I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. [Galatians 3.5]
"Everyone" believes in Jesus these days. He's so cool. He's so popular. "He gets us" as one popular TV commercial advertises. He is not all about us keeping the rules but freely gives us the wonder-drug, "grace."
The thing is, the message about Jesus Christ is more than a feeling of euphoria. It is more than "dodging the bullet" of all the rules and regulations of the Old Testament. The Gospel of Jesus is more than a get-out-of-jail-free card and, contrary to popular "grace" teachings, Paul's letter to the Church at Galatia proves it.
What is the message about Christ? Is it that all I have to do is believe in Him and everything is cool from then on? Yes, and, at the same time, absolutely not!
The subject verse above reveals a truth about salvation in Christ that is basically ignored by the modern Church. That truth is that a person who has heard and believed the message of Jesus Christ has the evidence of the Holy Spirit and the working of miracles in their life. Among other things, the evidence of the Holy Spirit is the supernatural gift of speaking in tongues and unexplainable miracles that are just that, unexplainable by any convention or device of man.
While "grace" purveyors today love to quote and preach from Paul's letter to the Galatians, few, if any, point out that the "grace" Paul preached yielded the power of the Holy Spirit and working of miracles as the understood and accepted "norm" among true believers.
So, again, what is the message about Christ? Is it about obeying the Ten Commandments? In fact, IT IS! HOWEVER! The Ten Commandments can only be fulfilled in Christ Jesus. The effective pursuit of God is not achieved in obedience to the Ten Commandments, but in obedience to Christ (Who is the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments). Whew! I'm glad we got that settled! But, wait a minute...
The message about Christ can only be understood in the message of Christ.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
So, okay, let's all follow Jesus - "yay!" Let's get the cool music, wear our hats backwards, post catchy Christian sayings on social media and our bodies, stay fit, and live "our best life" in God's grace because "Jesus paid it all."
Again, wait a minute... Jesus didn't talk so much about getting as He did about giving. In fact, Jesus said, "give up your own way..." And, "take up your cross," in it's full meaning, wasn't about a cool tattoo of a cross. "Following Jesus" was not, nor ever shall be, en vogue. Following Jesus means:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12]
Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. [John 17.18]
Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” [John 20.21]
The verses above confirm the power of the Holy Spirit and working of miracles Paul references in Galatians 3.5. But, following Jesus also means:
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. [John 15.20]
If we can and will see it, Jesus' demands upon the lives of His followers are really no different at all than the Ten Commandments and are, in fact, a fulfillment of them.
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. [Matthew 5.17]
Based on what Jesus said about us being sent just like Him, then we should understand that our job is also to accomplish the purpose of the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets! We do that IN CHRIST.
Unless we have the same singular obedience to Christ as God demands in the 1st Commandment (no other god but Him) and carries on through the 3rd Commandment (forbidding idols and prohibiting misuse of God's name by associating Him with idols or idols with Him), then we are not actually "in Christ." Furthermore, if we do not have the evidence of the Holy Spirit and the working of miracles, we are not "in Christ" and nothing in Galatians even applies to us except maybe the "Oh foolish Galatians..." part (Galatians 3.1).
In summary, God did not ease up on His demands but fulfilled them in Christ. Unless we also fulfill His demands "in Christ," then we have nothing to do with God nor does He have anything to do with us (John 14.6). Our being "in Christ" literally means submitting entirely to, and mirroring Jesus with our own lives (same Holy Spirit (Luke 4.18-19) - same works).
The implications here are serious, but faith that actually pleases God is serious too. Just because we call something "faith" does not make it faith. Hebrews 11 reveals what faith actually looks like (all of it - from the evidence of supernatural life-preserving miracles to the evidence of extreme uncompromising, idol-refuting death).
In these last days, the Church as we know it will begin to experience a separation of sheep and goats... We should all be sheep (evidently "in Christ"), not goats (not evidently "in Christ," but hanging out with the sheep)! The Holy Spirit and miracles are the evidence.
Father, help us to understand that we must give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Jesus if we are ever to be "in Him." Help us to see that His life and works will manifest in those who are genuinely "in Him." Help us actually see ourselves for what we are, not justifying our evidently powerless, religious, deceived misunderstanding of "grace." So be it.
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