Scripture Reading: Gal. 3:1-5, 13-14; 4:6; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:2, 9-10
Chapter three of Galatians is crucial, but it is also extremely difficult to understand. It is one of the most difficult chapters in the New Testament. Therefore, it is not easy to explain in a few sentences what this chapter reveals. As we read this important chapter, we should not take it for granted, assuming that we understand all the terms used by Paul. For example, in this chapter Paul refers to the hearing of faith (v. 2). We should not assume that we understand this term.
In 3:1—4:31 we see a basic contrast between the Spirit by faith and flesh by law. In this contrast we have two sets of opposites: the Spirit and the flesh as one set, and faith and law as another. The law goes along with the flesh, whereas faith accompanies the Spirit. Hence, the Spirit is by faith, and the law is by flesh.
The first two chapters of Galatians may be regarded somewhat as the outer edge of this book. Chapter three, however, is the center of the book, its inner core. In this central section of Galatians is presented the contrast between the Spirit and the flesh, and also the contrast between faith and law. Therefore, it is correct to say that the subject of chapters three and four is the Spirit by faith versus the flesh by law. To have this understanding of these chapters is to have something of great value. Apart from seeing this contrast, we have no way to understand what these chapters reveal.
As we come to 3:1-14, we see that the Spirit is the blessing of the promise by faith in Christ. Here we have the Spirit, the blessing, the promise, the faith, and Christ. The Spirit is the blessing, the blessing is of the promise, the promise is by faith, and faith is in Christ. What does it mean to say that the Spirit is the blessing and that the blessing is of the promise? What does it mean that the promise is by faith? Understanding such matters is not easy. Nevertheless, these are the very matters to which we must pay attention as we consider these chapters.
In 3:1-5 Paul refers to the Spirit three times. In verse 2 he asks, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of law or by the hearing of faith?” In verse 3 he goes on to ask, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Then in verse 5 Paul asks whether the Galatian believers are supplied the Spirit by works of law or by the hearing of faith. Therefore, the Spirit is a crucial matter in 3:1-5.
Another crucial matter is the hearing of faith. Paul mentions the hearing of faith both with respect to receiving the Spirit (v. 2) and to God’s supplying the Spirit (v. 5). Both the receiving of the Spirit and the supplying of the Spirit are related to the hearing of faith. Doctrinally speaking, the hearing of faith is of greater importance here than the Spirit, for Paul’s point is the contrast between the works of law and the hearing of faith. Although the hearing of faith is of such vital importance, it is neglected by many readers of Galatians, who either ignore this matter or take it for granted. Rarely does anyone seek to know what actually is the hearing of faith.
In Romans 8:2 we see the relationship between the Spirit of life and Christ: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” What does it mean to say that the Spirit of life is in Christ? Traditional teaching would lead us to believe that the Spirit and Christ are separate and distinct Persons. But if the Spirit is a Person separate from Christ, how can the Spirit be in Christ? Some Christian teachers say that Christ the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, is sitting on the throne in the heavens and that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, is now working within us. In contrast to the traditional teaching that the Spirit and Christ are separate and distinct, the Bible tells us that the Spirit is in Christ.
The Lord’s answer to Philip’s question in John 14 helps us to understand this matter. When Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father and it suffices us” (v. 8), the Lord answered, “Am I so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How is it that you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words which I speak to you, I do not speak from Myself; but the Father Who abides in Me, He does His works” (vv. 9-10). The Lord’s word indicates clearly that the Father and the Son are not two separate Persons. On the contrary, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. They cannot be separated. Furthermore, the Son was sent from with the Father (John 6:46, Gk.). On the one hand, He was sent from God; on the other hand, He was always with God. The Son did not actually leave the Father; neither was the Father separated from the Son. Therefore, the Lord said, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me” (John 14:11).
The principle is the same concerning the relationship of Christ and the Spirit as the relationship between Christ the Son and the Father. The fact that the Spirit of life is in Christ means that an intrinsic relationship exists among the Three of the Godhead. The Son is the Son, and the Father is the Father. Nevertheless, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. Likewise, while the Son is the Son and the Spirit is the Spirit, yet the Spirit is in the Son. This indicates that the Three of the Triune God cannot be separated.
A further indication of this truth is found in Romans 8:9-10. In these verses Paul says, “But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any one has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him. And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is life because of righteousness.” In these verses we read of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ. These titles all denote one reality — the all-inclusive Spirit. The Spirit of God is God, the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God, and Christ Himself is the Spirit of Christ. Christ is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is God Himself. All these titles refer to the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. This One is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of life, Christ, and God.
In Romans 8:2 and 9 there are three titles of the Spirit: the Spirit is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ. Hence, the Spirit is of life, of God, and of Christ. Certainly these titles do not refer to three Spirits. It is utterly wrong to say that the Spirit of life is separate from the Spirit of God or that the Spirit of God is distinct from the Spirit of Christ. On the contrary, the one Spirit is the Spirit of life, of God, and of Christ. Life, God, and Christ are not three separate entities or substances. Rather, life is God, God is Christ, and Christ is life. Therefore, the Spirit of life is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ. These three are one entity, the all-inclusive Spirit.
First Corinthians 15:45b says that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. Second Corinthians 3:17 tells us that now the Lord is the Spirit. The last Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:45b and the Lord in 2 Corinthians 3:17 both refer to Christ. This indicates clearly that today Christ and the Spirit are one.
In 3:1 Paul declares that before the eyes of the Galatian believers “Jesus Christ was openly portrayed crucified.” The Lord was crucified on the cross as Christ, not as the Spirit. We cannot say that the Spirit was crucified for us. It was Christ who was crucified.
The Galatians through hearing the gospel believed in the crucified Christ, but they received the Spirit (3:2; 4:6). The One who was crucified on the cross was Christ, but the One who entered into the believers was the Spirit. In crucifixion for the believers’ redemption He was Christ, but in the indwelling to be the believers’ life He is the Spirit. This is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, who is the all-inclusive and ultimate blessing of the gospel. The believers receive such a divine Spirit by the hearing of faith, not by the works of law. He enters into the believers and lives in them, not by their keeping the law, but by their faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ.
We should not think that the One who died on the cross is different from the One who enters into us. The One who died for us is the very One who has entered into us as our life. When this One died on the cross, He died as Christ. When He enters into us to be our life, He comes in as the Spirit. In crucifixion for our redemption He was Christ (3:13). But in the indwelling to be our life He is the Spirit (Rom. 8:2, 9-10).
We believe in the crucified and resurrected Christ, but we receive the Spirit (3:2). The title of the One in whom we believe is Christ, not the Spirit. However, when we believe in Christ, we receive the Spirit. Christ is the One who was crucified for the accomplishment of redemption and who was resurrected. Hence, we believe in Him. But when He comes into us, He comes in as the Spirit. In the function of redemption, His title is Christ, whereas in the function of life, His title is the Spirit. As the most important Person in the universe, Christ has more than one status. Although Christ and the Spirit are one, there is a difference in function, title, and status.
In the revelation of God’s economy in the first two chapters of Galatians, the emphasis is on Christ. But in our experience of life as presented in the last four chapters, the emphasis is on the Spirit. Have you noticed that in Galatians 1 and 2 there is no mention of the Spirit? However, verse after verse speaks of Christ. Beginning with 3:2, the Spirit is revealed. The Spirit in chapter three is the very Christ in chapter two. Do not think that the Spirit is separate from Christ. In the chapters which deal with the revelation of God’s economy, we read of Christ, but in those chapters which unfold our experience of life, we read of the Spirit. On the one hand, Galatians gives us a revelation of God’s economy; on the other hand, it affords us a revelation of our experience of life. The former is objective, whereas the latter is subjective. In the objective revelation of God’s economy the emphasis is on Christ, but in the subjective experience of life the emphasis is on the Spirit.
As believers, we have received the Spirit, the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, as the all-inclusive and ultimate blessing of the gospel. According to the understanding of many Christians, the One they received when they believed in the Lord Jesus was only Christ, the Son of God. Not many realize that the One they received was not the objective Christ, but the subjective Spirit. Because many are not clear concerning this, they talk about a so-called second blessing, or about receiving the Spirit apart from regeneration. When some Christians learn that another has believed in Christ, they proceed to ask him if he has received the Holy Spirit. However, to be a genuine Christian is to believe in Christ and to receive the Spirit. To be a real Christian is to believe in Christ, and to believe in Christ is to receive the Spirit. Nevertheless, those who regard Christ as separate and distinct from the Spirit may consider that it is possible to believe in Christ without receiving the Spirit. This is a serious misunderstanding! As we have pointed out again and again in this message, we simultaneously believe in Christ and receive the Spirit.
When certain Christians are asked if they have received the Spirit, they are not clear or do not know how to answer. They need to see that when we believed in the Lord Jesus, an organic union took place. At the very time of our conversion, a wonderful organic union between us and the Lord Jesus was accomplished. Because they are ignorant of the fact of such an organic union, they do not enjoy the Spirit as the ultimate blessing of the gospel. Instead of enjoying this blessing, they are distracted to regulations, doctrine, or to the study of the Bible in dead letters. Others may pursue what is called the second blessing or the outpouring of the Spirit with speaking in tongues. But in the four books which make up the heart of the divine revelation in the New Testament — Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians — nothing is said about tongues-speaking or about the outpouring of the Spirit. Instead, Paul places strong emphasis on the sealing of the Spirit, the earnest of the Spirit, and the foretaste of the Spirit. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were sealed with the Spirit. At the very moment the organic union took place, the earnest of the Spirit was given. In other words, when we believed in the Lord Jesus, we received the Spirit, and the Spirit became to us the ultimate blessing of the gospel.
The Judaizers were ignorant of this mysterious organic union with Christ, and the Galatian believers were not clear about it and were distracted from it. The same is true of many Christians today. Because so many believers do not realize what took place within them at the time they believed in the Lord Jesus, they are distracted and occupied with other things. Therefore, it is crucial for us to see what happened in us when we believed in the Lord. By means of an organic union we were grafted into the Triune God. Now all the Triune God is, has done, has accomplished, and has obtained and attained has become our portion. Because the Judaizers were troubling the believers in Galatia and because the believers themselves were lacking in understanding, Paul was burdened to write this Epistle. He was especially burdened to cover the matters in chapter three. Every believer must be clear that Christ and the Spirit are one. This oneness is a mystery for our enjoyment.
