Galatians 3:1-14

Wow!

My friend Greg Wilson likes to say “Wow!” twice. After saying it the first time he precedes the second time with, “Let me say it backwards. Wow!” Paul is really bringing it here regarding the difference between faith and works.

Did you get saved by works? If you did then that’s the way to go. If you didn’t then why would you switch over to something that couldn’t even get you started? (By the way, you weren’t saved by works.)

Did God give you the Holy Spirit because of what you earned? Does He do miracles because you earned them? That would be “No,” and “No.” You received the Holy Spirit by faith and miracles come by faith. Just not seeing exactly where works are fitting in just yet.

How about Abraham? How did he become righteous before God? Oh, that’s right, by faith. Abraham saw the gospel in advance, believed, and God considered him to be righteous. It’s right there in Genesis 15. It’s fitting that what Abraham believed was that God was indeed going to give him an offspring. This offspring (Isaac) embodied the promise of the gospel as well shall see later on.

Observing the law, which is works, can only bring a curse if that is what you are depending on to save you. But Christ became a curse for us even though He observed the law perfectly, for He never sinned. We are saved through faith in this fact and it is the new path of faith that we now tread.  

Finally, God wanted to redeem the Gentiles. Even Abraham saw this. He couldn’t possibly redeem the Gentiles through the law because the law wasn’t given to the Gentiles. But by faith even the Gentiles can receive the blessings of Abraham and the promise of the Spirit.

Forward or backwards it still spells “Wow”!