One question reveals the heart of the Christian life. This decisive question cuts to the core of how we live. It exposes what we base our spiritual experience on and where we place our hope of heaven. Paul writes:
"This only I wish to learn from you. From works of law did you receive the Spirit or from hearing of faith?" (Gal. 3:2)
Paul says that he only (μόνον) wants to find out the answer to one question from the Galatians. The answer to this one question explains how and why they are doing what they are doing in the name of Christ.
How did you receive the Spirit of God?
They received (ἐλάβετε) the Spirit of God at the beginning of their Christian lives as Paul makes clear in the next verse (Gal. 3:3). The gift - not gifts - of the Spirit takes place at the inception of our Christian lives as a present pledge or downpayment from God about our future lives with Him (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5). We don't receive the Spirit from works of law (ἔργων νόμου) but from hearing with faith (ἀκοῆς πίστεως). Paul is using the same language he used when he spoke of justification a few verses earlier. We are not justified before God by our works of law (ἔργων νόμου) but through faith (δία πίστεως) in Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:16). The reception of the Spirit and justification by faith are two sides of the same spiritual experience (Bruce, Galatians, 149). Both justification and sanctification come through the same spiritual process, and that is why this question is so decisive for the way we live the Christian life.
There are two possible options for receiving the Spirit of God. The preposition "from" (ἐξ) introduces both phrases. The preposition emphasizes source or origin (BAGD, 234). The two possible sources of our Spirit reception are 1) works of law or 2) hearing of faith. This succinct contrast between law and faith is the "antithesis of the whole epistle" (Burton, Galatians, 147). We receive the Spirit:
from works of law
ἐξ ἔργων νόμου
or
from hearing of faith
ἐξ ἀκοῆς πίστεως
The noun "law" lacks the definite article stressing the qualitative nature of law-keeping in general. All our attempts to earn God's favor by following moral rules and performing good works fail to produce the Spirit of God in our lives. We parade our good works before the watching world, but Spirit reception does not come from our performance mentality. We can never do enough to "get" God in our lives (see Christensen, Blog, "Our Best Before God," 6/20/20).
We receive the Spirit from hearing with faith as Paul will go on to argue in Galatians. Hearing, in this context, means far more than hearing sounds with our ears. Some consider the expression to be a Semitic idiom that understands "hearing" to be the kind of hearing that is believing (Moule, Idiom Book, 175). Others suggest that the word "hearing" refers to that which was heard, the report, or the message of faith (Meyer, Galatians, 104). I think this interpretation makes the best sense of the passage. Paul uses the expression "the word of hearing of God (λόγον ἀκοῆς τοῦ θεοῦ) to refer to God's message, which he calls "the word of God" for all who believe (1 Thess. 2:13). The author of Hebrews links "the word of hearing" (ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς) to hearing by faith (Heb. 4:2). Therefore, the expression "hearing of faith" is shorthand for the message that comes from God and focuses on faith as its essence (NIDNTT, 2:175).
We begin our Christian lives by believing the word of God that we hear. Paul, citing Isaiah 53:1, writes, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:16-17). How can anyone believe if they have not heard the message of what Christ has done for us (Rom. 10:14)? We receive the Spirit of God the same way. Our conversion to Christianity and our progress in our Christian lives come by faith in the message of what Christ has done, is doing, and will do for us.
Religion equals works of law, deeds of righteousness, and acts of piety.
Christianity equals hearing of faith, believing the message, and trusting Christ's work.
Do you receive the Spirit of God by doing what you do or trusting what He does?
