Title: Will You Finish with the Body?
1 You foolish Galatians, who deceived you when Jesus Christ was being crucified before your eyes, 2 I only tell you this, did you receive the Holy Spirit by works of the law or by hearing and believing? 3 are you like this Are you foolish, beginning with the Spirit, and now ending with the body? 4 Have you suffered so much in vain, really? nya
1. Words that begin
People have a bad habit of blaming others or circumstances for their own failures, defeats, or losses. Of course, such unfortunate consequences can also be attributed to others or circumstances. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the very circumstances, or the very person, that for some are the cause of unhappiness, are the factors of success, victories, and benefits for others. Some people say they failed because of it, while others say they succeed because of that. Some people say they lost because of that person, while others say they won because of that person. Some people say that they fell because their family environment was unfavorable, while others say that they became straight because their family environment was unfavorable. Some students accumulate knowledge by learning from the same teacher at the same time, while others accumulate only dissatisfaction. Therefore, an even more important cause of the unfortunate outcome is one's own folly.
2. Rebuke for foolishness among foolishness
The Apostle Paul rebuked the Galatians who deviated from the path of saved faith, saying, “You foolish Galatians, who deceived you when Jesus Christ was clearly seen before your eyes that He was crucified?” . It means that they are truly foolish to depart from the Savior, Jesus Christ, who was crucified, even though it was very clearly and publicly known to the Galatians as the only Savior.
The Apostle Paul taught not just a simple lesson, but a very vivid and impressive teaching about the cross of Christ as a substitute, and the Lord's Supper was held among them to commemorate his death. Even more pathetic is their sin for forsaking the crucified Christ as the way of salvation so plainly known. To forsake the crucified Christ is a very foolish thing to throw yourself into the fire of hell, the life you can't change even if you give it to the world. Nothing could be more foolish than to change eternal life into eternal destruction, or heavenly citizenship into hell punishment. But these stupid things still happen today.
The apostle Paul, rebuking the foolishness of the Galatians who were swaying in the way of their saved faith, then turned an arrow to the false leaders who deceived them, saying, “Who deceived you?” “Did you deceive” is the Greek word evaskanen (?β?σκανεν), which means “to deceive” or “to have a toxic influence”. Metaphorically, it means ‘to be blinded by magic’. It is that the Galatians, who laid the foundation for the gospel of salvation by the grace of the cross, were deceived into the false doctrine of legalism, that is, salvation by works of the law. It's the devil's trick.
About 17 years ago, the daughter of a woman who was deceived and blindly trusted was hospitalized because she was deceived by the belief that she had to belong to Jehovah's Witnesses to be saved. However, there was no treatment effect, and the disease got worse and reached the stage of surgery. But the woman said that the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses could never allow blood transfusions on her daughter. Even if my daughter is sick, blood transfusions should never be allowed. Eventually, the daughter died. It's a pity, but death is something everyone goes through, so aside from that, isn't salvation a serious problem?
3. The beginning of the Spirit and the end of the flesh
The apostle Paul reminded the deceived Galatians what they knew well through their experiences. They believed in Jesus as the Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit and received the assurance of salvation. The experience of receiving the Holy Spirit was not an act of the law, an act of religion, or an act of conscience, but because he heard and believed the gospel sermon preached by the Apostle Paul.
The Holy Spirit does not come upon us because of human strength or talent, knowledge or wisdom, contemplation or meditation, wealth or power. No matter how strong a human being, no matter how strong they are, they are not as good as whales or elephants, and no matter how excellent human deeds are, they are unlikely to be as raw as cows. Isn't Boeun a dog better? Isn't trance, a state of the Tao, inferior to a bear that hibernates in winter? It's conscientious, but it doesn't make sense because the standards of conscience differ according to the times and places, values and interests, and ideologies and ideologies.
The Holy Spirit, who makes us believe in Jesus as Savior and is the guarantee of salvation, comes as a gift from God to those who hear and believe the gospel of Christ. Faith in the presence of the Holy Spirit and hearing the preaching of the gospel are simultaneous events.
Therefore, it is very important to listen carefully to the sermon, understand it, and receive grace. Of course, a preacher must preach the gospel, not a comic book or a moving story. Therefore, church members should pray in advance and meditate on the Word to prepare to hear the gospel sermon. In John 8:47, Jesus said, “He who is of God hears the word of God, and you do not hear it, because you are not of God.”
It was when I was in elementary school. I couldn't eat all the delicious food and left it behind, and headed to school with a step that didn't fall off. Every class, I sat down in the classroom, but in my head, I was like, ‘What if my sister ate it? My brother and sister finish class first, so what do I do if I eat them all?’ I kept thinking, and the teacher's teachings did not touch my heart at all. Why was the class time so long and boring that day?
Even if you are a church member belonging to God, if your purpose is something other than the grace of the Word, you will not hear the sermon on that day, nor will it reach your heart, let alone grace. Not even filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul, despite experiencing the wonderful presence of the Holy Spirit, has now returned to his old self and warned the church members who are about to return. “Are you so foolish, having begun with the Spirit, and now ending with the flesh?”
New life and new life in the Lord begins with the presence of the Holy Spirit. After that, if you do not follow the indwelling Holy Spirit and live according to the gospel in the Lord, you will end up in the flesh.
4. Conclusion
Heretics trying to hear the gospel through the work of the Holy Spirit, receive salvation through faith, gain eternal life, and destroy the holy life started with the Holy Spirit, are making secrets everywhere. There are traps for our souls everywhere. We must live our lives looking only to Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. We earnestly pray that we all live worthy of the gospel in the Lord and following the Holy Spirit.
(Pungseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete New Testament Commentary Series/ Interpretation of difficult scriptures/ Prosperous prayer/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Understanding Paul’s Humanity/ Sermonbook 18. 426-3051)