Foolishness
There is an idea afloat in some circles that righteousness by faith is like an initiation into being a disciple of Jesus. It is how one gets started, but then………..
Such an idea is utter foolishness. Faith is not merely how righteousness is obtained initially; it is how it is kept and experienced for the whole of one’s journey in Christ. Not only that, but the consistent experience of the Holy Spirit is also by faith!
How else would anyone explain the defense of the gospel that is presented in,
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Therefore, He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Performance does not initiate, nor does it increase one’s chances of seeing the move of the Holy Spirit in one’s life.
It could not be clearer than it is here regarding how the Holy Spirit is to be experienced by believers.
“Therefore, He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?”
In other words, is the Holy Spirit experienced because you have your act together in accordance with the law, or is it because you have faith?
These Galatians had started in the Spirit according to faith, but now some men had come to them, teaching them that law observance was necessary if they desired to go further spiritually and keep experiencing the move of the Spirit.
There is a problem with such an idea. It shifts reliance and hope from being centered on Christ and His completed work at the cross and puts the focus on the strength of the flesh to earn the right to have the Spirit. Such thinking provoked the Holy Spirit in the Apostle Paul to say,
“Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”
If you wish to walk in a blessed life with God, then look to Jesus and all that He did to make you right with God and engage in the relationship that freely offers you according to faith. Follow the advice and counsel of,
Colossians 2:6 As you, therefore, have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Jesus did everything that was needed to secure our place in Him, our relationship with the Father, and the promise of the Holy Spirit in our lives for all our lives. Faith in Him is the way! Any other idea for obtaining or maintaining it is foolishness.
