Galatians 3:1-9

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 93
• Hymn — God the Lord, a King Remaineth (#64)
• Shorter Catechism — Questions 70–72 (Seventh Commandment)
• Hymn — O Jesus, I Have Promised (#654)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:1–9
• Sermon
• Hymn — I Surrender All (#562)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: The Life-Altering Reality of Faith Alone

Scripture: Galatians 3:1–9

I. Faith and the Preaching of Christ

A. Paul opens with astonishment that the Galatians have been "bewitched" — their eyes taken off Christ crucified

• The preached gospel presents a vivid, public portrait of Christ crucified to the eyes of faith
• Preaching is the primary means by which God elicits faith in believers

B. The content of preaching is Christ and him crucified

• 1 Corinthians 2:1–2: Paul resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified
• The Greek for "crucified" indicates a settled, accomplished fact — not an ongoing or incomplete work
• The Judaizers claimed Christ was not enough; Paul insists the work is finished

C. Christ crucified is the climactic moment of all of redemptive history

• Christ set his face toward Jerusalem from early in his ministry — the cross was his mission
• We dishonor Christ when we preach him while skirting the cross
• Christ crucified must be proclaimed every Lord's Day, in every Testament, to believers and unbelievers alike

II. Faith and the Power of the Spirit

A. The Spirit's power in conversion (Galatians 3:2)

• The Galatians received the Spirit not by works of the law but by hearing with faith
• The Holy Spirit rides the proclaimed word into dead hearts, enlivening them to faith and union with Christ
• Parallel to original creation: in Genesis 1:2–3, the Spirit hovered over the formless void and rode on the word of God to bring life; so too in new creation

B. The Spirit's power in sanctification (Galatians 3:3)

• The Judaizers' message: faith gets you in, but human effort ("the flesh") perfects you
• Paul refutes this in Romans 1:17: the righteousness of God is revealed "from faith for faith"
• The temptation to be perfected by the flesh is ingrained in fallen humanity — a nagging internal Pharisee
• J. Gresham Machen on his deathbed: "I thank God for the active obedience of Christ; without it I would be lost"

C. The Spirit's power in miracles (Galatians 3:4–5)

• Miracles in the early church came by hearing with faith, not by works
• Adam's fall illustrates the perpetual temptation: "eat and become like God" — works rather than trust
• Maturity in faith is growing to see one's total inability apart from Christ, clinging to him alone

III. Faith and the Patriarch Abraham

A. The shocking claim: those of faith are sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:7)

• To first-century Judaizers, sonship to Abraham required circumcision and ethnic Jewish identity
• Paul argues in Romans 4 that Abraham received circumcision after being justified by faith — circumcision was a sign and seal of the righteousness he already had by faith
• Romans 2:28–29: true circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit

B. The gospel was preached beforehand to Abraham (Galatians 3:8)

• "In you shall all the nations be blessed" — Abraham believed the same gospel we believe today, looking to Christ through types and shadows
• Every saint from Adam to the last Christian is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone
• To misunderstand the gospel is to misunderstand the Old Testament; the Judaizers' error was not knowing the true meaning of circumcision, the law, or the Abrahamic covenant

C. A christocentric hermeneutic governs all of Scripture

• The covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David all display Christ and him crucified
• John 5: to believe Moses is to believe in Christ; to deny Christ is to deny all of Scripture
• The Judaizers held an Israel-centered hermeneutic; the correct hermeneutic is always christocentric
• There is one redemptive plan of God, centered on Christ, from before the foundation of the world to its eschatological consummation