You’re under arrest!

Galatians 3:1-14

¹ Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. ² Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. ³ How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? ⁴ Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

⁵ I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

⁶ In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” ⁷ The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

⁸ What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹ So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

¹⁰ But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” ¹¹ So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” ¹² This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”

¹³ But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” ¹⁴ Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.

I remember when my kids were a bit younger, they asked me questions like “If you drive too fast in your car, will the police arrest you?

The answer is complicated isn’t it. If I go 3km/h over the speed limit, I don’t expect to get arrested, but I am still breaking the law. But if I drive really fast, it becomes not just about the rules, but also about endangering life, which has deeper moral implications than just not following the traffic rules. That’s why we have penalties like negligent driving and dangerous driving, which can actually carry imprisonment as a penalty.

Imagine if someone came along and said “anytime you get caught speeding, I’ll take the blame for you”

I could be tempted to flaunt this lack of consequence and just drive crazy fast everywhere. But if I was freed from the financial consequence of my actions, that doesn’t make it alright for me to drive dangerously!

Jesus doesn’t save me from traffic fines, but he does take the punishment for something of far greater consequence – my sin. God doesn’t say “You are under arrest” if we break his law – the consequences are even more serious and eternal! But I think this passage is trying to show the Galatian people (and me) that even though the eternal consequences of my sins have been dealt with, my obedience to God’s law still matters.

Just like I sometimes creep up to 3km/h over the speed limit, I sometimes don’t realise that I am falling into sinful and destructive behaviours. I need the Holy Spirit to keep me alert and accountable and to help me to repent and turn from those sinful ways when I get it wrong.

Lord, help me to follow Your laws and to keep my awareness that its only by Your grace that I get to avoid the punishment of all the times I have fallen short. Thank You Lord for your Holy Spirit that empowers me to life in a way that honours God.

Written by Ps Justin Ware