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. Galatians 3:1-9 (NKJV)

As I have done in the past I have chosen to do a series of Devotions by going verse by verse through a Book of the Bible. This time I have chosen the Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians. The first Devotion, for Chapter 1, verses 6 - 10, was written earlier and can be found by going to the Devotion Archives. Each following devotion will remain on this page for approximately 6 days before it will be transferred to the Archives. It is my prayer that these devotions will assist you in your Bible Study and in your growth in Faith and in the Love of Jesus. Here then is the sixth in this series of Devotions.

"O FOOLISH GALATIANS" was the title of an excellent Adult Bible Study published many years ago. I used it for a mid week morning Bible Study and was well pleased with it.

St. Paul calls the Galatians foolish because they hold on to the concept that they earn Salvation through their works. It is interesting that St. Paul does more than tell the people that Justification comes by faith and not by works. In addition, he did more than tell them that this truth had been given to him; he explained how he had received it.

The Galatians that St. Paul was speaking to were Jews who had accepted Christ as their Savior, yet they were holding on to some of the Jewish Laws. As noted in the Devotion before this, circumcision was still something that had to be done before becoming acceptable to God. To help them understand, St. Paul went clear back to Abraham. He knew they would listen when he talked about Abraham as every Jew knew every story of Abraham. He wrote: "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."

Consider these steps:

Does God provide the miracles in our life because of the good works that we do or because of the hearing of faith?

Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Do you recall that God told Abraham to go to another country. Abraham had no idea where he was going, he just believed God and went. No keeping of the law here, no good works, just faith. Abraham went. He did not know where he was going. He went. That is faith.

Way back at the time of Abraham we have the message that we are justified by faith. God told Abraham "In you all the nations shall be blessed. Therefore we who have faith are blessed.

Will we be like the FOOLISH GALATIANS and try to work our way into heaven? If so, we will fail.

Remember a hymn that I used in a RAMBLING THOUGHT not too long ago, "Prayer is the key to heaven, but faith unlocks the door." No matter what your sin, no matter what your problems might be, no matter how heavy a burden you carry, take it to the Lord in Prayer and let faith unlock the door.

WE PRAY: LORD, send your Holy Spirit upon me and strengthen my faith. Help me to find the true joy in life that only comes when I walk as I follow you. AMEN

A SUGGESTION FOR LIVING THE DEVOTION

Try to remember that when Jesus said, Lo, I am with you always, He means ALWAYS, every where you are and everything you do. If you live to fulfill the law, that will bother you. If you live in faith, you will rejoice.