(Episode #30): Study on Galatians: Does God do miracles in you based on your performance?: Gal 3:4-5

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are continuing our study in Galatians, and in the

(00:03):
last episode we talked about twoquestions that Paul asked the
church in Galatia. And the firstquestion was, How did you
receive the Holy Spirit? Was itby faith, or was it because of
your works? So, we saw thatthere are these kind of
tendencies among Christians tosay that, okay, we're saved by
grace, but now, after beingsaved by grace, now you have to

(00:25):
continue in the law. You have tokeep the law.
You have to keep the 10commandments. Grace enables you
to walk in the law. That sort ofa teaching is prevalent in our
age today. Now let's go to thesecond question that he asks
here. I'm gonna read fromGalatians chapter three verse
four and five that he whoprovide you with the spirit
works miracles among you.

(00:46):
Do it by the works of the law orby hearing of faith. Now this is
very clear that Paul is againstkeeping the law after salvation,
but a lot of people refute thatsaying that he never talks
against the law after salvation,that keeping the law after
salvation that he is for it. Buthere, you can see the proof. It

(01:11):
says that, Does He who provideyou with the Spirit and works
miracles among you do it by theworks of the law or by the
hearing of faith? Here you seethat.
He's saying he that worksmiracles among you. So clearly,
this is not before yoursalvation. This is after your
salvation. This is your dailyChristian walk. So he's saying

(01:32):
that you don't have to put apinch of law.
Now he's saying he's asking thathe the way miracles happen among
you. So apparently, in thechurch in Galatia, there were
miracles happening. And he wasasking, the miracles that
happened among you, is itbecause of the faith that you
have or is it because you didsomething? Clearly, they would

(01:53):
have noticed that it was byfaith and not by works, not by
keeping the law. So he's sayingthat, okay, now that you've
started off in faith, we havestarted off in grace.
Now continuing that, why do youhave to focus on getting back
into the law, a performancebased religion? And I wanna show
that. The church in Galatia wasvery clear about it. They knew

(02:16):
that miracles happened in theirlife because of faith. So that's
why Paul was able to ask thatquestion.
Nowadays, believe that a lot ofthe times we tend to think that
it's because of our performance,the way we have performed before
God, that we are able to workmiracles. Now let's look at Acts
chapter three and it says, Peterand John were going to the

(02:40):
temple to pray. They were notprayed up and then they saw this
lame person. This person asksfor healing, and Peter and John
say that silver and gold have Inone, and what I have I give in
the name of Jesus. And they saidrise up and walk.
This guy walked. We know thestory. Acts chapter three, if

(03:01):
you don't. And then what'sinteresting is right after that,
Peter says that, do you think itis because of our piety? Do do
you think it's because we aresuper spiritual or we have done
these kind of things that we'reable to work miracles?
Or do you think that ourperformance had anything to do

(03:22):
with this, but rather this is byfaith and faith in the name of
Jesus? When I say that webelievers can work miracles, we
believers can walk exactly likeJesus walked on earth. A lot of
people say that no. And Iremember one brother actually
telling me that he talked abouta man of God called David

(03:42):
Wilkerson. A lot of people knowhim.
So he said that David Wilkersonwas a person that he knew would
block in such power andauthority. And he was saying
that was because the time hespent with God, the kind of
relationship which he had withGod. But see, this is the kind
of thing that I'm saying that wethink it is about the time that

(04:03):
we spend with God. We think thatit's amount the amount of time
that we spend in prayer andfasting. All these things are
fine, but the point that we needto take is that it's not by our
performance that we workmiracles.
It is by faith in the name ofJesus. And that's how we walk in

(04:24):
our Christian life. And that'swhy Paul is asking, does he who
provide you with the spirit andwork miracles among you? Do it
by the works of the law or byhearing with faith. So his point
is, like I talked in the lastepisode, you receive the Holy
Spirit by grace through faith,and you do miracles by grace.

(04:50):
Why are you trying to continuein the law? If you start off in
grace, continue in grace, youhave to live by the spirit.
That's all. You don't have to beperfected by following the law
or getting into a performancebased Christianity or religion.
It's a trap that we can fallinto, that we need to do this.

(05:10):
We need to go there, get handslaid on, and things like that in
order to be perfected in ChristJesus. But understand this.
You're already perfecting ChristJesus. You are the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. You'reholy, blameless, sanctified,
royal priesthood.
You're blessed with everyspiritual blessing in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.And the second, he has given you

(05:33):
everything that pertains to lifeand godliness. He didn't say,
okay, till you do certainthings, but it's like you have
been given everything pertainingto life and godliness. So reign
in life with him. Reign in life.
Reign in your life as a newcreation in Christ Jesus. May
god bless you all.