In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he was upset that they had so quickly given in to the culture around them and had turned their backs on their faith in Jesus Christ as their means of justification before God. After chiding them, Paul added some encouragement so that they would turn back and consider the choice they were making. In this time of cultural, social, and even medical pressures to turn our backs on our faith, we would do well to consider Paul’s encouragement to stand strong. If you are a follower of Jesus, consider Paul’s words:
“You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:1–5, NASB95)
Here is what Paul said to the Galatians. First, you know what you know. Some of them had actually seen Jesus crucified or had known someone who had. So Paul told them that they did not need to listen to people telling them that they needed more than the cross to be made right with God because they had seen Jesus crucified and knew that the payment for sin had been made once and for all. They knew what they knew.
Next, he told them that they did not need to give in to those pressuring them to give up their faith because they knew Who they knew. They saw the Holy Spirit at work in their lives and knew that the Spirit had come into their lives the moment they believed and had seen Him work. While some might attempt to assert that this can only mean that they spoke in tongues, Paul made it clear that not all receive that gift and that they should want the gift of prophecy instead, which is to the ability to read, understand, and explain God’s word to others so that they can believe. Regardless of which gift the Spirit had given them, they knew Him and had seen Him at work, so why would they listed to anyone tell them that they needed to go back under the Law to have a relationship with God through Jesus? Why would they so readily believe that the cross was not enough?
He also told them that they knew how they knew what they knew. That sentence might have been a difficult one to follow but consider that he told the Galatians that they knew they had been justified by faith in Jesus. They did not earn it because it cannot be earned. They did not do enough, know enough, work enough, love enough, pay enough, or anything else enough (even though that is not proper English). They had been saved by grace through faith. They had been brought into a relationship with Jesus Christ by faith in what Jesus had accomplished on the cross. Some people try to say that they have always believed in God, so they think they are headed to heaven, but James 2:19 says that the devil believes in God and he trembles. Just believing there is a God is not enough to save one. It must be married with faith in the accomplished work of Christ on the cross and the Galatians had believed that.
Lastly, Paul reminds them that they knew what they had been through and what they were going through and the only way they were making it through is that Jesus was with them and was guiding them and giving them to power and the faith to continue. They did not need someone else or something else to give them a relationship with Jesus because they already had it. They did not need to let the Judaizers tempt them to go back under the Law for their justification because they already had it.