Let us read from Galatians 3:3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” In our Christian life, a good beginning is good. But more important is the end of our Christian life. It depends on how we live now and how we are trying to finish the race that God has set before us. We may have started our Christian life well, but what a great tragedy it would be if we are finishing it by the flesh! This verse is not only for the Galatian Christians. If you put yourself in this verse, God will speak to you also.
Paul speaks such strong words here. In verse 2 he says, “ You have received the Spirit through faith” and in verse 4 he says, “You have suffered many things and do you think it was in vain” and in verse 5, “you have seen many miracles from God”. He asks the Galatians, “How foolish can you be, starting your new life by the spirit, why are you trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” (NLT)
There are 2 examples we can see in the Old Testament. King Saul had a good beginning but ended in a great tragedy. His beginning started with humility. In 1 Samuel 9:21 we read the attitude with which he started, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?” But we see to the end of his life, he disobeyed God’s will and ended in a sad tragedy. Another example is the life of Solomon. He is the author of 3 wonderful books of the Bible. In 1 Kings 3 we see his beginning. In verse 3 we read, “Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David”. In the following verses we read Solomon’s prayer. It was a humble prayer and requested only for understanding to discern good and bad to judge the people of God. God was so pleased with his request. But we see what happened later in his life. He loved the world more than God and he had a sad end. Similar is the tragedy for a Christian who starts in the spirit and tries to perfect his life with the flesh. In Christendom around us also we can see so many examples before us. The important thing is not how we begin our lives, but how do we finish it. We may have a good testimony when we start our Christian life, but what is our condition now? Has our love for God grown cold? Are we like the church in Ephesus who left their first love? Once upon a time we were very sensitive towards sin, but now where are we in our thoughts and words? Has our conscience become more or less sensitive? Has our devotion to Christ increased? How do we spend our time? Saul and Solomon ended with a tragedy, but their backsliding was a slow process, step by step. God wants us to repent and come back. He will restore us.
In James 5:11 we read, “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” We all know about Job’s life. In Job 8:7 we read, “Though your beginning was insignificant, Yet your end will increase greatly.” This was true in Job’s life. In the Message Bible it says, “Even though you were not much right now, you will end up better than ever”. In Job 42:5,6 we read, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.” In verse 12 we read that God blessed Job’s latter days more than his beginning. In Hebrews 3:14 we read, “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.” In Hebrews 6:11 we read, “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end”. We have to hold fast our assurance until the end.
The Galatians started well, they started to produce the fruits of the Spirit, but now they were walking according to the flesh. In the beginning they were walking according to the Spirit, but now they lived in the flesh. In Galatians 5:13 we read, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” And in verse 16, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” In verse 19 we read the deeds of the flesh. Paul encourages the Galatian believers to walk in the Spirit. In 2 Timothy 4:7,8 Paul says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”We can also finish our race by the Spirit as Paul did. We can’t do it with our human effort but only by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Galatians were not depending on the Holy Spirit or on God’s grace; they were depending on their own power. That’s why Paul had to speak such strong words to them. In Zachariah 4:6 we read, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit”. This is the only way we can finish the race. May God help us to finish our race by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by the deeds of the flesh.
In Philippians 1:6 we read, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” This is God’s promise. Let us submit our life to God so that we can finish this race with His life. Let us also examine our lives to see if there is anything in our life that is hindering us from living in the Spirit. Whatever be the hindrance before us, they can be made plane with the help of the Holy Spirit. Let us be able to produce fruits of the Spirit and thus glorify God with our lives.
