Bewitched – The Lowedown

Deuteronomy 21

²²“If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and then hanged on a tree, ²³the body must never remain on the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone hanging on a tree is cursed of God. Do not defile the land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession. (Deuteronomy 21:22-23, NLT)

Galatians 3

¹Oh, foolish Galatians! What magician has cast an evil spell on you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death as clearly as though I had shown you a signboard with a picture of Christ dying on the cross. ²Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ. ³Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? ⁴You have suffered so much for the Good News. Surely it was not in vain, was it? Are you now going to just throw it all away?

⁵I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

⁶In the same way, “Abraham believed God, so God declared him righteous because of his faith.” ⁷The real children of Abraham, then, are all those who put their faith in God.

⁸What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would accept the Gentiles, too, on the basis of their faith. God promised this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹And so it is: All who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

¹⁰But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all these commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” ¹¹Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever be right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” ¹²How different from this way of faith is the way of law, which says, “If you wish to find life by obeying the law, you must obey all of its commands.” ¹³But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” ¹⁴Through the work of Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, and we Christians receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:1-14, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

In 1956, Jalacy “Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins recorded his most famous song, “I Put a Spell on You.” The song (which you can listen to here) became a cult classic that’s been covered by a number of artists over the years, including Nina Simone, Annie Lennox and Alan Price.

For me, I grew up listening to the Creedence Clearwater Revival Rendition of the song. It was classic rock at its best.

To have a spell put on you means that you’re completely held by something, whether a person or an idea. Dictionary.com describes it as “a state of being enchanted, entranced or fascinated.”

In this 3rd chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Paul is asking the question, “who put a spell on you?” Paul is so dumbfounded by the change he has seen in how the Galatians are living out the Christian life that it’s as if they have been put in a trance by an evil trickster posing as a servant of Christ.

The issue that Paul was addressing is highlighted in verse 3 where Paul says, “Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” [emphasis added]

This problem is one that is actually pretty commonplace among believers even today. Many Christians place their faith in Christ to BEGIN the Christian life, and then resort to a works based system in order to MAINTAIN the Christian life.

Paul is saying that this approach to the Christian life is so contrary to the actual gospel message that it’s EVIL.

Twice in the first 5 verses Paul asks the question: did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the Law? The question is rhetorical in nature, but Paul answers it anyway with an emphatic NO!

How does a person receive the Holy Spirit? Through belief, or “by faith”.

If you are a Christian, you came to Christ by placing your faith, or trust, in Jesus to pardon your debt of sin and provide forgiveness through His death on the cross. This is why Paul, in the very first verse, references the cross of Christ. Every Christian who has ever existed has come to Christ in the same way, by believing in Jesus and His death on the cross as a payment for personal sin.

According to Ephesians 1:13, at the moment of belief in Christ, all Christians receive the promised Holy Spirit, who comes to live inside the life of the new believer.

The problem for many Christians is what follows that initial conversion experience. After beginning the Christian life by placing their faith in Christ, many Christians fail to continue the Christian life in faith, empowered by the Spirit. Instead, they opt for a rules-based approach in which they seek to please God through their “human effort” (see verse 3).

This was not just a problem with the Galatians. Paul also addressed this issue in Romans 4. I wrote about it in my blog post, “How Good Do You Have to Be to Be Saved?”

This problem persists today as well.

In our rebelliousness, we desire to make ourselves the center of the universe. Most religions are man-centered, meaning that the religion is centered around human effort and good deeds.

Biblical Christianity, on the other hand, is God-centered. It is the ONE major religion or philosophy that does not depend on what man DOES but is instead ordered around what God DID via Christ’s death on the cross.

The issue with the Galatians was that while they began the Christian life in the Spirit by faith, they sought to maintain their standing with God by following the Law, the Jewish religious code.

Paul reasons that if you didn’t come to Christ by adhering to the Law, why are you trying to maintain your relationship with God by adhering to the Law?

Essentially, Paul is saying that you can’t mix and match these two approaches. They started out with a God-centered approach based on faith but then shifted to a man-centered approach based on human effort. This makes no sense. If you want to base it it on adhering to the Law, you will have to obey the whole Law. Otherwise, you are under a curse.

The other option is to base your approach on faith, which is preferable, because in this approach, Jesus was a curse for us via his death on the cross (see verse 13).

By switching from a God-centered approach back to a man-centered religion (the Law) as a means of seeking God’s approval, you are invalidating the whole reason why Christ was necessary in the first place, which is why Paul asks the Galatians, “Are you now going to just throw it all away?”

The Christian life is a life of faith. We don’t just come to Christ by faith. We live the Christian life by faith as well. In this way, God is the center at all times.

If you are under the impression that we come to Jesus by placing our faith in Him but then we must follow some sort of religious moral code in order to keep our standing with God, well then Paul’s question to the Galatians extends to you – who put a spell on you? That is not just a minor misunderstanding or small theological difference of opinion. Paul says this ideology is evil and man-centered, designed to keep people living as slaves instead of living in freedom and experiencing true transformation.

Reflection

What is your reaction to the idea that we are under the curse of the Law, but Jesus, by hanging on a tree, became a curse for us? What imagery does this create in your mind? What thoughts and emotions does it provoke?

What do you think are the reasons why Paul calls the Galatians approach to the Christian life evil?

What are some examples you can think of in which people tend to make Christianity man-centered instead of faith-based and centered on God?

What do you think it looks like practically to continue the Christian life in faith instead of human effort?

Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash

Galatians 3

¹Oh, foolish Galatians! What magician has cast an evil spell on you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death as clearly as though I had shown you a signboard with a picture of Christ dying on the cross. ²Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ. ³Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? ⁴You have suffered so much for the Good News. Surely it was not in vain, was it? Are you now going to just throw it all away?

⁵I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

⁶In the same way, “Abraham believed God, so God declared him righteous because of his faith.” ⁷The real children of Abraham, then, are all those who put their faith in God.

⁸What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would accept the Gentiles, too, on the basis of their faith. God promised this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹And so it is: All who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

¹⁰But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all these commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” ¹¹Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever be right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” ¹²How different from this way of faith is the way of law, which says, “If you wish to find life by obeying the law, you must obey all of its commands.” ¹³But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” ¹⁴Through the work of Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, and we Christians receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:1-14, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

The letter to the Galatians, like many New Testament letters, was written as a response to an issue that had cropped up within the early church. In this case, the church in Galatia had been infiltrated by false teachers who were teaching a “different” gospel. This “different” gospel is still being taught today and therefore, Paul’s words are particularly appropriate in our current culture.

The nature of the false teaching had to do with the law. The false teachers were labeled “Judaizers” because of their strict adherence to the Old Testament rules and rituals. These teachers were advocating that belief in the Jewish Messiah was just the first step in the process of salvation. It was necessary, according to these teachers, to continue to observe all of the Old Testament laws and rituals, including circumcision, after accepting Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

The issue of what is necessary to be saved was quite controversial in the early church, especially when Gentiles (non-Jews) began responding to the gospel. Some within the church, particularly those who had been Pharisees before conversion, continued to advocate for strict adherence to Old Testament laws and rituals, which meant that Gentiles would have to adopt all Jewish cultural rites, including circumcision. But Paul and Barnabas disagreed and did not require new Gentile converts to become “Jewish” culturally in order to gain admittance into the church.

This issue became so contentious that the church convened a special session to discuss the matter. The details of this Jerusalem Council are recorded in Acts 15 and I wrote about it previously here.

Paul’s words to the Galatians are strong. He calls them “foolish” and asks them “what magician has cast an evil spell on you?” Most translations use the word “bewitched” to describe the response to this false teaching. The idea Paul is communicating is that they’ve been duped or scammed. One version uses the word “hypnotized”.

Why would Paul say they were “bewitched”? Exactly what was so bad about this teaching and how were they being “tricked”?

To answer that question, let’s first explain what Paul had taught and compare it with the false teaching the Galatians had begun to follow.

Paul’s gospel says that EVERYONE is a sinner and NOBODY is righteous enough to earn their way into God’s presence. Trying to follow all of the Old Testament laws is futile. It cannot be done because we are sinners and we are going to fall short. Therefore, any system that requires adherence to a religious code in order to gain favor with God is doomed to failure.

Jesus offers a different way and this is what makes it good news. According to verse 13, Jesus died in our place, paying for our sin so that we could escape the penalty the law required. We are thus saved, not by our own good works, but by Jesus’ shed blood on the cross.

The false teachers said that once a person places their faith in Jesus, they must maintain their right standing before God by the things they do, namely by following all of the commands of the law. Paul argues that if one has to follow the law to maintain their right standing before God then they are no longer trusting in Jesus alone to provide the righteousness that is needed to enter God’s presence.

Hence, if you are going to follow the law as a means of maintaining your salvation, then you must follow the law completely in order to secure it in the first place.

The differences between Paul’s gospel and the false teaching can be clearly seen in how each system views a person gaining the righteousness required to enter into God’s presence. Paul’s gospel says that Jesus gives us His own righteousness (which is perfectly holy) when we place our faith in Him. This righteousness cannot be lost because it is based on Jesus’ complete work of atonement on the cross.

The Judaizers taught that righteousness is maintained by our adherence to Jewish laws and rituals. Hence, the source of righteousness is the individual’s own good works and personal efforts.

Though these teachers acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, their doctrine was really a back-door method for maintaining a works-based system of salvation.

We do the same thing today in our Christian circles. We invite people to accept Jesus by faith and then inevitably, we think, and even teach, that being a good Christian means following a set of rules. It’s not likely that circumcision is on our list of what makes a good Christian, but you probably can come up with your own list of “sins” to avoid and “activities” that are required, or “strongly encouraged” in order to maintain your Christian “witness.”

We teach people that salvation is a “free gift” but then subtly give the impression that staying saved is more like a privilege that can be forfeited if we don’t toe the line.

Paul calls this kind of gospel and this line of thinking foolish and those who fall into this trap as being bewitched.

It turns out that this theological trickery is the oldest scam in the book. And yet, people are still falling for it today.

Reflection

How do you think you can tell if someone has been bewitched? Or, to put it another way, how would you determine if a person was following a false, rules-based gospel instead of the true gospel that Paul preached?

What are some religious activities that you may be tempted to elevate to “required” status in order to evaluate a person’s eligibility for salvation?

What are some of the “sins” that Christians have used in the past as evidence of someone not being a “true” Christian?

Why do you think people of every generation and culture tend towards rules-based religious systems as a means of appeasing God and gaining His favor?

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