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done. They raised their voice, saying in the Laconian language, the gods have become like men and have come down to us. I'll stop there and think about the response of the people when they saw what happened. This initial response of this unbelieving crowd, they were wrong. This wasn't their gods have become like men and come down to us. But even they knew that what they just saw happen did not happen by any works of any law. This is not the works of flesh of man that accomplished what just happened before their eyes. This was supernatural. They understood that. They were wrong about the source, but they understood this is something supernatural. Now, as I said earlier, during the very early stages of the church, before they had the completed scriptures, the proclamation of the gospel and sometimes the receiving of the gospel was sometimes accompanied by signs and miracles as a way of authenticating those who proclaim the message, a way of authenticating the message that they were proclaiming. Paul said to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 12, The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance by signs and wonders and miracles." So the people of these churches of Galatia, they had seen these kinds of signs and wonders when Paul was with them. They likely experienced some of these signs and wonders and miracles. That man who had been lame from birth but was now up walking around without ever learning how to walk, just miraculously he was able to walk. He was probably among them. He was probably a part of the church at Lystra. How did that happen? How was that man healed? How did all of those miracles that happened when Paul was there, how did those things happen? What about the greatest miracle of all? You were spiritually dead, Paul is telling them. You are now alive in Christ. They received the Holy Spirit. Their lives were changed. Their eternal destinies were changed. It's a miracle. How did it happen? By circumcision and not eating certain foods? No. That's not how it happened. Obviously not. Or did all these amazing things come along with the hearing of the proclamation of the gospel of the crucified and risen Christ and their faith in that message. It should be obvious. That's when the miraculous things happened. That's when they were saved. God moves. God works in God's ways. And he has decreed that the way he works in and through man is by grace through faith. not by the works of the law. And we know that God gave the law to show people their sin, not to save them from their sin. The law would not work to accomplish that. The law is not able to save. It's the gospel of the crucified and resurrected Christ by which God saves sinners. So it's by grace, by the power of God's word, that saved followers of Christ grow in their walk with the Lord. Not by the traditions of man, not by laws that we have added for ourselves, maybe try to push on other people. It's by grace. We didn't begin and we don't continue toward perfection by the works of the flesh. It's only by grace. That is what the book of Galatians is about. Not by the works of the law, but by grace through faith. Since that is what Galatians is about, we'll see more of it next time. Think about it. Consider your own experience. Judge it by what you see in God's word. And consider, how are you saved? How are you growing? by your works, by your efforts, or by grace through faith.