Due to technical difficulties, the sermon was not recorded.

Read Galatians 3:1-5

Point of the Sermon: The essential mark of a Christian is not how far you have progressed in sanctification, but on what you are relying to get there.

Sermon Outline:

I. Are you under a spell?

   A. Signs that you're under a spell

   B. Paul's remedy

II. Are you attaining your goal?

   A. Three Contrasts to consider.

     1. Doing vs receiving

     2. Beginning vs perfecting

     3. Spirit vs flesh

   B. The Goal of the Cross

Community Group Discussion Questions:

1. None of us intentionally dabatoge our spiritual growth, but there are subtle practices that look clean and pure but are actually poisoning us because we use them as measures of progress. What are some 1) secular ways of "sanctification" and 2) religious ways of "sanctification" that are not centered on the gospel? How have these been evident in your life?
2. The word for “bewitched” is a hapax legomenon, a word found nowhere else in the New Testament. Literally the word means “to give someone the evil eye, to cast a spell over, to fascinate in the original sense of holding someone spellbound by an irresistible power.” What signs within modern Christianity may illustrate a false view of "sanctification"?
3. Paul says in Galatians in 3:1, it was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. The word for “publicly portrayed” is prographō means “to display publicly as on a placard.” However, the Galatians were no where near Jerusalem during the time of Christ's crucifixion. How therefore did they see Jesus publicly portrayed? (Read Ephesians 1:18).
4. What does Paul say we receive by faith? How is this gift (John 14:16; John 14:26) the power for our justification and sanctification? What can we never afford to forget as Christians?
5. Paul put special stress on the finality of the cross. He proclaimed Jesus Christ as estaurōmenos, literally, as having been crucified. This perfect participle relates to past action with continuing effects. Jesus’ cry from the cross, “It is finished!” echoes into our hearts and homes. How is the work of redemption completely accomplished through that perfect atoning sacrifice?

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