Gal.3, You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the 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 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
Victory over the power of sin in your life, and therefore holiness, is a miracle. It is a gift of grace. Just like your new birth was a miracle accomplished by God alone in response to your faith; victory over sin in your life is also a miracle accomplished by God alone in response to your faith. “Sin shall not have dominion over you,” God says, “for ye are not under the law” (where your works have something to do with it) “but under grace” (Romans 6: 14) (where I God do it all) and elsewhere He adds, “My grace is sufficient for thee” (II Corinthians 12: 9). We didn’t begin the Christian life by self effort according to Galatians 3:2; instead we began the Christian life by the receiving of faith, not the achieving of human effort.
In Galatians 3:3, Paul challenges the people in Galatia by asking the simple question; having begun by receiving do you think you can walk in holiness by the sincere efforts of the flesh.
Verse 5 is one of the most important verses in the New Testament concerning continual and supernatural victory over the power of sin in our lives. Let me paraphrase the verse for you, which will be the way it was originally written grammatically. “Does He who is continually at all times, even in this moment, providing you with the Spirit, and who works miracles in you by the indwelling Holy Spirit, do it by your own self effort, even though your best effort may be sincere, or as a result of His grace with you simply receiving moment by moment what He is doing in you, by faith.”
