In Galatians 3:1-5 (NIV), the apostle Paul issued a very strongly worded rebuke to the Galatian Christians: “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?”

Paul was explaining that Christians are saved by having faith in Jesus and not by obeying the law. To prove his case, he offered an interesting argument. He went back to how the Galatians first came to the Christian faith. Paul and Barnabas evangelized in the Galatian towns of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe on their first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). They faced considerable persecution (largely from Jewish leaders), but they won numerous converts among both Jews and gentiles. In Antioch, the new converts “were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52). In Iconium, God enabled Paul and Barnabas to “perform signs and wonders” (Acts 14:3). In Lystra, the crowds were so impressed by the healing of a lame man, that they thought Paul and Barnabas must be gods (Acts 14:8-13). Now Jews were trying to convince the Jewish and gentile Christians in Galatia that they needed to follow the law of Moses, including being circumcised. Paul therefore asked them to think about their experience. He reminded them that the Jews and the gentile converts to Judaism had been following the law before. But they had not been filled with the Holy Spirit because of this. Nor had God been performing signs and wonders, including miraculous healings, among them. It was only when they placed their faith in Jesus that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and God confirmed their faith with signs and wonders. So, Paul concluded, this demonstrated that people are saved by having faith in Jesus, not by following the law. God had shown them clearly that having faith in Jesus was the proper way to follow Him.