Matter of the Heart

“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3, ESV)

We all have been raised in a do society. It is a culture in which we must do things to improve ourselves.

Often when I pastored, people would come to me and say things like this. “I’m trying so hard to be a good Christian but nothing is working.” They then explained all the things they would do to be a good Christian. These people were frustrated by doing all kinds of things in a frantic attempt to advance their Christian lives and to be perfect.

My answer to them was this. Perhaps that it the problem. You need to learn how to relax, that is to rest in Jesus and allow Him to do the work in you.

This is the issue to which Paul wrote here. The Judaizers were teaching that it was necessary to follow the stipulations of the law. There were two major aspects of this teaching. The first was for justification. In other words, to be justified before God people would have to keep the law. This means that works of righteousness done by people were necessary to appease God for salvation. As previously mentioned, this undermined grace and the finished work of Christ on the cross. There also is a subtle subset of this teaching that one is saved by a combination of faith and works, which also undermines the work of God’s grace alone.

The second aspect of the teaching of the legalists delt with the issue of sanctification. Here it refers to the progressive work by which all believers are “being perfected.” The word “perfected,” epiteleo, refers to something being brought to its end or completion. Here it refers to believers in Jesus being progressively brought in to Christ likeness. The legalists were teaching that for people to become perfected, they needed to do so through obedience to the law.

Paul indicated the problem with the second issue was the same as the first. If their life in Christ began with a work of the Spirit, then their continuing progress in the faith, that is spiritual growth, also depended upon the same Spirit.

How do we process this teaching? Does this mean that doing things in the church, studying the Bible, or service for the Lord is wrong? This can hardly be the case. The issue here is one born in the heart the heart. Many today incorrectly believe that they can achieve perfection, that is spiritual growth, through human effort. It is that if they do certain things they will progress in the faith. And while reading and studying the Bible, attending worship services, serving in the church and etcetera are all good things, the issue can become one of the order of things.

It was the same issue that we read about in the Book of James. He wrote that “Faith without works is dead,” not to say works were essential to produce faith, but that faith would produce good works. In the same way, it is not the works that produce the manifestation of the Spirit resulting in spiritual growth. Rather it is the Spirit who produces the works in us that result in spiritual growth.

Here it is about our relationship with the Lord and His work in us. So, people need to learn how to relax in the Lord and enjoy their Christian experience. Jesus did not intend for believers to be oppressed in their relationship to Him. It is to be a joyful experience driven by the indwelling Spirit. It is a growth process which is a function of His grace at work. Our reading, studying, service, and corporate gatherings should be joyful experiences where the Spirit does his work of producing spiritual growth in us.