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The Amish Voice 3
died for them and had taken their sins upon Himself and
borne their punishment for them. They knew that God loved
them, that God so loved the world...
that He had sent His Son into the world to die
for
them
.
that God expected all men to believe in the death of
His Son, Jesus Christ.
that God took their faith and love in His dear Son and
accepted them because they believed and loved His
Son.
How then could they be so foolish and bewitched as not to
obey the truth—especially when they had clearly seen and
understood the death of Jesus Christ?
ILLUSTRATION:
When you were in school, how many papers did you begin to
write only to ball them up and throw them into an already over-
filled trash can? Did you ever give up and quit? Probably not,
because you needed to turn in your assignment in order to pass the
class.
If you were to spend some time in the shop of a potter, you would
be fascinated to watch the potter at work. Working with a lump of
unimpressive clay, the potter beings to form a civilized shape on
his wheel. When it appears that he is almost finished, he suddenly
smashes his work back into a lump of clay again. “What a waste
of time,” you think to yourself. It looked pretty good from your
perspective.
But, to the trained eye of the potter, an error was easily detected.
Because he took pride in what he did, he was not willing to over-
look the flaw. His product was going to be a cut above the rest—
because of his commitment to quality.
In the same sense, the Christian believer must have the same com-
mitment to correcting errors in the Church. Is it any wonder that a
lot of non-Christians are searching for answers elsewhere because
the “Christian Potters” are not committed to quality? We must be
willing to look for and recognize false teachings and then to get
rid of the erroneous teachings. Only then will our witness be pure
and appealing to non-believers.
QUESTIONS
:
1. What distinguishes the truth from error? Why do some be-
lievers fall into error?
2. What can you do to protect yourself from being deceived?
3. What are some of the natural results of a believer who falls
into error? What encouragement would you offer to someone
who has fallen into the trap of some false teaching?
2. A BELIEVER RECEIVES THE SPIRIT BY FAITH, NOT
BY OBSERVING THE LAW (v.2).
Note that this whole passage is a series of questions. Paul is stirring
the Galatians to think. The present question strikes at the very heart of
the gospel: How did you begin your Christian life? Did you receive
the Holy Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
There is one thing genuine believers know, and the genuine believers
in the Galatian churches knew it too: no person earns, wins, or merits
the Spirit of God. Man is too polluted and too short of God’s glory to
deserve the Spirit of God. His thoughts and behavior are too often..
No matter how much good and how much of the law is kept, the be-
liever knows that he did not and cannot eliminate such thoughts and
behavior—not fully, not perfectly. Therefore, he did not become a
Christian—he did not receive the Holy Spirit—by good works nor by
the keeping of laws. He became a Christian and received the Spirit of
God by hearing about faith in Christ. He heard the glorious news that
Christ had died for him and his sins, and he believed the news. There-
fore, God took his faith and counted it for righteousness.
The believer knows that he is not righteous, but God
counts him right-
eous
because he
believes and loves
His Son. The believer knows that
the Holy Spirit does not dwell in him because of any goodness or
work of his own; he knows that he has the Holy Spirit because God
counts his
faith in Christ
as reason enough to put His Spirit into his
heart. That is how the believer receives the Spirit of God, and that is
how the Galatians received the Spirit of God.
APPLICATION 1:
Every person must hear the glorious message of faith. The
mes-
sage of faith
is the gospel of salvation—
faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ and His death for our sins
.
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they
have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preach-
er? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is
written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But
they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord,
who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Ro.10:14-17).
APPLICATION 2:
The Holy Spirit is the gift of God. No man can earn, win, or merit
the Spirit of God. God’s Holy Spirit is given by God and by God
alone.
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the
Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (Jn.14:16-17).
ugly
unjust
lustful
unrighteous
selfish
negative
undisciplined
imperfect
greedy
immoral
impure
unholy