O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
When I was in college there was a growing interest in the work of the Holy Spirit among many Christians. The Charismatic Movement was gaining strength and attention, and not without some controversy. Some thought the idea of speaking in tongues was a gift every Christian should pray for and receive. Others said the more spectacular gifts of the Holy Spirit were no longer being given. It led to some church splits and some very strained family and friend relationships.
Thankfully that controversy seems to have settled down a bit. There are some who each make those mutually-exclusive claims. But they are decidedly on the margins of the conversations these days. Sadly, that may be so because so few people seem to care about good theology. Too many folks have an “If it seems good to me, it must be right” mentality. We don’t have to fight about these things. But we should care about them.
As Paul speaks about the Holy Spirit here, he reminds the Galatians and us that the gift(s) of the Spirit are gifts of grace (“charismata” in Greek, from which we get the word charismatic). They are to be prized. And in the earliest days of the church the outward manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s presence were evidence of God’s favor. They were the means by which Paul was able to make the case for the inclusion of the new Gentile believers into the nascent Christian Church.
But now, another rung on the ladder is being required. This is the issue there. Must the Galatians (and other Gentile believers) observe Old Testament Laws and rituals to be fully included in the family of God? Paul makes the strongest case possible: No. And here he reminds them of the means by which they gained entrance into the church: hearing in faith. Listening to the Good News and being brought to faith. That was it.
While we don’t seem to worry about Old Testament Law or charismatic gifts of the Spirit today, we should remember the attendant lesson of God’s grace and the means by which we assure ourselves that we are legitimately part of the family of God. It’s the same thing: we hear God’s word and believe it. Even this is a gift of the Holy Spirit. This is why we read the Bible and pray, and talk with other believers, and sing God’s praises. These bolster our faith.
We need not worry about issues like circumcision or other Old Testament rituals. Nor do we need to rely on outward manifestations of the Spirit to prove to ourselves that we are true believers. Simply hear God’s word. Believe what he says. Rejoice in his salvation. This the the gift of the Holy Spirit.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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