Passage: Galatians 3:6-9 Speaker: Pastor Lukus Counterman Series: Gospel Rooted Living
Speaker: Lukus Counterman - In Galatians 3, Paul began by emphasizing that the Galatians’ experience of conversion validates the true gospel. Paul took them back to the beginning when they encountered the message of the crucified Christ. Not only that, they were reminded of how had received the blessing of the Spirit through faith alone, not by their observance of the law. Finally, Paul identified the basis of their Christian experience. In other words, the way they began the Christian life is the way they should continue it – by the power of the Spirit in faith. Today, as we look at Galatians 3:6-9, Paul moves past the experiential proof for the true gospel, to the Old Testament proof for it. He defends his theology of justification by faith alone apart from works of the law by citing two key texts – Genesis 15:6 and 12:3. In both instances Paul endeavors to prove that believers are children of Abraham and therefore inheritors of his blessings (all this before circumcision and the law). The argument of the text is that those of faith are the true children of Abraham and are therefore blessed with Abraham. May the Lord help us be people who “live by faith.”