majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Galatians 3:2-3,
"I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the
Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you
so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to
attain your goal by human effort?"
Paul asks the question here to make the point that the Galatian
believers received the Holy Spirit by faith. It wasn't anything these
believers did to receive the Holy Spirit, they received him by faith
and faith alone. This tells me that the presence of the Holy Spirit in
my life is not due to anything I do, it is God's response to my faith.
It is as simple as that.
There are those who market in the Holy Spirit, claiming that if we do
this or that we can receive the Holy Spirit in ways they have and we
have not. I don't know how many times I have seen advertisements on
religious broadcast TV where if you send in your faith-pledge promise
of $35 or more you will receive a series of messages to help you
receive God's abundant gift of the Holy Spirit. Money is always
involved here. It is, after all, "to keep the ministry going".
While Paul's point is that the Galatian believer's received the Holy
Spirit as evidence of their salvation by faith, and not law-keeping,
it reminds me today that the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life is
not due to my efforts either. Even the apostles, when performing
miraculous healings, acknowledged that it wasn't their godliness or
spiritual superiority that God worked miracles through their lives
(something that ought to bring some much needed humility to those who
could use a little these days). When Peter and John were going to the
temple to pray one day, they met a crippled beggar. After healing him,
Peter told the crowd that gathered, "Why do you stare at us as if by
our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" Acts 3:12.
Peter understood it was God who healed the man and he could claim no
credit for it, not even a claim of "godliness".
Our receiving of the Holy Spirit is due to faith, not any work we do.
We simply cannot take credit for what we are not responsible for. It
is an expression of God's grace and his wonderful love for us that he
has sent the Holy Spirit as a companion and comfort to us.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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