We may say that Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians occupy an important central position in the New Testament. Following them, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are near the conclusion of Paul’s Epistles. The Epistles of Paul begin with Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians; at their conclusion are 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon; and in the middle are these four short books. Here you see that the sequence arranged by the Holy Spirit is very meaningful.
These four books-Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians-form a cluster and are inseparable. Galatians shows us how we must live by Christ, who is our life. First, it pleases God to reveal Christ in us (1:15-16). Second, it is God’s pleasure to have His Son living in us (2:20). Third, it is also God’s pleasure that we put on Christ (3:27). Christ is not only inside of us but also outside of us as a garment being put on us. Fourth, we need to let Christ be formed in us (4:19). For Christ to be formed in us means that Christ is able to spread in us and to constitute Himself into every part of our entire being. At first Christ only lives in us and is not able to extend or spread. Gradually, however, He now occupies every part within us by saturating and constituting every part of our being with Himself. Therefore, He is formed in us. Fifth, the book of Galatians shows us that Christ’s living in us and being formed in us altogether depend on the Spirit. Therefore, we have to be in the Spirit, to walk according to the Spirit, and to live by the Spirit (ch. 5). We must be in the Spirit; only then are we truly letting Christ live in us, only then do we truly put on Christ, and only then are we truly letting Christ be formed in us.
Finally, chapter six shows us that, before God, our being circumcised or not being circumcised does not matter. In other words, neither religious rituals, religious regulations, keeping the law, nor having good behavior are anything, but being a man of the new creation, being a new creation, is what matters. To be the new creation is to live in Christ by the spirit, to experience Christ by the spirit, and to live by Christ. This is different from the general religious concept in Christianity. The religious concept is that man should improve his behavior so that he can practice good deeds, and that he has to observe certain religious rituals, religious forms, and religious teachings. If a man is able to keep all of these, then he is considered to be up to standard. However, here it says that this is not the case. What God gives us today is not religion, not even Christianity, but Christ Himself. Christ is not a religion but a living person, a life, who has been revealed in us and who is living in us. And He wants us to live in Christ, to put on Christ, and to let Christ spread in us, constitute us, saturate us, and occupy us until He is formed in us. Then we should walk by Him in the Spirit. This is the book of Galatians.
However, it is a pity that when Christians read the book of Galatians, not many understand it to this extent. Many people have expounded Galatians, and of all the commentaries by Martin Luther, the one on Galatians is the most famous, which is also his masterpiece. Many consider his commentaries on Galatians as the best exposition. If you read it carefully, however, you will see that Luther did not say much about the Spirit, but instead greatly emphasized the matter of justification by faith. He should not be blamed for this because at that time what God committed to him was the matter of justification by faith. It is true that in Galatians there is justification by faith; there is no question about that. However, justification by faith is not the spirit, the life, the center of Galatians. Justification by faith is the “skin and hair” and the “skeletal structure” of Galatians. The soul of the book of Galatians is Christ in the Spirit being our life, which results in His becoming our living and in His changing our image so that we may become altogether a new creation in Christ. This is the soul, the crux, of the book of Galatians.
Dear brothers and sisters, Galatians 3 speaks of the blessing promised by God to Abraham, and that blessing is the Spirit! Read Galatians chapter three again, and you will see that the blessing that God promised to Abraham is God Himself and that the reason God can be the blessing to us who have received the promise is that He is Spirit. This God who is Spirit comes into us to be our enjoyment; hence, He is the blessing promised to us. The blessing promised by God to Abraham is that Abraham and his descendants would be able to enjoy God Himself through Christ and in Christ.
Galatians 3 is a very difficult chapter in the holy Scriptures. Very few are able to study this chapter thoroughly. Very few have seen that the blessing promised by God to Abraham is God in Christ being our portion through the Holy Spirit, and this Holy Spirit is not separate from God but rather is God Himself. God Himself is such a living Spirit in us as our blessed portion. Today when we gain, enjoy, experience, and live in the Spirit, we enjoy the very God Himself.
Therefore, we have to say again that the crux of the book of Galatians is the Spirit. It is right that we need to know justification by faith. It is right that we need to see that on the cross the Lord Jesus satisfied the righteous requirements of God and thus accomplished the work of redemption, and we also need to see that today when we trust in His work we are justified. However, we must not see only this much, but we must also see that we must enjoy Christ Himself. Today this Christ is in us, and He is the Spirit, so we must come into the Spirit. We definitely have to see that Christ is the Spirit, God Himself is Spirit, and the Holy Spirit, of course, is the Spirit. The Triune God is this very Spirit. Today this Spirit is the blessing promised by God to Abraham. Today if we have this Spirit, we have this blessing. If you live in this Spirit, you are enjoying this blessing. Therefore, we must come into this Spirit. This is the book of Galatians.
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