Paul is battling for the soul of the church in Galatia. There was a group of people called Judaizers following behind Paul, who were coming into the community of believers and telling them that what Paul had preached to them was not complete. These people believed that followers of Jesus still had to be completely obedient to The Law of Moses. Paul is writing to them to correct this falsehood. He taught the church in Galatia that it was by faith and faith alone that they could be saved and not by the law. Paul begins by appealing to their personal experiences of seeing Christ Jesus crucified and how they had suffered because they believed in him.
Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11
Then Paul shifts his argument to the Word of God. Warren Wiersbe said, “Subjective [personal] experience must be balanced with objective evidence, because experiences can change, but truth never does.” God’s Word never changes. We should always check our experiences against God’s word. Paul’s arguments make us examine how we lead people to Christ. Do we present only faith as the way to salvation? Or do expect people to do more than just have faith?
VC Devotionals 