Though this may seem odd or strange to the twenty-first century mind, spirituality cannot be produced by human works. We as Christians have fallen into the trap, the awful mindset that says that "bigger is better". We play a numbers games in many of our local Churches, adding services like child care, schools, kitchens, food distribution units, hospital visitation and hospice plans, plays, basketball and other gaming courts, swimming pools, cushioned pews, color coordinated interiors, and entertaining speakers - all added with one thing in mind: let's make our Church bigger. There is nothing wrong with any of these things in themselves, and I certainly do not advocate an austere, monkish existence for the average Christian. Yet as we use things which are not Scripture to draw the crowds, we tread out on dangerous ground. A beautiful flower will attract a sweet honey bee, but it also attracts destructive and dangerous wasps. A Church supper may attract good and Godly Christians, but it also attracts heathen who have no intention of accepting Christ as Savior.

Yes, as the Church of Jesus Christ we are called to preach the Gospel of Christ, the good news that Jesus saves, to the whole world. But we are also called to avoid an unequal yoke with unbelievers:

(2 Corinthians 6:14-18 KJV) "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? {15} And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? {16} And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. {17} Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, {18} And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

Too often, in order to make the Gospel more palatable to the heathen, we have made the mistake of providing worldly attractions within our Church community. I have heard individuals say that the only reason they joined a certain Church assembly was because they could get a 40% discount on their children's schooling. We as the Church of Jesus Christ have also made the mistake of preaching Church attendance, tithing, and baptism over and above the condition of the human soul and the correction for that condition. In other words, we have touted Church attendance as "good" so much without explaining that, unless a soul be "born again" by faith in Jesus Christ, that you cannot be saved. Just coming to Church doesn't impress God. A filthy sinner is still a filthy sinner, no matter where he or she is physically located. Just joining the Church will not save you. Just being baptized in water won't save you. Just partaking the Lord's Table will not save you. Just tithing to the Church will not save you. In fact, if you have NOT been saved by faith in Jesus Christ, if you have not given yourself wholly to Him, then you ought to do none of these things. Let me say that again: If you are not saved by faith in Christ Jesus, you should not even give your money to the Church. Yes, that is contrary to all that you may have heard on television or radio, but no good is attributed to your account by God if you do not first have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Grace binds you with far stronger cords than the cords of duty or obligation can bind you. Grace is free, but when once you take it you are bound forever to the Giver, and bound to catch the spirit of the Giver. Like produces like, Grace makes you gracious, the Giver makes you give. (E. Stanley Jones)

(Galatians 3:1 KJV) "O foolish (anoetos:G453, literally, "moronic, idiotic") Galatians, who hath bewitched (baskaino:G940, Aorist Active Indicative, hypnotized) you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth (prographo:G4270, Aorist Passive, was publicly set in front of them like a placard), crucified (stauroo:G4717, Perfect Tense, Passive Voice, crucified in past w/ result that goes on forever) among you?"

The Apostle begins chapter three by doing something that few preachers today would do: he called his flock moronic, idiotic, and stupid. Few would go this far in their language, lest they drive the flock away from the church building. Yet it is important for pastors to chastise their flocks when they wander into fields laden with poison. Though it is righteous for a pastor to receive compensation for preaching to and tending his flock, the pastor must also be careful not to allow the support that the flock has shown him to influence his presentation of the Word of God. Paul, as a self supported pastor, a tentmaker by trade, could be as brutal as God called him to be in correcting a wandering flock. Would that we had more pastors of this caliber in the Church today!

Paul begins by calling the Galatians moronic, and then asks them "who has bewitched you?". "Bewitched" is the Greek baskaino {pronounced bas-kah’-ee-no}, and it means to hypnotize, charm, bewitch, or cast a spell on someone. By using this word Paul implies several things of the Galatians. First, the Galatians were under a spell that had no Godly origin. Witches have the power to charm or bewitch people, and God considered witches to be agents of Lucifer. Witches were considered to be so dangerous in ancient times that God demanded if any be found in Israel, then they were to be put to death (Exodus 22:12). Witches were considered just as terrible in their practices as those who consulted the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10-11). Second, since the source of the Galatians foolishness was from Lucifer, then its fruit was false or a lie. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). Paul clearly set forth the Gospel of Salvation to these people when he was among them. He presented the truth that Jesus and Jesus alone died for their sins, and that by faith in Christ alone they were saved.

Listen Beloved! Many in this world today will try to bewitch you from the Gospel message. They will tell you that you can work your way to Heaven by being baptized a certain way, or in a certain denomination. They will tell you that the mechanical act of giving ten percent of your income to the Church will save you. They will tell you that there is something that you need to do in order to be saved. Hogwash! What God has clearly established in the Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, is that faith alone in the provision of God alone saves. Faith alone in God as Savior saves. Faith in Jesus Christ saves. Though many hung on the Roman stauros, the cross of suffering and affliction, only One hung on that Cross for our salvation. Though the Cross that Christ hung on had been used on many malefactors before they nailed His precious flesh to it, only what Jesus did counted. Though there was blood from all types of men rubbed into the grain of the tree that Jesus hung on, only His offering went up to the Father as payment for our sins.

If a man, or a woman, or an angel from Heaven tell you that you must do this or must do that to be saved, do not allow yourself to be bewitched.

(Galatians 1:8 KJV) "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."

That person who preaches any other Gospel message than that which God has ordained through the blood of Christ is cursed, damned, foul forever and stench in the nostrils of God. Reject that evil. Refuse to join the crowd at Babel who thought they could work their way to God by making a better and bigger building (Genesis 11:1-4). God showed Babel what He thought of "bigger is better", and scattered humanity to the four corners of the earth by confusing our language. To this day the earth has thousands and thousands of languages, a loud testimony to the spirit of this age. No, God is not satisfied with ritual. He is not satisfied with our building programs, our schools, our day care facilities, our clothes closets and soup kitchens. Unless the Gospel of Christ is preached to all who will hear, we become Babel once more and risk His scattering under judgment once again.

(Galatians 3:2 KJV) "This only (monon:G3440, a legal term of argument meaning "I stand on this point") would (thelo:G2309, Present Indicative Active, desire to know from you, keep on desiring to know) I learn (manthano:G3129, Aorist Active Infinitive, once and for all learn) of you, Received (lambano:G2983, Aorist Indicative Active, did you receive once and for all) ye the Spirit by the works (ergon:G2041, by the instrumentality of the Law) of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

At this point the Apostle Paul, well schooled in theological law by the Rabbi Gamaliel, well schooled as an orator before the High Council of the Sanhedrin, asks the Galatians the first of several deductive questions. He approaches the Galatians as if they were in the Court of God in the witness seat, and handles them almost as if they were hostile witnesses. The first interrogative focuses on the source of the Galatians' salvation. Paul does not ask the Galatians "were you saved by the works of the Law, or by faith", but goes deeper by asking "How did you receive the Spirit of God? Did you receive the Spirit of God by your own works, or did you receive the Spirit of God by faith alone?"

Here we have a question that gets to the very root of salvation. I don't care who you are. I don't care if you label yourself Pentecostal, or Charismatic, or Baptist, or Methodist, or Presbyterian, or Transdenominational, or Interdenominational, or Nondenominational. No matter what man-made label you have affixed to the gathering of the local Church you are in; no matter what doctrine comforts you; no matter whether your preacher or elder or pastor or bishop shouts the message or speaks with soft spoken tongue - if you are saved you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. You cannot be saved if you are not indwelt by the Spirit of God. One more time for the hardheaded: you CANNOT be saved if you are not INDWELT by the Spirit of God.

Paul's question is masterful in that it cuts across all denominational boundaries and foolishness. Did you Galatians receive, LAMBANO, receive once and for all the Holy Spirit of God by doing the works of the Mosaic Law, or did you receive once and for all the Holy Spirit of God by faith in Christ's provision of salvation? If your answer to this question is "I received the Spirit by keeping the Mosaic Law" then you are in error. The Spirit of God often temporarily visited believers in the Old Testament era and prior to the Cross, but the Spirit of God never came to permanently indwell believers until Jesus Christ died on the Cross. King David said:

(Psalms 51:11 KJV) "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me."

Because the Holy Spirit came on then departed Old Testament believers, based on their current state of fellowship with God. When Jesus our Lord ascended into Heaven He sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God, to indwell us forever. This same Spirit was with the apostles while Christ was on the earth, but came INTO all who believed after the ascension of Christ.

(John 14:16-17 KJV) "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; {17} Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

(John 7:37-39 KJV) "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. {38} He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. {39} (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"

From the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and even through this modern era, every believer who has accepted Christ as Savior has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. The Corinthian believers, a carnal and sensual group of people if there ever was one, even these believers were indwelt by the Spirit of God:

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV) "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? {20} For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

The Holy Spirit of God was, is, and will be given to every true believer in Jesus Christ. You do not have to "speak in tongues" as an evidence of the indwelling of the Spirit. This indwelling is universal among all believers. As a matter of Scripture, if you are NOT indwelt by the Spirit of God, then you are NOT a Christian. The indwelling Spirit marks each and every believer as a son of God.

(Romans 5:5 KJV) "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

(Romans 8:8-9 KJV) "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. {9} But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

The Indwelling Spirit is God's promise that we shall one day walk with our resurrected Savior in yonder glory, for the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the grave will give us glorified bodies:

(Romans 8:11 KJV) "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

The Spirit of God, on the day that we accepted Christ, came into our hearts. He continually acts as a transponder unit might act on a modern aircraft. When the modern aircraft crashes, a transponder sends out a homing beacon that tells the base camp "Here we are, here we are", over and over again. In like manner the Spirit of God continually cries out to God the Father, saying, "Abba, Father .... Abba, Father". The Spirit of God continually identifies the believer as one of God's adopted children by faith in Jesus Christ.

(Galatians 4:6 KJV) "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."

We do not know that this action is occurring - we have no experience of it, but God the Spirit does it anyway. So, you Galatians, what did YOU do at the point of salvation to earn or to acquire the Holy Spirit of God? You didn't do a thing! In fact, many of you probably did not know that the same Spirit that indwells me indwells you and every believer in the Church Age. You probably didn't know that this Spirit is the "mark" of your adoption as children of God. You probably didn't know that this same Spirit who resurrected Jesus from the grave will give you a glorified body when the Father so ordains. You did nothing to earn nor to deserve the Spirit. He was given, perhaps without your knowledge, because you believed in Jesus Christ.

(Galatians 3:3 KJV) "Are ye (Eimi, Present Indicative Active, do you keep on being) so foolish? having begun (enarchomai:G1728, Aorist Participle, begun once for all) in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"

Now that Paul has established that we neither earned nor deserved the Holy Spirit who indwells us, he asks the next logical question: If you were marked as saved by the indwelling Spirit, and did nothing to earn nor deserve that Spirit, then how do you expect to reach maturity in Christ by the FLESH and not by the SPIRIT? God used a spiritual means to save you. He used the indwelling Spirit to mark you as saved. Now you will use a fleshly method, circumcision or baptism or some other ritual to mature in Christ? I don't think so! Believers who believe that their works are necessary to maintain salvation are foolish. A believer will do good works because he is saved, but not to remain saved. Circumcision did not save Abraham, though God required the ritual of every Israelite if they were to be Israelites. Circumcision marked Abraham and his direct descendants as God's chosen nation Israel, as children of the covenant. But, Beloved, Abraham was saved by faith in God, not by the act of circumcision. Abraham was saved without the intervention of the Law, which came by Moses' hand some 400 off years later. Circumcision is a fleshly covenant, a cutting of the flesh that emphasized a physical covenant between Abraham and God. Salvation is a spiritual state entered into by believing in what God has provided, the Cross of Christ.

(Romans 8:8-9 KJV) "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. {9} But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

(Galatians 3:4 KJV) "Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain."

(Galatians 3:5 KJV) "He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

(Galatians 3:6 KJV) "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."

Abraham, as the father of the Jewish race, became a believer while yet a Gentile. He was saved by faith alone prior to his circumcision. Thus his experience parallels that of the Galatians, who were also Gentiles who were saved without any association to the Law. The principle is this: Man has nothing inherent in his first birth that makes him acceptable to God. When we come from our mother's womb, we are born in a state of physical life but spiritual death. No man can have any association with God apart from the second birth, Regeneration by faith in Christ. As our Lord Jesus said,

(John 3:7 KJV) "... Ye must be born again."

Abraham was born again by faith, but only became a Jew by circumcision because God wanted to establish a peculiar nation that would be stewards of His Word. The cutting of circumcision therefore established a physical covenant between God and Israel, setting that nation apart from all the other nations on the earth. God never gave the Law to Israel until they kept rejecting the provisions of God's Grace. When He gave Israel the Law, that Law was not given to save souls - for the Law cannot save - but was given to convict these people that they NEEDED to BE SAVED, and could only come to that place by faith in God their Savior.

(1 Timothy 1:9-10 KJV) "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, {10} For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;"

God our Creator saves us, not mechanically, nor by application of Law, but by His personal intervention. God the Son personally made payment for our many transgressions against the righteousness of God on the Cross. God the Father applied the penalty of sin to the Son, and the Son, as our atonement, satisfied the application of that penalty to the Father. The Son died at the end of His payment, and was laid to rest by man. God the Spirit resurrected the Son on the third day, testifying to the completion and satisfaction of the atonement made. Christ our risen Savior ascended to the Throneroom of God, and now sits on the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for us. God the Son sent God the Holy Spirit to earth to indwell every believer at the moment they accept Him as Savior. The Holy Spirit comes on every believer and gives that believer new life, then permanently indwells the believer. The believer, upon physical death, spiritually goes to Heaven to be with God because of the atonement and new life that God wrought in that believer. Finally, one day each believer will be given a new, sinless, eternal body by God the Holy Spirit.

Now, in the preceding paragraph, did you see anything that the believer did other than believe on Christ? Spirituality comes to the believer, not by works of righteousness that we have done, but because we have surrendered our lives to God. Christ paid the penalty. The Holy Spirit applies life. God the Father maintains the Plan that we walk in. At no point do we become spiritual by the things that we have done. No, dear friends, we become spiritual in spite of the things that we have done. We become spiritual by resting on and in the resources of God that we receive by faith in Christ Jesus.

(Galatians 3:7 KJV) "Know ye (ginosko, Present Active Imperative, keep on knowing) therefore that they which are of faith, the same are (eisi , Present Indicative Active, keep on being) the children of Abraham."

(Genesis 15:6-7 KJV) "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. {7} And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it."

(John 1:12 KJV) "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons (teknon) of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

As we have discussed before, long before Abraham was circumcised, several years before, in fact, he was saved by faith in God his Savior. Abraham did the works that God required of him because he had been saved by faith in God. He believed God, and God counted that belief for righteousness. Spirituality is not something you gain by doing works, but spirituality is the output of the Spirit endued person.

(Galatians 3:8 KJV) "And the scripture, foreseeing (proeido, Aorist Active Participle, the Scripture foresaw this in Genesis 12:3) that God would justify (dikaioo, Present Indicative Active, to render or declare righteous, "would keep on justifying") the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel (proeuaggelizomai, Aorist Middle Indicative, evangelized or preached the good news beforehand) unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." (eneulogeo, Future Passive Indicative, shall receive blessing, shall confer benefits on)

(Genesis 12:1 KJV) "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:"

Was Abraham spiritual because he was a Jew? No, says Paul, for Abraham was not a Jew until the rite of circumcision. Up until the point of circumcision Abraham was a Gentile, a heathen just as we all are. Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees. He was born a Gentile. Abraham was also born into a family that worshipped idols. Ur of the Chaldees was headquarters in that day for worship of the moon god, worship of the celestial bodies. Abraham's father and brothers all worshipped the moon god, and I suspect that Abraham was taught and practiced worship of this same idol. From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:

"The moon was very early worshipped by the nations of the Far East as a divinity or the representative of one or more deities. These deities were both masculine and feminine. In Assyria and Babylonia the most common name for the moon-god was Sin or Sen. In Babylonia he was also called Aku and Nannara. In Egypt the moon was representative of several deities, all masculine. The chief of these was Thoth the god of knowledge, so called because the moon was the measurer of time. Babylonia has, also, Aa, the goddess of the moon, as the consort of the sun, while her equivalent was known in Phoenicia as Ashtaroth-karnaim. This personification and worship of the moon among the nations who were neighbors to Palestine was but part of an elaborate Nature-worship found among these people. Nor was this worship always separated from Palestine by geographical lines. It crept into the thought and customs of the Hebrews and in a sense affected their religious conceptions and ceremonies. They fell into the habit of making direct homage to sun, moon and stars, as is evidenced by #Job 31:26,27; Jer 44:17, and even #Isa 8:18 (see CRESCENTS). Moses seems to have forewarned his people against the danger of this form of worship (#De 4:19)."

Consider the far reaching Grace of our God and the beauty of that Grace in the life of Abraham! Born a Gentile into a family of moon worshippers, Abraham found God our Savior. BEFORE Abraham ever became a Jew by the rite of circumcision God Himself evangelized, preached the Gospel of salvation, unto Abraham. Paul says in Galatians 3:8 that God called Abraham to salvation by faith in Him as a prophetic demonstration that He would call many Gentiles unto Him to salvation. Just as Abraham was given the Gospel and responded to the Gospel while yet a Gentile, many others - equally lost and undone - would come to Christ at the preaching of the Gospel. Abraham was the father of Isaac, who in turn would bear children that would produce Jacob, who would be named Israel, who in turn would produce a chosen nation unto God by that same name:

(Genesis 32:28 KJV) "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."

From the point of circumcision Abraham would be the father of the nation Israel, but he was saved prior to circumcision, back when he was a Chaldean Gentile living amongst the moon worshippers. The pattern that God established with Abraham the Gentile would be a pattern that God would repeat many times among the Gentiles. The Jews, those of the circumcision, were God's chosen people, but God would offer salvation to the Gentiles also just as He did with Abraham.

I stopped for a moment and jotted down the common misconceptions that people have about Abraham, and the Biblical truths that we have seen so far in our study. Oddly enough the misconceptions that people have about Abraham are the same misconceptions that people have about goodness and righteousness. People think, "If I do this good thing, I will be considered righteous by God. This good thing will get me into Heaven". This is the same drivel that people use to respond to the message of Hell and eternal punishment: "God will not cast me into Hell forever - I'm a good person". When you look at the life of Abraham, as well as all the forefathers of the faith, you will not see good people but people who were saved by faith in God. They believed God, and their belief was reckoned to their Heavenly account as righteousness. Abraham was inherently a coward, and hid behind his wife for protection. He was also pliable, and allowed his wife to talk him into having intercourse with Hagar his servant when God didn't immediately offer Sarah a child. Jacob who would become Israel, the direct father of the nation Israel, would rob his own brother Esau of his rightful inheritance. Jacob, by the way, can mean "chiseler" or "con man" in the Hebrew - and that would be true to Jacob's initial character. Noah, after the flood waters receded, would get drunk and have sex with his daughters. David as King of Israel would have Uriah murdered in order to have sex with his wife Bathsheba. Peter, when asked if he knew Jesus, would curse God's name and deny ever knowing Him. Solomon would have over 1000 women in his bed in his lifetime, a sexual orgy the likes of which the world has never seen. Beloved, the sins of our forefathers would turn your hair gray if you were to consider them too long, and nearly every saint mentioned in Scripture has a blemish that only the Blood of Christ can wash away. Were these people, our forefathers, inherently righteous? Absolutely not! They all hear the Gospel message, the message that Jesus Christ saves, that He is Savior, that His blood atones for our sins - and they all believed the promise of God. As Jesus said:

(John 8:56 KJV) "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad."

God called Abraham to salvation in Christ, by believing on Christ. Abraham accepted the provision of salvation by faith just as we accept God's provision of salvation by faith. This is what gave Abraham salvation. Not Abraham's works, but faith in God's works. As the Apostle Paul would point out in the Book of Romans:

(Romans 9:6-15 KJV) "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: {7} Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. {8} That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. {9} For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. {10} And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; {11} (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) {12} It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. {13} As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. {14} What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. {15} For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

Listen Beloved! Abraham had two children, Isaac by Sarah his wife and Ishmael by Hagar his slave. Ishmael was Abraham's son, Abraham's oldest son, but this was not the son that God had promised Abraham. God told Abraham that he would have a child through Sarah his wife. This was the child of promise, the child of faith. Ishmael was born because Abraham and Sarah were faithless, they were aging and felt that the time to have a child was quickly slipping by. So Abraham decided to help God out. Sarah decided to give God a little hand, and use Hagar for Abraham's seed. This was faithlessness at work, human good, human innovation in place of faith in God - and God wasn't having any part of it. God doesn't need our help! God doesn't help those who help themselves, and no such thing was ever written in Scripture! God wants children of faith, and the output of faith. God wants a people who hear His Word, believe His Word, respond to His Word. Why did God institute the rite of circumcision? Abraham's faithlessness in producing Ishmael through Hagar created the necessity for circumcision. Look at the chronology of the Scripture. Ishmael, the child of Abraham's faithlessness, was born through Hagar:

(Genesis 16:11-16 KJV) "And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. {12} And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. {13} And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? {14} Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. {15} And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. {16} And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram."

In Genesis 16:11-16. Abraham was 86 years old (A "score" is equal to 20. Four score = 4 x 20 + 6 = 86). The Scripture was very careful to point out the age of Abraham at the birth of Ishmael. But continue reading in Genesis 17:1 and following:

(Genesis 17:1-21 KJV) "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. {2} And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. {3} And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, {4} As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. {5} Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. {6} And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. {7} And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. {8} And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. {9} And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. {10} This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. {11} And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. {12} And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. {13} He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. {14} And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. {15} And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. {16} And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. {17} Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? {18} And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! {19} And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. {20} And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. {21} But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year."

Did you follow that? Abraham was 86 years old when he had a child through Hagar his servant. But it was not until Abraham was 99 years old, some THIRTEEN YEARS LATER, that God established the covenant of cutting, the covenant of circumcision with Abraham. This is VERY interesting because, among ancient peoples, the male child usually was considered the heir apparent to the household of the parent at the age of thirteen. The Jews today even have the Bar Mitzvah for the male child around the age of 13, recognizing that the child is entering manhood. God waited until Ishmael was 13 and Abraham had his eyes firmly fixed on that boy as his heir before He came to Abraham and said: "No, Abraham - Ishmael shall not be your heir. I will give you a child through Sarah, Isaac, and that is the child of promise. I'll bless Ishmael, but Isaac shall be where the covenant of choosing, the covenant of cutting shall be established". Abraham and all his household underwent the covenant of cutting, of circumcision, but the only child of Abraham who underwent this covenant at birth was Isaac. Ishmael was blessed, and the Arabic nations came out of his seed, but Ishmael was not the child of promise. Isaac was the child of promise, and the rite of circumcision marked Isaac as chosen of God from birth. Though Abraham was father to both Ishmael (Arabic Countries) and Isaac (Israel, the Chosen), Isaac was the beginning of Israel, the circumcision, the chosen people. Isaac was circumcised on the eighth day following birth, as was each male child that came out of Isaac up until this day. Any who were not circumcised were cut off from Israel, were removed from Israel as were all Gentiles. Salvation, though, did not come by the cutting, the circumcision, but comes by faith. Abraham was saved by faith prior to the cutting. Isaac was saved by faith following the cutting. The cutting set aside a nation as Israel, but did not save. Faith in the Word of God saved. Faith in Jesus Christ our Savior saves, not the ritual of circumcision.

(Galatians 3:9 KJV) "So then they which be of (ek, from the source of) faith are blessed (eulogeo {pronounced yoo-log-eh’-o}, Present Passive Indicative, constantly received blessing) with faithful (literally sun ho pistos, "beside the believing") Abraham."

(Galatians 3:10 KJV) "For as many as are (eisi, Present Indicative, keep on being) of (ek, from the source of) the works of the law are under the curse (katara {pronounced kat-ar’-ah}, execration, imprecation, curse): for it is written, (grapho, Perfect Passive Indicative, written with the result that it stands written [and therefore true] forever) Cursed (epikataratos {pronounced ep-ee-kat-ar’-at-os}, verbal adjective, accursed, execrable, exposed to divine vengeance, lying under God’s curse) is every one that continueth not in all things which are written, (grapho, Perfect Passive Indicative, written with the result that it stands written [and therefore true] forever) in the book of the law to do (poieo {pronounced poy-eh’-o}, Aorist Active Infinitive, do) them."

(Deuteronomy 27:26 KJV) "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen."

Here is the great Biblical truth that so many people miss because they will not read nor attend to the Word of God. The Law was never meant to be a blessing that God gave to an obedient Israel. No, Precious Ones, absolutely not! No blessing can come from being under the Law unless you keep ALL of the Law. If you try to keep the Law but fail in ONE POINT, then you stand condemned before God. Notice the exact verbiage of Galatians 3:10:

Cursed (epikataratos {pronounced ep-ee-kat-ar’-at-os}, verbal adjective, accursed, execrable, exposed to divine vengeance, lying under God’s curse) is every one that continueth not in all things which are written, (grapho, Perfect Passive Indicative, written with the result that it stands written [and therefore true] forever) in the book of the law to do (poieo {pronounced poy-eh’-o}, Aorist Active Infinitive, do) them...

Every one of Israel who did not continue in ALL THINGS that were written in the Law stood under God's curse, God's judgment, for failing to keep that Law. I have read the works of Rabbis who have said that God really didn't meant this. That God just wanted His people, Israel, to do the best they could do. Yet God's Word tells us otherwise. There is no blessing from God if you keep 75% of the Law. There is no blessing from God if you keep 99% of the Law. No Beloved, if you are going to keep the Law you must keep ALL the Law, else be under the curse of God. As the blessed Apostle James said:

(James 2:10 KJV) "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."

There was no blessing in keeping part of the Law of God. There is no blessing in trying to have a relationship with God through the Law today. The Law is a tool of judgment, the belt that the Heavenly Parent pulled off to beat the child Israel, the taskmaster who beat the back of the slave Israel. Paul does not refer to the Law as a "blessing", as so many try to portray it. No, it was and still is a curse on any who try to use it to get to Heaven. The Law was the brutal slashing of the calves throat so that blood spewed out across the crusted altar. The Law was the muffled screams of lambs led to slaughter, the crack of the bones of doves and pigeons as their necks were broken, the dipping of hyssop in buckets of blood and then the splashing of that blood over the people. The Law was the man told that his wife was unclean because she was in her time of cleansing, the woman forced to sleep in a tent apart from the one she loved. The Law was loneliness, and pain, and agony, and looking forward to the Messiah Who was coming. The Law was many things, but it was never a blessing.

Who was saved by the Law? No one! The Mosaic Law itself taught its people that it was a teaching tool, bringing cursing on those in its clutches who did not keep every bit of that Law. Even Moses, whom God used to bring the Law to Israel, was saved by faith in Christ, and not by the keeping of the Law. Moses was a believer in God, a lover of God our Savior just as all who are truly Christian love God in Christ our Savior:

(Hebrews 11:23-29 KJV) "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. {24} By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; {25} Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; {26} Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. {27} By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. {28} Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. {29} By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned."

Was Moses saved by the Law which he brought to Israel? Absolutely not! He was saved by faith in Jesus Christ, by faith in God's provision of salvation. In fact, Moses' mother used faith in God when she hid Moses in the bulrushes from the ire of Pharaoh. Her faith was mighty, and she allowed Pharaoh's daughter to have Moses as her own knowing that God would protect her infant son. It was Moses faith in God that caused him to walk away from the riches that would surely be his as heir to Pharaoh. When God our Savior told Moses to sprinkle the blood of the Passover on the doorposts of Israel's houses Moses did so by faith, knowing that this blood would keep the death angel away from the chosen firstborn. It was Moses' faith in God our Savior that caused him to raise his staff over the Red sea, and his faith was rewarded as he saw the waves part and allow Israel to cross over as if on dry land. Moses' faith brought him salvation, but Moses' disbelief at Meribah caused him to lose the blessings of the Promised Land:

(Numbers 20:12-13 KJV) "And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. {13} This is the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them."

Why did Moses lose the blessings of the Promised Land? Because he failed to believe in God. Not because he failed to keep a Law, not because he did not keep one tittle or one jot of the Law, but because he disbelieved God. You see, the Law was given to a people who had rejected a personal relationship with God. This is the danger that the Law, the keeping of any Law, imposes. A perfect relationship between two parties cannot exist where Law exists. In a marriage the husband cannot impose a series of laws on the bride, nor can the bride impose a series of laws on the husband. When a relationship is fostered on the ground of Law it becomes less than intimate. Certainly the husband will, over time, discover in the marital relationship things that please and displease his wife. If he is wise and wants the marriage to continue, he will seek to honor the wife as Christ honors the Church, and give himself for her. He will do this not out of a sense of Law, but out of a sense of love for his chosen bride. The bride, likewise, will learn from love how to please her husband. She will not walk in a manner satisfying to her husband out of some Law that he established, but she will walk in a manner pleasing to him because she loves him.

This is what God desired of Israel. When He called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, He established a friendship with Abraham.

(James 2:23 KJV) "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."

No Law was given to Abraham, no Ten Commandments, no Codex 1, Codex 2, and Codex 3 of the Levitical codes. No, God just approached Abraham and said "Go where I tell you and I will bless you". Abraham listened to that call of God and said, "Yes Lord, I'll do it", and in so doing the two became fast friends. Can you imagine being a FRIEND of the Greatest Power in the universe? Can you imagine the immensity of having God as your best Friend? Abraham not only imagined it, he did it. What Abraham aspired to, we can all aspire to if we only believe. No Law makes a person a friend of God. You become a friend of God by liking the same things that your Friend likes. Would you be a friend to God? Heed His voice. Reject sin and its destructive power. Love as He loves. Emulate Him whom you love. You do not need to have some sort of epiphany in order to be a friend to God. You do not need to read some book, sold at a high price by some pretender to righteousness. No, being a friend to God means loving God and following Him where He leads. Abraham was a perfect example of this. Beloved, we cannot compromise with the ways of the world and be a friend to God. We cannot look at that which God has forbidden and draw it to our breast if we would be the friend of God. We cannot reject the clear teachings of the Word of God, doctrines pure and holy, if we are to be the friend of God.

(James 4:4 KJV) "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

Many of us are packing our local church buildings to the point where we need to build bigger facilities because we have so compromised with the world. We have looked the other way on things that our Lord has rejected. We have tolerated racial bias and prejudice, preached hate mongering, excused sexually inappropriate behavior, and rejected the Divine design in creation and in our homes. We have taken one of two different extremes. We have either looked at the woman taken in adultery and said "Go and sin no more" while we condemned her, or we have said "Neither do I condemn you" and excused such behavior because we ourselves are involved in the same. Beloved, these things must not be! A friend of God cannot condone that which our Friend has condemned, nor can a friend of God maintain his friendship through the use of some written Law. What was the standard that Jesus our Lord set for His friends?

(John 15:13-14 KJV) "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. {14} Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command (entellomai {pronounced en-tel’-lom-ahee}, Present Middle Indicative, to order, command to be done, enjoin ) you."

Would you be friends with God? Then do as He asks. Like Abraham, when God calls, follow. As you do with your friends, accentuate behavior that is pleasing to God, reject behavior that is displeasing to God. Do as your Friend Jesus tells you to do. Do not condone sin in order to build your congregations, but love one another - sinner included - while rejecting and hating the sin. Refuse to follow the conventions of this world, conventions of racism, bigotry, hate mongering, separatism, clannishness, confusion, selfishness and greed. Instead follow the example that Christ set for us, an example of service and self sacrifice, an example of love toward all people as God loves all people.

One day after He had completed a series of sermons, our Lord Jesus was approached by someone who was proud of his ability to follow the Mosaic Law. This man, rich in comparison with the average man, had taken to following the Law as a hobby, or as something to excel in - who can tell? This man, full of himself, overtly pious, came to Jesus and asked:

(Matthew 19:16 KJV) "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master (Didaskalos, master teacher), what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"

I suppose that the young man expected to be patted on the back by Jesus. "Good job, son, so wonderful that you want to enter Heaven". Or perhaps as wayward preachers have done today in order to increase the size of their flock, "I can sure see God in you ... just come to Church on a regular basis, son, and you'll get there". I suspect the young man expected some other response, and probably had other responses from other rabbis that he approached - but Jesus was no ordinary teacher. If you plan on being a friend of Jesus, you first of all need to know WHO He is. Jesus rejected the young man's buttery title of "Good Rabbi" by saying:

(Matthew 19:17 KJV) "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God... "

Jesus is God incarnate, God in the flesh, not just a rabbi from the Temple. He rejects the title of "good" because, if Jesus is not God walking among us, He is NOT good - only God is good. The rest of us are sinners in need of Grace. After this initial correction, Jesus tells the rich young man:

(Matthew 19:17-18 KJV) "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. {18} He saith unto him, Which? ..."

Jesus says, "If you want to work your way into Heaven, then keep ALL of the commandments". Like so many who try to work their way into Heaven, the young man said "Which commandments?". What a foolish question! This young man, if he were as diligent as keeping the Law as he claimed, would know that failure in keeping one point of the Law is the same as violating or breaking all the Law. As James taught:

(James 2:10 KJV) "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."

You cannot fail to keep any part of the Law. The young man's question of "Which?" proved that he was just as ignorant of the Law as are many who try to work their way into Heaven. Rather than call him on this, Jesus responds:

(Matthew 19:18-19 KJV) "He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, {19} Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Jesus responds by quoting the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Fifth Commandments. This was an interesting choice of commandments. Jesus did NOT quote the Tenth Commandment, "You shall not covet your neighbor's property", nor did He quote the first four Commandments, all of which deal with loving God Himself. All of the commandments quoted deal with loving your fellow man. The young man quickly responds that he has kept these commandments and, I suppose, in his own mind he felt like he had kept them. He may have kept the letter of the commandment, but he had not loved his neighbor as he loved himself. You cannot love your neighbor if you are happy and contented while your neighbor is hungry or living in squalor. You cannot love your neighbor while you attend fancy meetings in fine clothes in ornate sanctuaries, while children cry themselves to sleep in hunger at night. You cannot love your neighbor when you refuse to witness to and invite another person of another race to your Church because you are concerned as to what your neighbors may say. You cannot love unless you love as Jesus loved - wholly and without compromise, perfect in self sacrifice.

(Matthew 19:20-22 KJV) "The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? {21} Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. {22} But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."

The rich young man flippantly answered, "I've done these things - what else should I do?" Many will stand before Jesus in the Great Judgment and flippantly ask the same question, certain that their own outward acts of righteousness are sufficient to gain them entrance into Heaven. Here's a truth that you can take to the grave with you - you cannot be the friend of God when you love the created more than the Creator. When you love the thing made rather than the Maker of things you cannot spend eternity in His House. When you love yourself more than you love your neighbor, regardless as to color, you are walking on dangerous ground. There was nothing that the rich young ruler could "do" to be saved, for he had already rejected out of hand Jesus the Messiah. How can you be a friend of God if you do not know Jesus as Savior. How can you be a friend of God if you will not seek to satisfy your Friend?

• Is a big Church building naturally a more spiritual building? Is bigger always better in God's Kingdom?
• Is Church attendance a spiritual work? Why or why not?
• In order to please God, I must first have a ________ with Him before I work for Him.
• When the unsaved get together and build a large building as a tribute to Heaven, what are they emulating?
• The Spirit of God often ___________ in the Old Testament era and prior to the Cross, but the Spirit of God never came to permanently indwell believers until Jesus Christ died on the Cross.
• Did the rite of circumcision have anything to do with Abraham's salvation? Was Abraham saved before he was circumcised, or circumcised before he was saved?
• If I follow the Law yet offend or break one point of the Law, is this acceptable to God?
• My objective is to become God's __________ as Abraham was God's _________. I can only do this by doing what is pleasing in His sight.
• Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, demanded that His friends keep His ____________.
• The rich young ruler missed Heaven because he did what?