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Scripture Reading: 2-3, 5, Gal. 3:14; 4:6, 29; 5:16-18, 22-25; 6:8
It is not so easy for us to see the aspect of the Spirit mentioned in the book of Galatians. We have seen that the book of Romans talks about the Spirit of life. By studying 1 Corinthians diligently, we all can see that the Spirit there is the life-giving Spirit. It is easier to see that in 2 Corinthians there is the transforming Spirit; however, it is not so easy to see what is the aspect of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians.
During the time that Paul wrote this book, the Christians were being bothered, troubled, and distracted by the law keepers, the Judaizers. These law keepers, or Judaizers, on the one hand, pretended to be Christians, but they still remained faithful to Moses. They treasured the law much more than the gospel. They not only kept the law by themselves, but they also did their best to Judaize the Gentile believers, misleading them to keep the law rather than hearing the faith. To hear the faith means to receive the gospel.
We realize today that the law was absolutely an Old Testament matter. It was something in letter and, at best, it was something in promise, in types, and in prophecies. Nothing was a reality, and everything was in letters and in shadows. The Judaizers, however, did not realize this and treasured these shadows, and they forced the Gentile believers to follow them in treasuring these shadows. The stress in their teaching distracted and even misled the believers. Those believers who had been distracted were missing the blessing of the gospel. Under such a background Paul wrote this short Epistle to the Galatians.
In the first two chapters Paul presented the Galatians with a clear view that God’s intention was to work Christ into them as everything. God had no intention for His chosen people to keep the law. His intention was only to use the law as a custodian, a guardian, a child-conductor, to watch over His chosen people before Christ came and to escort and conduct them to Christ when He did come (3:24-25). The law is also likened to a sheepfold (John 10:1), in which God’s chosen people were kept and guarded in custody and ward until Christ came. When the day of Christ’s coming dawned, God wanted His chosen people to come out of the fold, to come out of custody, to receive Christ directly as their life and life supply.
In Galatians 1 Paul shows that God’s intention is to reveal His Son, Jesus Christ, in His chosen people (v. 16). God did not have any intention of revealing the law in His chosen people. God’s desire is that His chosen people would receive His Son into them. This is the gospel. In chapter 2 Paul goes on to show that Christ replaces the law and that God does not want us to keep the law. Rather, God put us on the cross with Christ, and we have died to law that we might live to God (v. 19). We have been crucified with Christ on the cross, and it is no longer we who live, but it is Christ who lives in us (v. 20). Christ lives in us not to the law but to God. We do not live to the law, but we live to God. We do not live a life to keep the law, but we live a life to express God. We have nothing to do with the law since the obligation under the law, the relationship to the law, was terminated in Christ’s death. Not only were we crucified, but even the law of the commandments in ordinances was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14).
In Galatians 3 Paul was very frank in his writing to the Galatians. He called them “foolish Galatians” (v. 1). When Paul wrote to the Galatians, they had all been misled to be blind and veiled, to be foolish. Therefore, Paul called them foolish Galatians, and he asked them, “Did you receive the Spirit out of the works of law or out of the hearing of faith?” (v. 2). By receiving the gospel, the Galatians received the consummation of the Triune God, which is the living, all-inclusive Spirit. He is so living, so real, so availing, so prevailing, and so much higher than the law. Paul wanted to show the Galatians how foolish it is to neglect the Spirit and drift back to the law. Paul told them that since they had begun their Christian life in a good way by the Spirit, they should run the race to be perfected by the Spirit. However, they were distracted, trying to take the way of the law. So Paul asked them, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (v. 3). To begin by the Spirit is by faith in Christ; to be perfected by the flesh is by works of law (v. 2).
Paul then presented them a clear picture concerning the gospel preached beforehand to Abraham (v. 8). God did not give Abraham the law but the promise, which was not only concerning Abraham and his descendants but also concerning all the nations on this earth. This promise was initially given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, where God told Abraham, “In you all families of the earth will be blessed” (v. 3). In Galatians 3:16 Paul shows that Christ is the unique seed of Abraham that brings the blessing to all the nations. In Genesis we can see the blessing, but we cannot find the Spirit. Paul was a marvelous writer. When he was talking about the seed of Abraham and the blessing to all the nations, he mentioned the Spirit as the blessing promised by God to Abraham for all the nations (v. 14).
Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree.’” Paul was telling the Galatians that the law did not bring any blessing to us, but it only put us under a curse. Then Christ came and died on the cross to redeem us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf. Christ Himself became a curse on the cross. While Christ was being crucified on the cross, there was a sign of curse upon Him — a crown of thorns. Genesis 3 shows that after man fell, sin entered and with it the curse. The curse was that the earth would bring forth thorns and thistles (v. 18). Thorns are a sign of the curse, and on the cross Jesus bore this curse. When He was hanging on the cross wearing a crown of thorns, this indicated that He was made a curse on our behalf.
The sentence in Galatians 3:13 continues in verse 14: “In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The Gentiles means all the nations of this earth. When Paul said, “That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith,” he changed the Gentiles, or the nations, to “we.” Therefore, the nations include the Jews.
Galatians 3:14 does not say that all the nations on this earth might receive the promise of going to heaven. The natural, religious mentality believes that the blessing of the gospel is to go to heaven. Many Christians believe that the goodness of believing in Jesus Christ is having a happy life in this age, and then after we die, we go to heaven. To them this is the top blessing, even the everlasting blessing of the gospel. From my youth I heard frequently that if a person did not believe in Jesus Christ, he would go to hell and that if he did believe in Jesus Christ, he would go to heaven. I heard the gospel preached in this way time after time. Sixty years ago in China many preachers would warn people about going to hell and would tell them that God was preparing a heavenly mansion with golden streets and pearly gates. They preached in this way to motivate their listeners to believe in the Lord Jesus. The “going to heaven” gospel never stirred me up. I always wondered what kind of religion would always talk about hell and heaven again and again. In 1925, however, when I was still under twenty, I heard the genuine gospel and got caught by the Lord.
The blessing of the gospel is that we might receive the promise of the Spirit, who is the consummation of the processed Triune God. This is not merely the God who created the heavens and the earth. This is the Triune God who has gone through the processes of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. After passing through all these processes, He was consummated to be the Spirit, the extract of the Triune God. The blessing of the gospel is the Spirit, who is the sum total and the aggregate of the Triune God, the processed Triune God. Because our natural mind cannot comprehend this, we need a vision. What a blessing this is! An expensive car, even the so-called heavenly mansion, cannot be compared with the Triune God. Even the entire universe cannot compare with our Triune God. The blessing of the gospel is the Spirit, who is the ultimate realization of the processed Triune God.
We should not forget that we receive such a wonderful Spirit through faith. There is the need to believe. God is prepared. He is fully ready to give Himself to you. He has been processed; He is not a “raw God.” He is the processed God consummated in the all-inclusive Spirit, ready for you to receive and enjoy, but you have to believe. You may wonder how you can believe, but you do not need to try to believe. Just look at the promise. Look at the Triune God. Look at Jesus Christ. Look at the Son of God who died on the cross for you. If you would look at Him, faith would rise up within you (Heb. 12:2). In Hong Kong, a city famous for selling jewels, the salesmen have a special art of showing someone these precious things. After their presentation of these precious things and after you see them, “faith” rises up in your heart. You may even sell everything to buy those jewels. A good preacher is one who presents “the jewels” in such a way. When this preacher gives you a look at the Triune God, faith rises up in you to receive such a One. This One is the blessing of the gospel.
I hope that today all of us would thank the Lord for such a blessing, which is nothing less than Himself. This blessing is nothing less than the Triune God who became a man in the flesh, who lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years, passing through the entire human life. He went to the cross to terminate all the negative things for us, He released the divine life for us, He arose from among the dead, entered into resurrection, became the life-giving Spirit, and breathed Himself into us. He ascended into heaven and poured Himself out upon us. Now we have Him as our life essentially, and we have Him upon us as our power economically. We can live such a universal man, a wonderful man, a man of the Spirit, a man of God. We should all declare, “I am now a God-man.” This is the blessing of the gospel.
The Spirit is being supplied to the believers by the hearing of faith (Gal. 3:5). Whenever we are under the speaking of the New Testament ministry, we are hearing the faith. The more we hear the faith, the more we receive the supply of the Spirit. After we have been under the speaking of the ministry, we all can declare, “Now I have more Spirit within me.” Also, when we review what we have seen when we were under the speaking of the ministry, that review will supply us with more Spirit. The Spirit is being supplied to the believers to make what they heard real.
The believers were born of the Spirit (4:29; John 3:6). Galatians reminds us that we were born of the Spirit. We are sons born of God. We were born first of Adam, but we were reborn of God, of the Spirit, the consummation of the Triune God.
The Spirit, who is the consummation of the Triune God, is particularly the Spirit of the Son of God who makes the believers’ divine sonship real (4:6). Today we are sons of God not only in name but also in life. In our practical daily life we are sons of God. Who makes us the real sons of God? The Spirit of the Son of God. The very divine Spirit within us today is the Spirit of the divine Son, so He is the reality of our divine sonship. When we walk and live by Him, we walk and live as a real son of God.
The believers should live and walk by the Spirit (5:16-18, 22-25). We must be deeply impressed that the New Testament does not charge us to keep the letter of the Bible. Rather, the New Testament charges us to live and walk by the Spirit. Now we must ask what the difference is between living and walking. To live means to have life, and it also means to exist. A Christian is a believer in Christ, born of God. He has the Spirit of sonship in his being. He has the life of this Spirit, and he exists by this Spirit. To live by the Spirit is to have life and to exist by the Spirit. To walk means to move, to act, to speak, and to do things by the Spirit. All our living and walking should be by the Spirit who is in us.
This Spirit is the consummation, the totality, of the Triune God. He is living, real, practical, and present in you all the time. You do not need to seek after Him, since He is right in you. You do not need to pray, “Lord, be with me the whole day.” In the past I liked to pray such a prayer. I followed Moses to ask the Lord that His presence would go with me (Exo. 33:15). One day when I prayed this way, however, I became condemned. I said to myself, “Foolish man, the Lord is with you every day, and He says clearly that He will never leave you. But in your daily life you still ask the Lord to be with you.” I also taught people that the Lord was within them and would never leave them. That day, however, the Spirit within asked me why I prayed that the Lord would be with me when He was with me all the time. As a result, I stopped praying in this kind of way.
We do not need to pray in this way. The Lord is here with us right now. Even if you would go to a movie, He is still within you. However, do not be encouraged by this word to go to a movie. He is within you, and you need to walk by the Spirit. When you are going to a movie, He goes with you, but He goes with you indicating that you should not go further. You know this, but you may still say, “Let me go just for today, and I will not go anymore.” The Spirit, however, is still within you, telling you to turn and walk by Him. When He indicates within you that you should turn to Him, and you respond by saying, “Lord Jesus, I will go by You,” you will not go to the movie theater but to the church meeting. When we are going with the Lord and by the Lord, our mouth will be full of praise.
According to what I have observed, I have never seen a married couple who have never argued with each other. The real situation of every marriage life is that there is always the tendency and the temptation to exchange words with each other. I must confess that I wanted to exchange words with my wife many times. As soon as I began to speak something to her, the Lord was there indicating that I should stop. At that moment I did not try to stop, but I went with the Lord, and I went by Him. That practice stopped my speaking. This is an example of walking by the Spirit. If we try to stop our bad habits by ourselves, we could never make it. We must walk by the Spirit.
Do not try to walk by the Spirit merely in great things, but walk by the Spirit in small things. Some of the saints may be trying to walk by the Spirit in great things. They may be praying, “Lord, You need a recovery in Athens, Greece. Should I go there or not? Lord, I’ve been praying for three months. I surely would like to go by the Spirit.” However, do not go by the Spirit in great things first, but go or walk by the Spirit in small things first, such as talking on the telephone. When many saints, especially the sisters, talk on the telephone, it seems as if they do not have the Lord Jesus or the Spirit within them. Quite often their talk on the telephone is vain talk or gossip. If we mean business to walk by the Spirit, we should first practice walking by the Spirit in the small things, such as talking on the telephone. If you try this, you will find out how rebellious and how stubborn you are. Maybe during one phone call the Lord Jesus would tell you to stop your talk many times, but you would tell Him, “Just one more sentence.” You would not stop your talk on the telephone. We should walk by the Spirit when we receive a phone call or when we make a phone call. Practice to walk by the Spirit in small things. Walk by the Spirit when you are going to buy a tie. You will see that you are not so obedient or so faithful to walk by the Spirit. The believers should live and walk by the Spirit.
Also, the believers should sow unto the Spirit so that they may reap of the Spirit eternal life (Gal. 6:8). Paul says that if we sow unto the flesh, we will reap corruption of the flesh. The word unto means “with a view to” or “for.” To sow unto the flesh is to sow for the flesh, with the purpose of the flesh in view, fulfilling what the flesh covets. To sow unto the Spirit is to sow for the Spirit, with the aim of the Spirit, accomplishing what the Spirit desires. We must realize that whatever we do and whatever we say is a kind of sowing. With sowing there is always a result, a reaping. Whatever we say and do is a kind of sowing, and some result will come out. When we do things and say things, we must have a proper view. Do not sow anything, do anything, say anything, unto the flesh but unto the Spirit. We must have this in our view. This will stop us from doing many things that we should not do. Sow everything with a view to the Spirit. Eventually, we will reap of the Spirit eternal life. When I talk to a brother, I should talk in view of the Spirit. I should not talk in view of the flesh. If I sow something unto the flesh, one day corruption will come. I will reap corruption. This is the last word in this book concerning the Spirit.
Hallelujah, we do have such a blessing within us! However, we must always live and walk by this living blessing, by this Spirit. Then whatever we do and whatever we say will be said and done in view of this Spirit. If we sow unto the Spirit, a reaping of eternal life would always be our portion. The eternal life in Galatians 6:8 does not refer to the eternal life in the future. If we sow unto the Spirit, we will reap of the Spirit eternal life today. Otherwise, a result of corruption will be our portion. This word should encourage us to live and walk by the Spirit. To live and walk by the Spirit is to enjoy the blessing of the gospel.
