Galatians 3:1-5 (NIV)
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing–if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
Paul had heard that a number of gentile believers were buckling under pressure from the Judaizers, being persuaded that they had not really been saved under Paul’s ministry. The Judaizers were telling them that they had been deluded by Paul, that only Jews could be saved by Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. So, there was a two-step process for a gentile to be saved. They first had to become a Jew by being circumcised and agreeing to obey all the Jewish law (as well as all the rabbinical teachings on and interpretations of that law). Then, and only then, could faith in Jesus save them.
Paul was so stunned at this news that he sarcastically declared that the only possible explanation for this drastic change of heart was that they had been bewitched, had fallen under an evil spell. Of course, Paul didn’t actually believe that evil spells or witchcraft were based on anything real, just like idols (1 Corinthians 8:4-6). But he was using that terminology to attempt to show the Galatians how far beyond reason their capitulation to the teachings of the Judaizers was.
Paul’s gospel presentation was not at fault here. He had clearly presented Jesus as the crucified Savior through whose poured-out blood the sins of all humanity, both Jews and gentiles, had been atoned for.
Nor was the initial salvation experience of the Galatians somehow deficient. When they believed and were baptized, they had all experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit, as well as the evident personal transformation that naturally came along with His presence in their hearts. That had all been real, and so had the very tangible miracles and answers to prayer that they had experienced since then, that had been just as much a hallmark of the Galatian Church as of any Jewish-majority Church.
And, in order to experience all those things, not a single one of them had had to be circumcised. They had experienced salvation by grace alone through faith alone. But somehow the Judaizers had convinced at least some of them that all that they had experienced up to that point had been an illusion!
Father, how quickly we can be persuaded to forget things that we know are true under the persuasion of skilled speakers, things that we have seen the evidence for ourselves. How quick we are to turn away from what You tell us in Your word is true, because public opinion is moving in a different direction and we either don’t want to be considered backward, or narrow-minded, or “on the wrong side of history,” or we fear persecution or negative reactions. Lord, help us to stand firm and steadfast on what You say is true, and never waver, no matter how much persuasion or pressure is directed toward us. As Jesus prayed for us, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) And Your word will be true forever and ever. It never changes. Amen.