Galatians 3:1, commentary and pictures

Paul had plainly set Jesus Christ crucified before the Galatians in preaching the gospel of righteousness by faith, and they had believed and received the Spirit by hearing with faith and not by works of law. They then foolishly turned from that grace when false teachers with boasting display perverted the gospel, and their minds were fascinated and bound as under a spell of sorcery so they could not reason intelligently. To be bewitched in this way is to refuse to obey the truth, which is both the good news of Christ's freely offered righteousness and God's holy law as the standard leading to holiness. That blindness comes through bewitching theories contrary to Scripture, subtle reasoning that fixes the mind on a false picture of Christ, and worldly attractions and cherished selfish gratification that eclipse the infinite sacrifice. Those who have had such light opened to them remain accountable, and they are called to remember their first experience, humble the heart before God, enthrone Jesus anew, and return intelligently to obedience before their suffering proves in vain.

Galatians' Turning Described

Paul had planted the pure gospel of righteousness by faith among the Galatians and had plainly set Jesus Christ crucified before their eyes, and by that preaching they had been converted. That clear presentation made their turning from obedience to the truth the ground of the rebuke, for they were leaving what they had plainly received. The questions that follow explain the rebuke as abandoning that beginning.

Satan worked through false teachers whose boasting and display of wonder-working powers blinded the spiritual eyesight of many new converts and led them into error and perversion of the gospel. Their turning from the grace of Christ to another gospel was foolish and threatened the spiritual life that had been labored to nurture in them. They had received the Spirit through hearing with faith, not by works of the law or of the flesh, yet having begun in the Spirit they were trying to be made complete by human effort and to be made perfect by the flesh through the works of the law.

Such a course would make their suffering in vain if they abandoned that beginning. They were to remember their first Christian experience and recognize that they had been deceived. By relying on the Word and power of God and refusing the interpretations of apostate teachers, Satan's purpose could be defeated and the deceived brought back to the faith prepared to take an intelligent stand for the truth.

Words and Phrases Explained

To be bewitched is to be fascinated and bewildered by Satan's power so as not to obey the truth. It is a real bewitching power in heresy and licentiousness, a species of witchcraft and sorcery that puts the mind under a spell, binds and holds the mental powers as under enchantment, mesmerizes and befools, and paralyzes reason so the deluded mind cannot reason intelligently but is continually led by illusion away from purity. Anyone who knowingly cherishes error in belief or conduct is under that power and may be used to mislead others, extolling the corrupt, losing relish for pure unadulterated truth, and even practicing secret licentiousness as virtue while covering adultery with the cloak of Christianity. The bewitching works through deceptive arts including self-deception, through highly intellectual discourses that mingle wise observations with prevailing errors of science falsely so called and popular religious doctrine to undermine the Bible and give reason to question the inspired Word, and through worldly attractions that similarly keep people from obeying, with subtle sophistical reasoning taking root almost imperceptibly until youth are converted from truth to error and those yielded to it seduce others into sin and strengthen attachment to the world and transgression against God. Such blindness cannot be broken except by humbling the heart before the Lord and accepting His light, rebuking Satan in Jesus' name and escaping through divine grace, when God then gives help.

The bewitched condition is shown in being actuated by a wrong spirit in satanic persistency and obstinacy. It is shown in resistance to light and the manifest testimonies of the Spirit, in rejecting everything to idolize supposed ideas and pet theories, and in unchristian spirit, words, and works lacking divine credentials, which reveal a warfare maintained against the truth and call for searching the heart as with a lighted candle. Clinging obstinately to one's own ideas and arguments, especially over the law, displaces Christ and closes the mind to light and evidence, and the bitter fruit of that resistance appears in unchristian spirit, words, and actions.

To be called foolish is to be unwise in refusing to obey the truth and to live holy lives in earnest compliance with God's requirements after strong inducements have been set before the eyes. The inducement is the offer of eternal happiness in the earth made new, and the matter is clear and momentous because eternal life is at stake, so that neglecting salvation and failing to stop transgressing God's law reflects Satan's deceptive power. With the fear of God before them people are enabled to endure, to understand their relation to God, to be in harmony with His divine will, and to receive the recompense of reward, while such disobedience forfeits heaven and brings terrible disappointment.

Jesus Christ evidently set forth crucified among them means He had been plainly presented before their eyes as the divine sufferer who bore human sin on the tree and endured the weight of the world's sins, though the Gentiles had not personally seen Him suffer. He is to be received as an object of faith, and refusing to obey that truth after it has been clearly set forth is foolish and reflects a deception that fascinates and keeps the unwilling from seeing. Knowing about Him is not enough without obeying, for genuine belief transforms conduct from selfishness toward the unselfish life of the Lamb of God, and the truth resisted is the good news of God's mercy to sinners including Christ's righteousness offered freely to all who receive it, so that unbelief resisting such great love is a grave sin.

Christ Crucified Clearly Presented

Christ crucified is the central truth to be set plainly before people, presenting again and again that Jesus gave His life for the world and bore human sin. He is to be held up through preaching of the word and through persuasive words and personal work, so that hearers see Him as the center of the message and believe in Him as a personal Savior mighty to save completely all who come to God through Him. Ministers are to exalt Christ rather than make self prominent, that people may fix the eye of faith on Jesus, and when hearts are filled with His love they reveal His abiding presence and speak with tenderness. Workers can present this same message while serving people in need, for meeting physical needs and helping those unable to help themselves creates opportunity to set forth Christ, and this labor becomes a heritage of light.

His death reveals the meeting of mercy and truth and of righteousness and peace in a reality too deep and great to measure. On the cross the only-begotten Son is seen dying in the sinner's place to give the transgressor life, and the cross harmonizes God's love and justice as the sinner's only means of salvation. He bore human sin on the tree, showing that sin's penalty is death and its curse is so great that only Deity could exhaust it in making atonement. Those who continue in sin face inconceivable wretchedness, and people need God's grace every day to avoid going astray.

Seeing God's love in His suffering and death should awaken gratitude, affection, contrition, and tenderness rather than leave people cold or indifferent. Genuine belief transforms conduct, turning people from selfishness toward the unselfish life of the Lamb of God. Receiving Christ by faith brings a real work of transforming grace that changes the mind and character to reflect His virtues, moving the believer to faith, hope, love, and willing obedience as the cross is seen as the central object. Keeping the image of His love in mind leads a person to share in the dignity of His suffering and to behold love as the meaning of the mystery of the cross, even beholding the Lamb who takes away the world's sin.

The sacrifice made for believers is to remain fresh in their minds and to shape every thought and plan. His crucifixion makes redemption God's greatest claim upon them, a claim that encompasses every other claim. Giving tithes and offerings acknowledges that claim through redemption, since all power comes from Christ who paid the ransom to draw them to Himself. Fixing the eyes of faith on Jesus as the gospel set before believers and the center of hope of eternal life brings hope and assurance, casts out lingering doubt and unbelief, and leads to trusting God's Word, denying self, taking up the cross, and following Christ, putting immortal life within reach.

In preaching of the word and in the observance of the Lord's Supper Christ is present, and in these ordinances His suffering and death for sin, by which reconciliation with God was obtained, are brought vividly to mind. In the bread and wine His body given for the world is represented, leading believers in imagination to the scene of His suffering and helping them grasp the sacrifice. The service is a memorial to be observed with a peaceful, grateful heart and fully engaged spiritual understanding, remembering His humiliation, betrayal, suffering, and death. Remembering His humble service calls for self-examination, confession of cherished sins, and putting away self-exaltation, selfishness, evil speaking, and evil thoughts, for His washing of the disciples' feet while their dispute over greatness was still fresh teaches humility and service. Keeping Calvary fresh in mind awakens praise, humbles pride, and changes heart and character, and fixing faith on that sacrifice makes it the center of hope and enables believers to look with joy to His second coming.

Believers are to lift up Jesus as crucified among them, thinking and speaking of Christ and praising and magnifying His name, taking no credit for themselves but abiding in Him. Abiding in Christ is shown by revealing His character, becoming a channel through which God gives light and a worker together with God. Fixing the eye of faith on Jesus brings hope and assurance and casts out doubt and unbelief, leading to trust, self-denial, and following Christ. Keeping the realities of another world in view counterbalances earthly desires and preserves the heart to love and glorify God, keeping spiritual sight from being lost under the spell of worldly attractions. Those who have received this clear presentation are called through the Holy Spirit to carry on Christ's work, to represent God's kindness, and as witnesses with work entrusted to each to bring the world an invitation of mercy.

Truth Requiring Obedience

The truth that was resisted is the good news of God's mercy to sinners, even Christ's righteousness offered freely to all who will receive it, and unbelief that holds out against so great a love is a grave sin. That truth had been planted as the pure gospel of righteousness by faith, with Jesus Christ crucified clearly set forth, so that converts had begun in the Spirit and received the Spirit by hearing with faith and not by works of law or of flesh. To be turned from obeying it after such plain presentation was to be blinded in spiritual eyesight by Satan working through false teachers with boasting and display of wonder-working power, perverting the gospel into error. The remedy is to see the deception, defeat Satan's purpose, and return intelligently to the faith by relying on the Word and power of God and refusing the interpretations of apostate teachers.

The truth to be obeyed is God's holy law as the standard, obedience to His commandments and walking in the royal path He marked out that leads to holiness and heaven. That obedience is the only hope, and it includes the binding claims of God's will that call for obedience and self-denial and must not be evaded by deceptive reasoning or specious evasion. Eternal life is at stake in the matter, which makes the truth clear and weighty and makes neglect of salvation and failure to obey unwise and vulnerable to Satan's deceptive power. Those who take their stand on the side of that truth are a chosen people given marvelous light from the opened temple in heaven where Christ ministers before the ark containing the tables of stone.

Departing from God in this way repeats without any real reason Satan's demand in heaven to change or abolish God's law, made without showing how angels would be better off and made only to exalt himself above God and prove his wisdom superior to the Omnipotent. The same bewitchment now holds the human family, made drunk with the wine of Babylon so they will not reason, filled with Satan's sophistry and determined not to see the foolishness of casting aside the law of the Lord of hosts for another standard. To be bewitched is to tamper with the Lord's standard in the worst rebellion, presuming to handle the law of God, to cancel the decisions of Jehovah, to remove the ancient landmarks, and to substitute false waymarks for the true guide-boards. Those false waymarks lead men to follow the path of the first great apostate instead of following Jesus Christ, although the law is authoritative and divine, the unchanging expression of the will and mind of God, the positive declarations and decisions of an infallible Judge that stand through eternal ages and test character for judgment.

Being bewitched so as not to obey means abandoning God's holy law and transgressing it with impunity through union with the wicked in heart, blunted sensibilities, walking on the tempter's ground and tempting the devil to tempt, distrusting God, and letting unbelief of His Word in various forms take possession of the soul. It means taking oneself out of His hands and planning independently instead of seeking to walk in the way of the Lord under His discipline and guidance. A bewitching, benumbing power thus comes over souls who have had a knowledge of the truth so that they do not obey and cannot understand the great love of God. Obedience must be both in profession and in practice, for knowing about Christ crucified as the divine sufferer who bore the world's sins is not enough without obeying, and those turned aside are called to cast idols out of the heart and enthrone Jesus who knocks offering imperishable treasure, gold and white clothing and eye salve, with the rich gospel feast and Bread of Life. With the fear of God before them and strong inducement set before their eyes in the offer of eternal happiness in the earth made new, people endure, understand their relation to God, remain in harmony with His will, and secure the recompense of reward, while refusal to live holy lives in compliance with His requirements forfeits heaven in terrible disappointment.

How Bewitchment Works

Bewitchment works through false teaching and bewitching theories contrary to the Bible, fabricated to infatuate minds under the leading of Satan, the fallen angel who works through chosen agents to exalt men with honor above God. It operates as a real bewitching power in heresy and licentiousness, a kind of witchcraft and sorcery that holds the mental powers as under a spell and paralyzes them so the deluded mind cannot reason intelligently, clouds judgment and spiritual sight, leads away from purity, and can make secret licentiousness and the extolling of the corrupt man seem virtuous while relish for pure unadulterated truth is lost. It comes through listening to the discourses of those called great men in the world, whose highly intellectual sayings mingle wise observations with prevailing errors of science falsely so called and popular religious doctrine, undermining the statements of the Bible and giving reason to question the inspired Word. Those who receive and admire such sentiments are in danger, for through subtlety their sophistical reasoning takes root in the heart almost imperceptibly and converts from truth to error by repeating the falsehoods put in the mouth of the serpent and educating in delusions, when the conversion should run the other way toward firm establishment and winning souls from darkness to Christ. It is also thrown into new views that minds take hold of even though the arguments are as clear as mud, disjointed and out of harmony with the message so that no one can understand them even when declared. Desertion of this kind leaves service under Christ's banner to work against Him and His delegated ministers, destroying interest in things of greatest consequence by turning minds from truth to pleasure-loving and pleasure-seeking and counteracting spiritual truths by words, deportment, and influence.

It works through subtle persuasive reasoning that takes root in the heart and leads from truth to error even when mixed with wise-sounding words. Attention is fixed on a false picture of Christ while the Holy Spirit's repeated appeals are rejected, so that Jesus and His followers are treated as enemies and the refusal to obey truth forfeits the peace, rest, and salvation it would bring. Counsel and reproof are misread and evidence is treated as grounds for doubt, solemn Scripture warnings are ridiculed, the Holy Spirit is grieved away until appeals are meaningless, and truth once defended and exalted is rejected as men follow their own hearts until truth no longer seems true, choosing Barabbas and rejecting Christ. Souls in every congregation called for the last time to repent resist step by step until He departs and satanic agencies bewitch them so they fail to follow the truth, with spiritual blindness taking the place of light once enjoyed and with step-by-step following in Satan's footsteps without knowing where he will lead. In that condition every appeal through the Lord's servants, every word of reproof, counsel, entreaty, and the most solemn words of Scripture are misconstrued in a perverted light, laughed at and ridiculed instead of causing trembling, and the commandments once vindicated and exalted are despised and disobeyed so that no pleading can strive to any purpose. It also applies to accepting slander and rumors from opponents and to spreading false reports, by which wisdom, judgment, confidence, and faith are lost and one is led away from believing the truth.

It works through worldly attractions that bind the mind as under a spell and keep from obeying the truth, for sin works through secret influences and gradually blinds and captivates until actions once rejected become possible. Satan's beauty and pride, which led to his fall, illustrate the danger of being drawn away after Jesus Christ crucified has been clearly presented, leaving accountability to remain faithful. A bewitching power eclipses the Word of God so the mind takes in only the things of time and sense, turning away from the infinite sacrifice paid in Christ and from the great inducement of everlasting life to give self wholly to the things of this life instead of to Jesus. Those captivated by worldly concerns treat imperishable things as unimportant while trusting in wealth, status, and their own judgment, and this worldly infatuation is being bewitched. It applies to those who choose earthly business, plans, and amusements over eternal life with Christ, allowing Satan to obscure Christ and heaven from view through subtle temptation, though Christ is the only hope for eternal life. The truth thus resisted is the good news of God's mercy to sinners, including Christ's righteousness offered freely to all who receive it, and unbelief resisting such great love is grave sin.

It works when error in belief or conduct is knowingly cherished, for anyone doing so is under Satan's fascinating, bewildering power so as not to obey the truth and may be used to mislead others. The bewitching is a satanic spell that enchains the soul through deceptive arts including self-deception, and those who yield to it can seduce others into sin and strengthen attachment to the world and transgression against God. It takes hold as an infatuation and craze for selfish gratification, such as spending on bicycles money that should be invested to unfurl the banner of truth in the cities and in destitute foreign fields, a device to make disloyal to Jesus Christ the Captain of salvation by keeping idols in the heart instead of expelling them and enthroning Jesus there. It bewitches the minds of the young when boys and girls mingle without proper guidance. The bewitched professed Christian becomes a faithless soldier of whom Christ is ashamed, failing to deny self and sacrifice self to save souls ready to die, with self-indulgence recorded in the heavenly records and in God's book of account to be answered for in judgment, showing the fickleness of unsanctified human nature where many think they belong to Christ but He will not own them.

Such blindness cannot be broken except by the power of God, which alone can undeceive about right principles and restore obedience to the truth. The spell may take the form of dreams of greatness, worldly honor, and distinction with self exalted at the expense of Jesus, and deliverance comes by rebuking Satan in Jesus' name and escaping the delusion through divine grace. Breaking the spell requires humbling the heart before the Lord and accepting the light He has given, with direct speech and help needed, and God then gives help.

Warning and Call Today

Paul's question reaches across the ages as a warning to all who have had the truth opened to them and have received great light, for they remain accountable not to be turned from it after Christ crucified has been clearly set before them. To be led away from obeying the truth is to turn from faith and dependence on the Spirit to reliance on works of the law and human effort, trying to complete by the flesh what was begun in the Spirit through hearing with faith. The turning comes through deceptive reasoning that clouds clear truth despite ample evidence, through specious evasion of truths that call for obedience and self-denial including the binding claims of God's law, and through closing the eyes to God-given light to choose rebellious ways instead of yielding to His guidance and purpose. The safeguard is to earnestly seek God rather than to strive over minor points of doctrine.

Those thus held back from obedience in profession as well as in practice are called to cast idols out of the heart and enthrone Jesus there. Christ knocks at each heart offering imperishable heavenly treasure, the gold and white clothing and eye salve that are needed, together with the rich gospel feast and the Bread of Life. To keep idols in the heart instead of expelling them is to yield to a device invented to make people disloyal to their Captain, as seen when an infatuation and craze for selfish gratification takes hold, such as spending on bicycles money that should be invested to unfurl the banner of truth in the cities and in destitute foreign fields.

The controversy over the law in Galatians is a doctrinal point that is not vital compared with being Christians and having a Christian spirit that is true, open, and frank. The truth on the subject bears to be investigated and criticized without tottering and falling, so the door should not be closed to Christlike inquiry, but everyone should study the Scriptures for themselves with no man as authority and give a reason for the hope within with meekness and fear. Even truth held on this subject sanctifies only when its fruits are after Christ's order and not bitter as gall. To stand firmly to defend ideas and positions while failing to obey the truth is the bewitched condition, actuated by a wrong spirit shown in satanic persistency and obstinacy, in resistance to light and the manifest testimonies of the Spirit, in rejecting everything to idolize supposed ideas and pet theories, and in unchristian spirit, words, and works lacking divine credentials. Those in this condition, whose arguments have displaced Christ and closed their minds to light and evidence, need to search their hearts as with a lighted candle because they are maintaining a warfare against the truth, and taking a wrong position before fully understanding it while failing to cherish the Spirit of Christ brought loss to the church.

The same rebuke challenges present misconduct whose influence grieves God and harms others and shows the truth is no longer obeyed. Christ gave His life and paid the ransom to draw sinners to Himself and put immortal life within reach, as surely for those warned as for every professed Christian, yet resisting the Spirit's appeal rejects that invitation by refusing God-given responsibility and stewardship. Satanic deception can so confuse judgment that a person no longer believes the truth and yet continues on a perilous course, and the warning calls for repentance before that course ends in eternal loss.