Gospel Growth: Living by Faith, Not Works

Devotional

Day 1: Bewitched by Empty Rules

Paul confronted the Galatians’ spiritual amnesia. They’d seen Christ crucified in his preaching—a vivid, bloody sacrifice declaring God’s grace. Yet now they acted like salvation depended on rule-keeping. He called them “bewitched,” as if dark magic had clouded their memory of faith’s raw power. Their hands clutched law-books instead of clinging to the cross. [53:30]

The Spirit enters lives through faith, not rule-following. Jesus didn’t bleed to start a self-improvement program. His death ripped the veil, inviting rebels like us to walk freely into God’s presence. When we add conditions to grace, we insult the Gift-Giver.

Where have you replaced faith with “shoulds”? Do you measure your worth by spiritual checklists instead of Christ’s finished work? Write down one religious habit you’ve treated as a salvation requirement.

“Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
(Galatians 3:2-3, ESV)

Prayer: Confess areas where you’ve trusted rituals over relationship. Ask Jesus to rekindle childlike faith.
Challenge: Text one person today: “Christ’s grace is enough for me. How can I pray for your faith journey?”

Day 2: Birth Pangs and Growing Pains

A mother doesn’t birth a child only to abandon it. She nourishes, comforts, and stays present through midnight cries. Paul used this maternal image to shame the Galatians: if God’s Spirit birthed their faith, why assume they now needed self-help to grow? Sanctification isn’t a solo project—it’s the Spirit’s tender nurture. [01:01:16]

Growth happens through surrender, not striving. Just as infants can’t self-feed, believers can’t manufacture holiness. Every step toward Christlikeness—patience in traffic, kindness to critics—flows from the Spirit’s quiet work, not our gritted-teeth effort.

What spiritual “milestone” have you been straining to achieve? Where do you need to stop pushing and start receiving?

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
(Philippians 1:6, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for three specific ways He’s grown you in the past year.
Challenge: Set a 3pm alarm labeled “Spirit, breathe life into my efforts today.”

Day 3: Suffering’s Snapshots

The Galatians had endured beatings and ridicule for preaching grace. Now, compromising felt safer. Paul asked: “Did you suffer for nothing?” Their scars testified to gospel courage—but only if they kept standing firm. Suffering either fuels faith or breeds bitterness, depending on where we fix our gaze. [01:05:14]

God uses pain to pry our fingers off lesser things. Like a surgeon cutting infected flesh, He allows trials that expose pride, deepen compassion, and prove Christ’s sufficiency. Our hardest seasons often become faith’s photo album—snapshots of His faithfulness.

When life hurts, do you interpret pain as punishment or purification?

“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
(Acts 14:22, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to redeem one current struggle, making it a testimony of His nearness.
Challenge: Share a past trial where God grew you with a younger believer this week.

Day 4: Abraham’s Account

God didn’t credit righteousness to Abraham because he earned it. The patriarch lied about his wife, doubted God’s timing, and fathered Ishmael. Yet Genesis 15:6 records heaven’s ledger: “Believed God—RIGHTEOUS.” Faith, not performance, unlocked blessing. Centuries later, this same promise clothes us in Christ’s perfection. [01:11:09]

We’re Abraham’s heirs—not through blood or behavior, but belief. Every moral failure, every doubt, gets swallowed by faith’s reckless cry: “God, help my unbelief!” His ledger still reads “righteous” over ragamuffins who cling to the cross.

What sin or doubt have you hidden, fearing it cancels God’s love?

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
(Genesis 15:6, ESV)

Prayer: Write down one shameful secret. Burn it as you pray: “Jesus, Your blood covers this.”
Challenge: Memorize Romans 4:5 and whisper it when guilt attacks.

Day 5: Exhorting Echoes of Faith

Paul didn’t let the Galatians forget their story. He echoed their conversion—the Spirit’s arrival, miracles witnessed, sufferings endured. Like friends flipping through old photos, he helped them trace God’s fingerprints. We need others to name our growth when we feel stagnant. [01:19:31]

Faith thrives in community. A small group member spots your patience with a prodigal child. A friend notes your softened speech. These “snapshots” become altars, reminding us the Spirit still moves.

Who needs you to say, “I see Jesus in you here”?

“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together.”
(Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to highlight someone needing encouragement.
Challenge: Call that person today. Name two specific ways you’ve seen their faith grow.

Sermon Summary

Paul pushes the gospel conversation past justification into sanctification. The cross that Galatians heard “publicly portrayed” sets the pattern not only for a right standing with God but for growth in Christ by the Spirit. “Oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?” lands as a wake-up call: grace did the saving, grace does the shaping. Paul stacks four questions to pull up snapshots of their story. First, the Spirit arrived by hearing with faith, not by law-keeping. The Spirit indwells, seals, convicts, and grows; “The Holy Spirit doesn’t do poor work,” even when change feels like a step forward and two steps back. Second, having begun by the Spirit, no one gets perfected by the flesh. New birth and new growth share the same source. This is not pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps religion or “checklist Christianity.” Grace does not move aside after conversion. The gospel keeps doing the work.

Third, suffering is not pointless. Their hardships for Christ would not be reversed by retreating into legalism, because that would crown the persecutors as right. God uses tribulation to attack pride, expose hidden sin, and train compassion. Faith keeps walking because Jesus suffered first, and likeness to him requires a cross-shaped path. Fourth, God supplies the Spirit and works miracles by faith, not by racking up religious bonus points. Abraham is exhibit A. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” His story is faith with failures and growth, not merit producing miracles. When Isaac is on the altar, God praises not the act but the trust behind it.

Scripture announces beforehand that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, so the true children of Abraham are “those of faith.” The gospel runs backward and forward: saints in the Old Testament were saved by trusting the coming Christ; believers today are blessed by trusting the crucified and risen Christ. Faith then breathes in prayer, because prayer says, “I can’t, God can.” Faith shows in obedience, because action reveals trust. Faith strengthens through exhortation, because community names the snapshots others miss. Justification by faith, sanctification by faith, steadfastness in suffering by faith, and the Spirit’s works by faith trace one line. The call lands simply: examine the beginning, trust Christ today, and stay with grace.

Key Takeaways

1. Sanctification starts and stays by faith The gospel does not hand off growth to the flesh. The same grace that birthed new life keeps shaping holiness, day by day. Effort is real, but it is response, not leverage. Faith receives and obeys as the Spirit completes what he began. [62:29]
2. The Spirit grows, not checklists The Spirit’s indwelling, sealing, convicting, and transforming presence is the evidence of life. Progress may feel uneven, yet the Spirit does not do sloppy work. Checklists can manage appearances; the Spirit produces actual change over time. [56:24]
3. Suffering matures faith, not wasted Trials expose pride, uncover hidden sin, and train empathy, making room for Christ’s likeness. Legalistic retreat may quiet pressure, but it surrenders the truth that first provoked the suffering. Faith walks through fire because Jesus walked it first. [66:48]
4. Abraham’s righteousness was counted by belief God credited righteousness to Abraham before works could claim the stage. His failures did not cancel faith’s direction, and his obedience revealed trust rather than purchased favor. Miracles arrived by promise kept, not points earned. [70:23]
5. Faith breathes prayer, obedience, exhortation Prayer is faith talking, not a box to tick. Obedience is faith moving, even when the path is costly. Exhortation is faith shared, pointing out growth snapshots that tired eyes miss. These are faith’s habits, not faith’s substitutes. [75:31]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[51:25] - Gospel grows us by the Spirit
[53:30] - “Foolish Galatians” and the bewitching
[55:14] - Question 1: Spirit by works or faith
[56:24] - Evidence of the Spirit’s growth
[57:14] - “Always a Christian” warning
[59:18] - Testimony: evangelist meets true faith
[60:33] - Question 2: Perfected by the flesh
[62:29] - Sanctification is by faith
[63:40] - Against checklist Christianity
[64:33] - Question 3: Suffering in vain
[66:48] - How God uses suffering
[69:56] - Question 4: Miracles by faith, not works
[70:23] - Abraham believed, credited righteous
[73:28] - Sons of Abraham are those of faith
[75:31] - Pray, obey, exhort: living by faith
[79:43] - By faith in every season
[80:49] - Invitation and response

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Galatians 3:1-7 (ESV)
1 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.

Observation Questions

What four questions does Paul ask the Galatians in this passage, and what common theme do they share?
How does Paul contrast "works of the law" with "hearing with faith" in verses 2 and 5?
In the sermon, what example from Abraham’s life illustrates that righteousness is credited through faith, not works? (See Genesis 15:6) [01:10:23]
According to the sermon, what are three ways the Holy Spirit works in believers’ lives after salvation? [56:24]

Interpretation Questions

Why does Paul call the Galatians “foolish” for trying to grow spiritually through their own efforts (v. 3)? How does this contradict the gospel?
The sermon says suffering “attacks pride, exposes hidden sin, and trains compassion.” How might suffering for Christ’s sake actually strengthen faith rather than weaken it? [01:06:48]
Abraham’s story includes both faith and failure (e.g., lying about Sarah, fathering Ishmael). How does this show that God’s promises depend on His faithfulness, not human perfection?
What does it mean that “checklist Christianity” cannot produce true spiritual growth? How does relying on the Spirit differ from relying on rules? [01:03:40]

Application Questions

Reflect on a recent struggle where you tried to “fix” a spiritual issue through willpower or rules instead of faith. What would it look like to surrender that area to the Spirit’s work?
The sermon says prayer is “faith talking” rather than a box to tick. How could your prayer life shift this week to reflect dependence on God rather than ritual? [01:15:31]
When have you experienced suffering or difficulty that later revealed God’s purpose (e.g., exposing pride, deepening compassion)? How might this encourage you in current challenges?
Identify one area where you default to a “checklist” (e.g., Bible reading, serving). How can you approach it this week as a response to grace rather than a way to earn favor? [01:03:40]
Who in your life needs encouragement to see their spiritual growth “snapshots”? How will you intentionally affirm their progress this week? [01:19:04]
Abraham waited years for God’s promise. Is there a situation where you’re tempted to doubt God’s timing? What step of faith (prayer, obedience, patience) can you take today?

Sermon Clips

35s

“Maybe today you're sitting here, you're saying, I am seeking to live by faith, but the circumstances in my life are becoming overwhelming. Do you need God to work a miracle? And maybe you're sitting where Abraham was and it's been years and you've been praying, saying, Lord, would you come through? I wanna caution you today. God's not gonna do a miracle because you've somehow earned enough bonus points to reach miracle level. It's through faith.”

39s

“Prayer is the response of faith. Say, Ben, I've been praying about the same thing for twenty years. So was Abraham. Prayer is the response of faith. If we really are seeking to live by faith, our prayer life will not be a checklist. It will not be something we do in the morning quickly to then go about our life, but it becomes the life breath of our life to realize prayer is an act of faith to say, God, I cannot do this. I cannot I cannot sufficiently do what even you've called me to do. I need you.”

29s

“In other words, if you recognize that the spirit of God convicted your life and heart and and regenerated you, brought you from death to life at salvation, then now is it up to you? Okay. Yes. The holy spirit is the one who worked in my life to bring about salvation, but now it's up to me to impress God and to become like Jesus. No. Foolish. We can't do that.”

27s

“And Paul's reminding them that the spirit was the one who burst you at the beginning. The spirit is the one who will be faithful to complete the work he has begun. You don't now have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and somehow become holy and somehow become like Christ through our own effort. No. The gospel is sufficient by faith on the day of salvation and all through our life as well.”

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