Galatians 3:5 – 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…
To be a Christian requires a miracle. God has to take our dead soul and bring it to life for us to belong to Jesus Christ. This cannot be done by any natural means – you cannot order it on Amazon, pick it up at Costco, or have it prescribed by your doctor. Salvation is something supernatural done by the Spirit of God.
Once you experience the miracle of salvation, it is not uncommon to continue to see God show up in power to do the supernatural. People get healed, people get saved, prayers get answered, and there is no explanation under than God did extraordinary things for ordinary people.
Amidst planting the church in Galatia, Paul their pastor and his people saw God do miracles among them. These were things they did not deserve, could not force God to do, and were solely gracious gifts from their loving God. There life was powerful but simple. The gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to them, they trusted in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and God showed up to do wonderful things to bless them.
Later, Paul moved to another region for new ministry, and “false brothers” came in to burden the people with religious and cultural traditions. One argument that the false teachers were promoting was the concept of “works” whereby we can do some religious things that make God bless us and do the miraculous for us.
Paul’s point is simple – God is free. We do not control God; we should instead trust God. We cannot make God do anything, bless anyone, or perform any miracle. No matter how much money we tithe, prayers we pray, days we fast, or duties we perform, there is zero impact on the behavior of God. Why? We do not need to make God bless us and be good to us because of who we are. Instead, God wants to bless us and be good to us because of who He is! This is the basic difference between paganism and Christian faith. The pagan does not believe God is good or can be trusted. The Christian knows that God is good and trusts Him.
Is there anything in your life that you think makes God obligated to bless you and give you what you want?