Freedom From The Law

Galatians 3:1–5
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)

In a survey conducted by the Barna Research Group in 1992, nearly 1/3 of all “Evangelical” Christians stated that all good people will go to heaven, whether they have embraced Jesus Christ or not. While 88% in a recent Barna poll believe Jesus Christ was a real person, … More

Feelings

Paul rebukes these Galatian believers for backsliding into false teaching. They had turned from the Gospel of Grace and were following the path of legalism. Paul uses the following six arguments to prove that God saves sinners through faith in Christ and not by how they feel:

The personal argument (3:1-5)
The scriptural argument (3:6-14)
The logical argument (3:15-29)
The historical argument (4:1-11)
The sentimental argument (4:12-18)
The allegorical argument (4:19-31)

The key to verses 1-5 is the word suffered (v. 4), which can be translated “experienced.” To begin the personal argument Paul asks, “Have you experienced so many things in vain?”

The believers experience with Christ (v. 1).
The believers experience with the Holy Spirit (vv. 2-4).
The believers experience with the Father (v. 5).

The Holy Spirit gives Christians great power to live for God. Some Christians want more than this. They want to live in a state of perpetual excitement and if they don’t feel a certain way they think something is wrong spiritually. A holy life doesn’t depend on feelings but on God.

Application

I am not saved because I feel saved. My salvation does not depend on my feelings or on what I have done or have not done but on what Christ did for me on the cross of Calvary.