O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? —Galatians 3:1–4
Some had taught the Galatian Christians that it was necessary to retain the law of ceremony and sacrifice as part of the Christian life. Paul labeled this action “bewitching.” The word bewitch means “to fascinate by false representations.” This might seem like an obvious thing to avoid, yet it happens quite frequently in our day, just as it did in the Galatians’ day. The saving work of grace that births a life lived in the Spirit is often heavy laden with church rituals and traditions that some falsely claim as necessary elements of the Christian faith. Some say you must be baptized in their church to be saved, while others insist you must partake of communion in a certain manner and with certain believers. Still others assert that you must hold to their position on the last days or you’re not really saved.
These actions are the same as those of the Judaizers Paul warned the Galatians about. Not that there is anything wrong with traditions and, to a degree, some forms of ritual, but to demand that all true believers do thus and so is to put ritual and tradition on the same level as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Having begun in the Spirit, will we now try to be made perfect by ritual and tradition? It is easy to get sucked into this mind-set, if we are not careful.
If there is one thing the church today ought to be known for it is walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. But sadly, the church is better known for its division and manmade rules instead of its spiritual unity and freedom in the Spirit. Some things are indeed nonnegotiable and must be agreed upon by every true church. The deity of Christ, the atoning power of His blood, and salvation by grace through faith are truths that must never be surrendered. But to elevate forms of worship or methods of baptism to equality with such pillars of the faith is bewitching.
We are the people of God, called to walk according to the Spirit and not burdened by traditions and rituals. Nevertheless, we sometimes forget that and get sidetracked by nonessentials. Some insist that contemporary worship is not worship at all; to them, real worship is hymns and a choir. Others zero in on their belief that all true Christians speak in tongues, and they try to force people into doing so. But the fact is, friends, worship is a matter of the heart and a way of life. The gift of tongues is not for everyone, and some even say it is not for today (which I do not agree with). But when we start elevating personal traditions and church rituals to “you must do this or you’re not saved,” we are seeking to continue the work of the Spirit by walking in the flesh. The question is not how we worship, but whether we worship. It is not whether we speak in tongues, but whether we walk in our gifts.
Walk in the Spirit today, and be led by Him. Let the Spirit be your guide and the Word of God your guard. Remember, the Spirit will never lead you into something that conflicts with His Word.
Excerpt from “Body Builders” now available on Amazon.
